28/4/1913 - 10/10/1987
Record updated 21-Jun-08
German F3 Champion in 1948, 1949 and 1951. Manufactured Scampolo cars with his partner, Walter Arnold.
Walter Komossa was an engineer who before WWII developed a motorcycle powered three wheel car with his friend and associate, Walter Arnold.
However it was after the war that they turned to racing and with the popularity of Formula 3, their Scampolo cars enjoyed some success in Germany.
Germany, unlike the UK had a 750cc engine capacity for F3. This was mainly due to the number of engine of this size that were readily available and their first competition car was powered by a 600cc two cylinder DKW engine mounted behind the driver.
Walter Komossa raced this Scampolo 600 at various events in 1948 in Germany, winning five races and taking the West German F3 Championship. During 1948 the partners built another F3 car to 500cc regulations, the Scampolo 500.
However in 1949 Komossa raced a Scampolo 501. This had the usual DKW but with a Roots supercharger. He won four races on his way to a second West German F3 Championship.
For 1950 the German F3 regulation came into line with other countries and engine capacity was reduced to 500cc. However the old formula cars were still permitted to compete. Komossa introduced the Scampolo 502 with BMW power mated to a VW gearbox. He continued to enjoy success taking five more wins however, due to ill health, he did not complete the full season and the title went to Toni Kreuzer in his Cooper-Jap.
In 1951 he sold the car Helmut Deutz. Deutz would go on to win the Championship the following year, however the title in 1951 went to Komossa again.
Poor health again brought an early end to Komossa season in 1952 though not before he had won a number of races.
A new 750cc two seater Scampolo was built in 1953. Komossa and Arnold entered the ADAC 1000km race at the Nürburgring in August, finishing 23rd overall and 9th in class. Considering they were up against the likes of Alberto Ascari and Giuseppe Farina in a Ferrari 375 MM Vignale Spyder and Ian Stewart and Roy Salvadori in a C Type Jaguar, they didn't do too badly.
There were plans to launch the car as a small sports car at an affordable price but the project never got off the ground. Komossa was injured while testing in the winter of 1953 and in 1954 the two partners sold up and quit racing.
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