Friedrich Geiger
{{Short description|German automobile designer}}
{{Distinguish|Friedrich Geiger (musicologist)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Friedrich Geiger
| image = FriedrichGeiger.jpg
| caption = Friedrich Geiger.
| birth_date = 24 November 1907
| birth_place = Süßen, German Empire
| death_date ={{Death date and age|1996|6|13|1907|11|24}}
| death_place = Bad Überkingen, Germany
| other_names =
| known_for = Automobile design
}}
Friedrich Geiger (24 November 1907 – 13 June 1996) was a German automobile designer who designed the pre-World War II Mercedes-Benz 540K and post-war Mercedes-Benz 300SL, which are among the most highly regarded cars in automotive history.
Biography
Born in Süßen in the Swabian region of southern Germany, Geiger originally trained as a cartwright, before studying as a design engineer at University prior to joining Daimler-Benz in April 1933. He began in the special vehicles manufacturing department, where, in the 1930s, he was responsible for the 500K and 540K sports cars.
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, named one of the ten greatest Mercedes ever built and one of the 25 greatest cars of the 20th century.{{cite web |last=Biggs |first=Henry |title=Top 10: greatest-ever Mercedes |publisher=MSN Cars UK |url= http://cars.uk.msn.com/News/Top_ten_article.aspx?cp-documentid=544788 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080518011909/http://cars.uk.msn.com/News/Top_ten_article.aspx?cp-documentid=544788 |archive-date=18 May 2008 |access-date=5 December 2019}}{{cite web |last=Dornin |first=Tim |title=Car of the century voting narrows |agency=AAP General News |date=15 March 1999 |url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-21456430.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110516233100/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-21456430.html |archive-date=16 May 2011 |access-date=5 December 2019}}
Geiger continued to work at Daimler-Benz until his retirement in December 1973, by which time he had helped create the W111/W112 (1959) and W110 (1961) "Fintails", the W113 "Pagoda" (1963) and R107 (1971) SL coupé/convertibles, the W108/109 (1965) and W116 (1972) series of the S-Class, the mid-size W123 range, and the Mercedes-Benz 600 limousine (1963).
Geiger was succeeded by Bruno Sacco, one of his staff at the styling department.
Geiger died in Bad Überkingen in 1996, aged 88.
Gallery
Image:Silver Mercedes-Benz.jpg|Mercedes-Benz 500K cabriolet
Image:Mercedes 540K side 20020707.jpg|Mercedes-Benz 540K cabriolet
Image:1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe 34.jpg|1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL with its gullwing doors open
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- {{cite journal|last=Engelen |first=Günter |title=100th anniversary of Friedrich Geiger |journal=Mercedes-Benz Classic |date=March 2007 }}
- {{cite journal|last=Mattar |first=George |title=The Man Behind Great Tri-Stars |journal=Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car |date=February 2008 |url = http://www.hemmings.com/hsx/stories/2008/02/01/hmn_feature18.html |access-date=7 May 2014}}
- {{cite web |title=A stylist with a strong sense of aesthetics and proportion: Friedrich Geiger |url= https://media.daimler.com/marsMediaSite/en/instance/ko/A-stylist-with-a-strong-sense-of-aesthetics-and-proportion-Friedrich-Geiger.xhtml?oid=9917426 |publisher=media.daimler.com |access-date=15 December 2019}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geiger, Friedrich}}