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The vehicles of Swiss engineer Walter Otto Wyss: W1, W2 and Plainsman

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Created on July 6, 2019

Reading time 7min

Written by:

Olivier Chanson, Balz Schreier

Photos:

Tobias Wyss

Balz Schreier

Mirafilm

Beechcraft

The Autocar

Tobias Wyss

Balz Schreier

Mirafilm

Beechcraft

The Autocar

W2 Sportwagen von Walter Otto Wyss (ca. 1936)

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W1 (1929) – Das erste Fahrzeug von Walter Otto Wyss

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Bild von Partner Planai Classic 2025 Inline 1

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Der W2 von Walter Otto Wyss, gebaut in Zürich im Jahre 1931

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Walter Otto Wyss zweites Fahrzeug W2 erschien in der amerikanischen Zeitschrift "The Autocar" und war für Walter's Karriere enorm wichtig

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Das revolutionäre Hybrid-Fahrzeug Beechcraft Plainsman von Walter Otto Wyss aus dem Jahre 1946

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Beechcraft Plainsman Auto (ca.1949) von Walter Otto Wyss

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Walter Otto Wyss war stets elegant gekleidet, wie ein Schauspieler oder ein Diplomat

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Tobias Wyss – Regisseur des Films Flying Home und Neffe von Walter Otto Wyss

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Summary

This article sheds light on an interesting chapter in Swiss automotive history. Only a few people know Walter Otto Wyss, a Swiss engineer who built his own vehicles and wanted to realize his dream in the USA. Our article summarizes the life of Walter Otto Wyss and presents his three vehicles with many pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

The first vehicle W1
W2, an exciting design
The Plainsman - a hybrid with many innovations
Technical data of the Plainsman
The interior of the Plainsman

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Walter Otto Wyss was born in Switzerland in 1911, shortly before the start of the First World War. As a young engineer, he emigrated to the USA in 1939. During his engineering career there, he worked for Ford (1939-1942), General Motors and Chevrolet (1942-1945), and Beechcraft (1945-1949), among others. He died in Honolulu in 2001 at the age of 90. In his lifetime he built three different cars, the "W1" and the "W2" in Switzerland, and the "Plainsman" in the USA. Unfortunately, none of these cars made it into mass production, and the prototypes have been lost over the years. Like his father, Walter Otto Wyss had a passion for cars and photography. He was introduced to car mechanics at a young age. The curiosity of the youngest member of the Wyss family was specifically encouraged. His father converted his double garage into a private workshop with a petrol station and even employees. Walter's first car, the W1, was built there in 1929 when he was only 18 years old.

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