Sunday 10 December 2023

Hans Ledwinka on his 60th birthday (1938)


Dr. Porsche, a famous German designer and Eliska Junkova, a successful private participant in many challenging races, in the company of. Ing. Ledwinka near Masaryk's Grand Prix circuit.

Director of the Koprivnica Automobilky Tatra, Ing. Hanus Ledwinka, a world-renowned constructor, turned 60 this year.

Both the name of the director, Hans Ledwinka and his numerous designs, simultaneously original and practical, are very well known in the automotive and technical circles of all countries. If you follow foreign professional magazines, you will often learn through them that various novelties that our director of modern engineering has achieved is about to or already has received the recognition that it deserves.

It is a joyful jubilee of persistent work by a technician who has been able to implement all his progressive ideas with such outstanding success as rarely seen elsewhere in Europe. He found a helper and supporter in general director, Dr Hanus Ringhoffer, whose magnanimity and understanding enabled the realization of his revolutionary constructions. The commercial success Tatra achieved was a well-deserved reward for both.

His most successful and most important creation for the public was the two-cylinder Tatra from 1923, with swinging semi-axles, a central tube and a fan-forced air-cooled engine. It was our first cheap car, and its design was then imitated by many. Its success was the beginning of recognition for the concept of the independently sprung wheel suspended to a central chassis, which had since been successfully implemented elsewhere. Of course, it wasn't the first or the last work designed by Ledwinka.

Even after this success, the experienced designer continued to work and raised a staff of co-workers who realized a whole range of other original designs under his guidance. Tatra has added many new constructions to its numerous range, the latest of which is very modern - 3 models of the Tatra car, with engines in the back and the fastest rail vehicle of the main railways, the Slovak Strela. In total, over 1,100 patents were issued from his office. And the eight-cylinder Tatra with a rear engine, as well as its two sisters [the Tatra T77a and T97 were all available in 1936. Ed], are indisputably the most successful examples of his modern design principles.

Ing. Ledwinka is an excellent driver, who has personally tested all of these vehicles, fully loaded, even at the highest speeds. He is insistent that he never leaves his constructions untested by his own hands. He is a great leader and has earned the credit for the success of all his ventures.

With the weight of his successes of world importance and countless recognitions of his exceptional talents in the professional press, Ledwinka remains the humble worker who never uses his name or strives for fame. He has gained great merit with his engineering work and focus on safety.

His name is permanently written in the history of motoring!


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