Hanns Trippel
Encyclopedia
Hans Trippel was the designer behind the Mercedes-Benz
Gullwing's door, Troll
and the Amphicar
.
Trippel was born on 19 July 1908 in the Darmstadt
area and died 30 July 2001, possibly in Berlin. In 1934 he embarked upon a career as a racing driver. In retrospect he is better remembered for the development of amphibious motor vehicles. Also noteworthy is his membership of the quasi-military SA
. As an active supporter of the German regime in 1940 when France was invaded by Germany, Trippel took over control of the Bugatti
plant at Molsheim
. Following Germany's defeat in 1945, he was interned as a war profiteer by the French authorities for three years until 1949.
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
Gullwing's door, Troll
Troll (automobile)
The Troll was a small car made by Troll Plastik & Bilindustri of Lunde, Norway, from 1956 to 1958.It was one of few attempts at car production in Norway, but only five cars were ever built.-The Car:...
and the Amphicar
Amphicar
The Amphicar is an amphibious automobile, the first such vehicle mass-produced for sale to the public starting in 1961. The German vehicle was designed by Hanns Trippel and manufactured by the Quandt Group at Lübeck and at Berlin-Borsigwalde. Its name is a portmanteau of "amphibious" and "car". The...
.
Trippel was born on 19 July 1908 in the Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
area and died 30 July 2001, possibly in Berlin. In 1934 he embarked upon a career as a racing driver. In retrospect he is better remembered for the development of amphibious motor vehicles. Also noteworthy is his membership of the quasi-military SA
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
. As an active supporter of the German regime in 1940 when France was invaded by Germany, Trippel took over control of the Bugatti
Bugatti
Automobiles E. Bugatti was a French car manufacturer founded in 1909 in Molsheim, Alsace, as a manufacturer of high-performance automobiles by Italian-born Ettore Bugatti....
plant at Molsheim
Molsheim
Molsheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. The total population in 2006 was 9,382. Molsheim had been a very fast growing city between the French censuses of 1968 and 1999, passing from 5,739 to 9,331 inhabitants, but this increase came to a noticeable halt...
. Following Germany's defeat in 1945, he was interned as a war profiteer by the French authorities for three years until 1949.