Friedrich Geiger (24 November 1907 – 13 June 1996) was a German

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

whose most notable cars, the pre-World War II

Mercedes-Benz 540K The Mercedes-Benz 540K (W29) is a car built by the German firm Mercedes-Benz from 1936 to 1940. History Introduced at the 1936 Paris Motor Show, the Friedrich Geiger designed car was a development of the 500K, itself a development of the SSK. Av ...

and post-war

Mercedes-Benz 300SL The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (chassis code W 198) is a two-seat sports car which was produced by Mercedes-Benz as a gullwinged coupe (1954–1957) and roadster (1957–1963).Werner Oswald: ''Mercedes-Benz Personenwagen 1945–1985''. Motorbuch Ve ...

, are among the most highly regarded in automotive history.

Biography

Born in

Süßen Süßen (or Süssen) is a town in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is located on the river Fils 8 km east of Göppingen, near Stuttgart. History Süßen was first mentioned with the name of ''Siezun'' ...

in the

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

n region of southern Germany, Geiger originally trained as a

cartwright Cartwright may refer to: * Wainwright (occupation), a tradesperson skilled in the making and repairing of carts or wagons * Cartwright (surname), including the list of people Places ; Australia * Cartwright, New South Wales ; Canada * Cartwr ...

, before studying as a

design engineer A design engineer is an engineer focused on the engineering design process in any of the various engineering disciplines (including civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, textiles, aerospace, nuclear, manufacturing, systems, and structural /buil ...

at University prior to joining

Daimler-Benz The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...

in April 1933. He began in the special vehicles manufacturing department, where, in the 1930s, he was responsible for the 500K and 540K

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

s. Geiger left Daimler-Benz in April 1948, but returned to the company two years later, this time as a test engineer in the styling department. He became head of styling within a few years, after designing the 300SL gullwing

coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

, named one of the ten greatest Mercedes ever built and one of the 25 greatest cars of the 20th century. Geiger continued to work at Daimler-Benz until his retirement in December 1973, by which time he had helped create the

W111 : ''See Mercedes-Benz S-Class for a complete overview of all S-Class models.'' The Mercedes-Benz W111 was a chassis code given to a range of Mercedes-Benz vehicles produced between 1959 and 1971, including four-door saloons (1959-1968) and two- ...

/ W112 (1959) and W110 (1961) "Fintails", the W113 "Pagoda" (1963) and R107 (1971) SL

convertible A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...

s, the W108/109 (1965) and W116 (1972) series of the S-Class, and the

Mercedes-Benz 600 The Mercedes-Benz 600 (W100) is a line of ultra-luxury cars produced by Daimler-Benz from 1963 to 1981. The forerunner of the modern Maybach marque, the ''Grosser Mercedes'' ("Grand Mercedes") succeeded the Type 300d "Adenauer" as the compa ...

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a prof ...

(1963). Geiger was succeeded by

Bruno Sacco Bruno Sacco (born 12 November 1933) is an Italian automobile designer who served as the head of styling at German car giant Daimler-Benz between 1975 and 1999. Biography According to Sacco himself, he was first inspired towards car design as an ...

, one of his staff at the styling department. Geiger died in

Bad Überkingen Bad Überkingen is a municipality in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History The three towns of Bad Überkingen, Hausen an der Fils, and Unterböhringen were ceded by the Free Imperial City of Ulm to the Electorate of ...

in 1996, aged 88.

Gallery

Image:Silver Mercedes-Benz.jpg,

Mercedes-Benz 500K The Mercedes-Benz 500K (W29) is a grand touring car built by Mercedes-Benz between 1934 and 1936. First exhibited at the 1934 Berlin Motor Show, it carried the factory designation W29. Distinguished from the 500 sedan by the "K" for ''Kompresso ...

cabriolet A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...

Image:Mercedes 540K side 20020707.jpg,

Image:1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe 34.jpg, 1955

with its

gullwing door In the automotive industry, a gull-wing door, also known as a falcon-wing door or an up-door, is a car door that is hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, first as a race car in 1952 ( W194), and then a ...

s open

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Geiger, Friedrich 1907 births 1996 deaths German automobile designers