Schwarzkopf is a
roller coaster design and construction company founded by Anton Schwarzkopf in Behlingen, Germany. In 1954 the company did some alterations on existing rides until 1955 when Schwarzkopf designed his first custom attraction. Anton’s son, Wieland, took over the company in 1960 and built the company’s first full steel rollercoaster: the “Wildcat”. The confusion concerning Schwarzkopf coasters is that they seldom did their own design and construction. Often other companies were subcontracted and even
Intamin did quite a bit of representation for them which causes
Intamin to sometimes show as the builder of a Schwarzkopf attraction. The company has since gone quite downhill. Starting in 1983 they suffered a series of unfortunate bankruptcies and unlucky turns of events. Anton Schwarzkopf passed away in 2001 from
Parkinsons disease.
The company design/construction catalogue includes 18 different roller coaster attractions, many of which are still standing in some form. The following is a run-down of various roller coaster structures that were in some part a Schwarzkopf attraction:
- Model: Alpenblitz 2 – Built: 8 (5 closed, 3 still operating) – Notable: Alpen Blitz at Six Flags Great Adventure opened in 1976
- Model: City Jet / Jet 400 – Built: 5 (1 closed, 3 operating, 1 in storage) – Notable: Viper at Louden Castle is a recently opened ride of this model. Opened on July 20th, 2002.
- Model: Double Looping – Built: 3 (1 closed, 2 still operating) – Notable: Laser at Dorney Park opened in 1986.
- Model: Jet Star – Built: 15 (10 closed, 5 still operating) – Notable: Starchaser at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom opened 1987
- Model: Jet Star 2 – Built: 10 (3 closed, 5 still operating, 1 in storage, 1 SBNO {standing but not operating}) – Notable: Black Hole at Alton Towers opened 1983.
- Model: Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet – Built: 12 (9 closed, 2 still operating, 1 SBNO) – Notable: Jumbo Jet at Coney Island Rides SBNO.
- Model: Jumbo V – Built: 2 (1 closed, 1 still operating) – Notable: Last operating model is Cannonball Express at New Pleasurewood Hills.
- Model: Katapult – Built: 6 (5 closed, 1 still operating) – Notable: Last operating model is OK Corral at Lasso Loop.
- Model: Looping Star – Built: 16 (7 closed, 9 still operating) – Notable: Viper at Six Flags Astroworld
- Model: Münchner Bahn – Built: 3 (2 closed, 1 in storage) – Notable: Roller Coaster at Future World
- Model: Shuttle Loop – Built: 18 (8 closed, 9 still operating, 1 under construction) – Notable: Greezed Lightnin’ is under construction as of early 2003 at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.
- Model: Silver Arrow – Built: 3 (2 closed, 1 still operating) – Notable: Last operating mode is Scorpion at Busch Gardens Tampa
- Model: Wildcat – Built: 29 (18 closed, 11 still operating) – Notable: Wildcat at Cedar Point opened in 1970 and a new reopened version in 1979.
Resources include roller coaster database (http://www.rcdb.com) and Schwarzkopf company information.