Automobile designer Ekkehard Zimmermann is celebrating his birthday!

Ekkehard Zimmermann celebrates his 80th birthday - the life and work of a design authority in (sports) vehicle construction. Ekkehard Zimmermann, born on September 3, 1940 in Peine, Lower Saxony, is a German automobile designer. The trained model maker formed his first prototype with a complete body made of polyester material, the "Dingo", between 1960 and 1962. Two years later, in 1964, he joined the design studio of the Ford factory in Cologne. Before founding his own company in Bergisch-Gladbach in 1973, he worked in the cathedral city for the next nine years. The first commissioned work for the Porsche Kremer racing team in Cologne made him known to an international audience. From 1976 on Zimmermann realized the mold construction of all Kremer Porsches in motorsport. On June 10, 1979, one of his creations, the Kremer-Porsche 935 K3, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With the end of the collaboration in 1983, the focus shifted more and more towards exclusive small-series vehicles such as the Porsche 935 dp II, which was inspired by successful work in racing. In 2003 Ekkehard Zimmermann, now 63 years old, returned to top-class motorsport after 20 years. The dp5 based on the 911 generation Porsche 996 turbo shaped the VLN long-distance races on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife as "Turbinchen" until 2005. As one of his last major projects, the father of two modeled the Kremer Porsche 2015 K2017, which he created himself in 1981, true to the original between 935 and 3. On September 3, 2020 Ekkehard Zimmermann, who lives in Overath in the Rhineland, will celebrate his 80 birthday.

Youth and training in Peine

Ekkehard Zimmermann grew up with two older siblings in Peine, Lower Saxony. At the age of 15 he began training as a model maker. During this time he mainly made models for later gray cast molds. As a journeyman's piece, he presented such a model made of wood. At the same time, he was experimenting on his first independent automobile construction projects in a rented barn. Before the first prototype with a full plastic body made of polyester material could be created with the "Dingo" based on the Volkswagen Beetle from 1960 to 1962, Zimmermann worked in a malt house immediately after completing his first professional training, where he familiarized himself with welding technology .

At the age of 20, Ekkehard Zimmermann modeled the contours of the later “Dingo” on a shortened chassis of the Volkswagen Beetle made of plaster, which he then molded from polyester material. In this way, the first prototype made entirely of fiberglass material was created, which after its completion in 1962 was to become the basis for an application in the design studio of the Ford factory in Cologne. Zimmermann, who moved to Bensberg in the Rhineland with his parents Emil and Else Zimmermann, who originally came from Schleswig-Holstein, and their two brothers in 1961/62, drove to the German subsidiary of the automobile manufacturer with his own creation on his own initiative. The 24-year-old got a job there straight away. He worked in the cathedral city from 1964 until he founded his own company in 1973.

Company founded in Bergisch-Gladbach.

"When I arrived in Bensberg, I liked it there very much." Ekkehard Zimmermann set up his profession in the Rheinisch-Bergisches Kreis. Initially, the young model maker worked in a printing company owned by a friend of water sports with a wooden catamaran. Zimmermann suggested instead making the fuselage in a special plastic device. After joining Ford, he continued to use the "Dingo" as an everyday vehicle, which was given a roof skin in the course of further development. Once again based on a Volkswagen Beetle, the budding automobile designer realized “Study 2”, which he was able to demonstrate to Henry Ford at an internal presentation. The CEO was very pleased with the result of two to three years of work. In 1970 “Study 2” was approved for road traffic and “Zimmermann, Bensberg” was registered as the manufacturer of the body. The first step to founding a brand and company was taken.

"Study 2" remained approved for road traffic until 1978. At that time Ekkehard Zimmermann had been self-employed with his company “design plastic” - in short “dp” - for five years. After modest beginnings in a double garage in Bergisch-Gladbach, a mutual acquaintance made contact with the Cologne-based Porsche-Kremer racing team, which at the time was using two Porsche 911 S / T in international circuit racing. After a rim manufacturer made a new, one inch wider wheel size available for the rear axle, it stuck out from the contour of the body. The technical regulations stipulated that the treads of the tires, viewed from above, had to be completely covered. Zimmermann was commissioned to design a flared fender. From this he derived a credo that was valid until the very end: “The wheels must be completely covered!” The solution that was found was convincing across the board, the design line was defined.

More and more major projects in Porsche racing.

In 1975, Dr. Hermann Dannesberger received the order to use a Porsche 908/3 in the brand world championship on behalf of the Martini Racing Team. Herbert Müller and Gijs van Lennep, 1974 works drivers in the Martini-Porsche 911 RSR turbo, took over Dannesberger as his contract drivers. The emerging turbo technology was to be adapted to a Porsche 1970/908 initially equipped with an eight-cylinder naturally aspirated engine in 03. Jimmy Grossmann, later chief mechanic of the Porsche-Kremer racing team in Cologne, took on the role of vehicle manager. Ekkehard Zimmermann adapted the body to the new drive train. Although he retained the basic lines of the open racing sports car, he created an independent design with added main headlights arranged below the center of the wheel hub. Inspired by this design idea, Reinhold Joest, a second prominent Porsche racing team owner, placed the order to convert another 908/3 after it had been converted to a six-cylinder turbo engine. Zimmermann found an approach that again differed significantly from the Dannesberger-Porsche and allowed the customers their independence.

With the introduction of the new FIA regulations for special production cars in 1976, Porsche Kremer Racing also placed a major order: the evolution of the Porsche 935 K1, which, after the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1976, had a lower front section based on the model of the now withdrawn Dannesberger -Porsche 908/3 received. Another holistic project followed in 1977 with the Kremer Porsche 935 K2. Kremer's contract driver Robert "Bob" Wollek won with this new design on its first outing on May 1st, 1977 on the demanding Nürburgring-Nordschleife. The Alsatian brought the advantages of the further developed aerodynamics into play: “The contact pressure is a lot higher. I can give full throttle in passages where it was previously impossible. ”From the summer of 1978, the company founders Erwin and Manfred Kremer, together with Ekkehard Zimmermann, drove the development of a radical, third expansion stage, the Kremer-Porsche 935 K3, behind the scenes. With this, Klaus Ludwig and the two Americans Don and Bill Whittington triumphed in the ultimate long-distance classic, the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 10, 1979. Including conversion kits and twelve new vehicles manufactured at the Kremer team headquarters in Köln-Bilderstöckchen, 31 units were able to do so World market.

1981 - 1983: prototypes and paradigm shift.

In 1981 the FIA ​​regulations for special production vehicles (group 5) introduced five years earlier expired. Before the final season, Porsche Kremer Racing decided to build the ultimate, final version of the Porsche 935 based on a tubular space frame. The Porsche 935 K4 was supposed to combine all the knowledge gathered over the years. Ekkehard Zimmermann was once again involved in this major project as the responsible designer. To this day, he rates mold making on the extremely wide and flat prototypes, which are only reminiscent of the Porsche 911 as the initial series product, as his most stylistic work. After the premiere in June 1981 in Wunstorf near Hanover, a second copy was made for export to the United States of America, then the very short era of the 935 K4 ended. A victory, once again brought out by Bob Wollek at the Grand Prix of touring cars on July 5, 1981 on the start and finish loop of the Nürburgring, went into the success of the elaborately manufactured racing sports car.

After the takeover of Porsche Kremer Racing by the banking economist Eberhard A. Baunach on August 10, 2010, he set himself the task of reconstructing the Kremer-Porsche 935 K4. Long after his 70th birthday, Ekkehard Zimmermann took on the mammoth task of realizing the entire body shop a second time. In May 2017, he was able to complete the reconstruction, at least in its raw state. Since then, the vehicle has been looking forward to completion with other Kremer Racing contractors. No less laborious were two work orders in 1982 that were received after the K4 in its original form. Only a few months later, the Porsche racing team owners Reinhold Joest as well as Erwin and Manfred Kremer placed their orders for the creation of closed prototypes according to the FIA ​​regulations of the new Group C. First the Joest-Porsche 936C, which had its racing premiere on March 28, 1982 on the start and finish loop of the Nürburgring. Two and a half months later, Porsche Kremer Racing followed the CK24 at the Le Mans 5 Hours. The Porsche factory made its debut shortly before, on May 16, 1982, with the Type 956. A new dimension was opened, and factory drivers Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell immediately prevailed in the Group C classification.

A new way: The Porsche 935 dp II for the road.

In 1983, the Porsche factory brought eleven 956s to the market at a unit price of 630.000 D-Marks each for racing customers. Although Porsche Kremer Racing produced a second CK5, the Cologne racing team also ordered one of the eleven new Porsche 956s at the same time. The in-house design could no longer prevail against the works car. As a result, Ekkehard Zimmermann only received a few orders from racing customers. A realignment, or rather a return to an earlier development stage of his company, was the consequence. Zimmermann realized a convertible version of the Ferrari 308 for Peter Lorenz (Lorenz & Rankl) as early as the mid-911s, which received an enthusiastic response. On the basis of the Porsche 935 of the G series, he initially created a reminiscence of the successful design line of the Kremer-Porsche 1979 on behalf of Kremer and presented the Porsche 935 Kremer street in 1983. This was followed in the summer of 935 by the Porsche 1983 dp II. Both small-series vehicles were approved for road traffic. Registered as an independent automobile manufacturer at the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), he appeared from 1983 as a producer and marketer in personal union. According to a front page report in the specialist magazine “Sportfahrer” immediately after the presentation of the exclusive small-series coupé in July XNUMX, the first orders were received and the realignment was successfully completed.

In 1985, the private drivers Peter Fritsch and Jürgen Schorn also competed in circuit races with their Porsche 935 dp II. In 1986, Ekkehard Zimmermann took this as an opportunity to implement a first expansion stage for the national ONS regulations for Group H. With its raised rear end and a free-standing wing attached to two wing stands, it took up more and more detailed solutions from the former Group 5 Porsche. Even the engines with exhaust gas turbochargers and enlarged intercoolers in the assembly position above the drive unit, Zimmermann again came closer to the racing versions of the late 1987s and early 24s. In 20, the Austrian Franz Konrad, who lives in Gütersloh, took over the double-loader conversion initially carried out by Peter Fritsch. At the 21-hour race on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife on 1987./9. In June 25.99 the professional racing driver recorded the fastest lap in 1987: 935 minutes. Further incoming orders were the result, and in October 1989 the Leverkusen vending machine operator Otto Altenbach made his debut with his copy of the Porsche 1989 dp II. Two years later, in October 720, Altenbach and Jürgen Oppermann looked back on seven victories of the season in the 1990 Veedol long-distance cup . After the engine output had meanwhile increased to XNUMX HP, the officials forbade the further use of special touring cars of the group H with exhaust gas turbocharging on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife from XNUMX.

Design works of art and a brute "turbine"

Even though a few Porsche 935 dp IIs with a maximum of 350 hp naturally aspirated engines continued to achieve success in the Veedol long-distance cup, Ekkehard Zimmermann turned increasingly to the road sector again at the beginning of the nineties. The Porsche 944 dp Cargo, an avant-garde station wagon version of the transaxle series with a front engine, set special accents. Thanks to this solution, preferred Scandinavian customers were able to avoid the state luxury tax that usually had to be paid when importing sports cars. The high attention value of dp Cargo also accelerated the sale of individual components for the front-engined models from Porsche, which also included spectacular wide-body designs. From 1994 onwards, relevant orders from racing were received again. The industrialist Heinz Remmen from Lennestadt commissioned the comprehensive conversion of a Porsche 911 Carrera Cup of the 964 generation. A year later, Remmen secured overall victory in the Special Touring Car Trophy (STT) 911 with the dp-Porsche 1995 LM GT Kompressor. At that time, the Betzdorf Porsche racing team owner Jürgen Alzen suggested the design line for the Porsche 1983 dp II presented in 935 To adapt the modern chassis of the Porsche 911 of the model generation 964.

In March 1996 the Porsche 935 dp III made its debut in the Veedol Endurance Cup on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. Until the retirement, starting driver Uwe Alzen, the five years younger brother of the vehicle owner Jürgen Alzen, was in the lead. In 2003, the long-standing business relationship with the Alzen brothers led to the dp5, which caused a sensation on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife as the twin-charger racing version of the Porsche 911 turbo of the 996 generation. After an accident on the “Schwedenkreuz” section of the route, the “Turbinchen” was withdrawn from the Nürburgring endurance championship (VLN) in October 2005. The spectacular Alzen-Porsche took part in the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife three times. In the hands of private customers, however, various dp5 continued to take part in racing series such as the Special Touring Car Trophy. In addition, in 2006 Ekkehard Zimmermann built a Lamborghini Gallardo on behalf of the Mönchengladbach brothers, Nicolas and Martin Raeder, which was used in the Nürburgring endurance championship and in the 24 2006-hour race on the Eifel circuit. The private customer Heinz Schmersal from Wuppertal received a second copy in 2007, which the Raeder brothers completed at their former office in Büren in the Paderborn region.

Generation change and two final major projects.

In 2002, Ekkehard Zimmermann's younger son Patrick joined the company and gradually took it over. With the generation change, there was also a realignment. Racing took a back seat. Individual road vehicles, primarily based on the Porsche 911 with fan air cooling, increasingly took up their space. Ekkehard Zimmermann's dp11, a 911 Coupé from the 1976 model year stylized as a total work of art, also fit into this concept. Completed in early summer 2017, it applies alongside the recreation of the Kremer Porsche 935 K4 as a thesis by the design authority Ekkehard Zimmermann. Once more he affirmed by means of the dp11 his credo, formulated more than 40 years earlier: "The wheels must be completely covered!" His sweeping, encompassing radii have gone down in history as his signature, his own design language. On September 3, 2020 Ekkehard Zimmermann will celebrate his 80th birthday in good health with his second wife Petra and their two sons Holger and Patrick.

Of course that had not happened yet!

tuningblog has countless other articles on the subject of car and auto tuning in stock. Do you want to see them all? Just click HERE and look around. In part, we would like to provide you with news but also off the tuning. In our category Tips, products, information & Co We have reviews of car or accessories manufacturers, new ones Tuning Wiki Terms or one or the other Leak veröffentlicht. Following an excerpt of the last articles:

Ekkehard Zimmermann is celebrating his 80th birthday

"Tuningblog.eu" - we keep you up to date on the subject of car tuning and car styling with our tuning magazine and we present you the latest tuned vehicles from all over the world every day. It's best to subscribe to ours Feed and will automatically be informed as soon as there is something new about this post, and of course also to all other contributions.