Fritz Fend

Fritz Fend (April 14, 1920 – November 22, 2000): was an aeronautical engineer. He was noted for designing Messerschmitt's Kabinenroller (cabinscooter) KR175 and KR200 microcars, for co-founding FMR, the company that took over production of the Kabinenrollers in 1956, and for designing the FMR Tg500, a sports microcar based on the Kabinenroller. Fend continued his career as an inventor and designer after the KR200 ended production. Fend was working on another lightweight vehicle project shortly before his death.

After the Second World War, Fend, who had been a technical officer with the Luftwaffe, opened a workshop in Rosenheim, Germany. In 1948, he devised an invalid carriage in the form of a tricycle. The front wheel of the tricycle was powered by pushing the handlebars back and forth. Originally designed with bicycle wheels, it was redesigned with scooter wheels in order to make the carriage lower. Fend later made a version that was powered by a 38 cc (2.3 cu in) Victoria two-stroke engine.

Fend then designed and built the Fend Flitzer, an invalid carriage designed from the start to be powered by an engine. He reversed the layout of his original tricycle, giving the Flitzer two front wheels and one rear wheel. As with usual convention, the front wheels were steered while the rear wheel was powered. About 250 Flitzers were built between 1948 and the end of production in 1951.

In addition to the invalid carriages, Fend designed and built the Fend Lastenroller, a three-wheeled forecar moped with a cargo platform or trunk between the front wheels.

Many Flitzer buyers were not invalids but healthy people seeking basic personal transportation. This led Fend to design the Fend 150, a larger, two-passenger car based on the concepts of the Flitzer. With mass production in mind, Fend approached Willy Messerschmitt with a proposal for Messerschmitt AG to build a more developed version of the Fend 150.

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