Friedrich Geiger

Not to be confused with Friedrich Geiger (musicologist).

Friedrich Geiger
Friedrich Geiger.
Born	24 November 1907 Süßen, German Empire
Died	June 13, 1996(1996-06-13) (aged 88) Bad Überkingen, Germany
Known for	Automobile design

Friedrich Geiger (24 November 1907 – 13 June 1996) was a German automobile designer whose most notable cars, the pre-World War II Mercedes-Benz 540K and post-war Mercedes-Benz 300SL, are among the most highly regarded 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.

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, 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

• 
  Mercedes-Benz 500K cabriolet
• 
  Mercedes-Benz 540K cabriolet
• 
  1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL with its gullwing doors open

References

• Engelen, Günter (March 2007). "100th anniversary of Friedrich Geiger". Mercedes-Benz Classic.
• Mattar, George (February 2008). "The Man Behind Great Tri-Stars". Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
• "A stylist with a strong sense of aesthetics and proportion: Friedrich Geiger". media.daimler.com. Retrieved 15 December 2019.