Wilhelm Hofmeister (1912–1978) was the BMW design chief from 1955 to 1970.
[1] Trained as an engineer at the Hamburg Wagenbauschule,[2] he was more a skillful manager than a stylist.
He is credited with the design of the BMW New Class and the Hofmeister kink is named after him.
[3] Hofmeister's predecessor at BMW was Peter Szymanowski and his successor was Paul Bracq.