Joseph Ledwinka 1870-1949 + letter laid in
Philadelphia: Budd Company, February 1950. Privately printed. Stapled soft cover. 12p, 3 ills. Good (cover soil, small label on front). Item #31180
A memorial tribute published by Ledwinka's longtime employer. Ledwinka was the pioneering automotive engineer who developed "the first four-wheel brakes, the first individual wheel drive, the first car with gas-electric power...That he was the real father of the modern, streamlined all-steel automobile body is unquestioned." The U.S. Patent Office honored him with Patent No. 2,000,000 in 1935. Laid in: copy of a 3-page typed letter from Ledwinka to an officer of the automobile body firm Ambi-Budd Presswerk in Berlin, February 19, 1941. With wit and technical expertise Ledwinka skewers the idea of plastic automobiles (made from soya beans?). "And if this lengthy epistle makes you forget for a few moments the woes in this troubled world and twists your solemn face to a grin, I will be amply repaid." The publication is not in WorldCat. Can be sent outside the US for less than the default shipping rate.
Price: $45.00