Retro Wildcat 2.0 - Wieland Schwarzkopf interview at IAAPA Expo 

I wish the text had an outline so it would be easier to read over his white shirt. Any possibility of adding closed captions? This is such a treasure of an interview, and way longer than most we see on this channel.

Part 2 of my comment: From my honest point of view, my belief is that he wishes to bring back one of his father's coasters he originally created in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, and to bring it back one more time for his father's 100th birthday since he was born back in 1924. Considering this, I believe it is similar to how carnival or county fair attractions are setup. One of which would be a Retro styled Wildcat, 2X taller than the original wildcat's height, and one that would be easy to setup and take down, and bring it with them on the go, to showcase it around to other theme parks in the hopes that one of them might want to keep that type of attraction in the park. And, if the park wishes to not want the attraction anymore, they can easily take it down without taking out large pieces of the ride down (instead smaller individual pieces that make up the attraction and the coaster itself) and be shipped off to another theme park whom wishes to buy the attraction for their theme park for this year or next year. It'll be interesting to see how these retired engineers from decades past try to come up with something like this, as while it may not revolutionize the coaster industry, it'll definitely be introducing a brand new concept for other family coaster attractions to follow if it does become a success outside of Europe. Unfortunately as with many CoasterForce videos, most of the videos aren't closed captioned, considering POVs of coasters and rides usually results in screams, cheers, or yelps of intense fear or excitement, followed by having to listen to what each person is saying before and after the attraction is starting or has ended. So I put in my time and effort to literally transcribe in my first comment, to help with those whom may have bad vision or hard to see text blend in with the video, into a much easier text format in the comments, so this way you can follow along with it from beginning to end of this interview. Again, your welcome, took me about an hour and a half to get this over with, pausing and playing to transcribe each sentence into a format that's easy to read and understand.

Text transcribed from the hard-to-see yellow text at the bottom of this video from beginning to end: East Coast(er) General: "Mr. Schwarzkopf, thank you very much for spending some time with us." Mr. Schwarzkopf: "Gladly." East Coast(er) General: "We know you're very busy and it's very nice of you to spare a few minutes for us....Ummm, Let's start right off with um, IAAPA. You haven't introduced any new products here since 2000 when IAAPA was held in Atlanta, and you showed the new cars for the Thriller coaster being installed in Houston, Texas. Now, you're here again 22 years later, can you say why that is after so many years??" Mr. Schwarzkopf: "Yes, gladly. Since 2000, if that was the last time which you are probably right about. The situation has also change a little for us. For one, changes internally at the company and on the other hand, we've had products that have mostly been seen in the European market and not in America. And that's why we were, shall I say, somewhat withdrawn. But the current occasion is, of course, a special one. The occasion is first and foremost, that my father Anton, would be 100 years old come 2024. And for this occasion the family, and particularly myself, I naturally thought that something had to be done from out standpoint. I know that very many enthusiasts are doing something, preparing something, so there are going to be some celebrations, so to say, but we have to do something ourselves as well. So it's best if we actively do something associated with the name Schwarzkonf, yeah. And what is it? It has to be a roller coaster. The idea also came about by coincidence, through a friend of mine in Germany who owns an amusement park, that has an old Wildcat in his park and phoned me, asking if I could help him find a new home for this Wildcat. He needed room for something new and, well yeah. After three phone calls, I was able to find a new home in Germany for the attraction, namely in Berlin, where it returned to the site it was originally sold from in 1968. At any rate, I then went to him and the man said to me; "Actually I'd be an idiot to get rid of the attraction, because it's the best family ride that I've got in the park." Then it started to get me thinking, to cut a long story short, for this reason we decided we would also, for the occasion of the 100th birthday, to relaunch the first bestseller from my father's catalog; And that was the Wildcat. So I found a team of old engineers who have the experience and the know how, to engineer a mobile version of such an attraction. That's not an easy task anymore. Mobile versions of roller coasters don't really exist in such big proportions. So I needed people who have that experience, I found those. They are with the team and together with them we've setup a Wlidcat with the same original footprint, but "twice as high". This gives it a completely different ride experience, Speed is substantially higher than the original, and additionally we have included some new features that make the attraction very, very, very attractive." East Coast(er) General: "But it will still remain a family coaster??" Mr. Schwarzkopf: "It remains a family coaster. That means we don't have any "Overhead lapbars and all this kind of stuff." We have "just the front lapbar and that's it." East Coast(er) General: "Okay, Uhhh...Ummm....All this is, of course, greatly influenced by your father." Mr. Schwarzkopf: "Yeah." East Coast(er) General: "What we're talking about here, naturally....When was the first impact that you remember him having on you? Like form your youth, with roller coasters and your father-" Mr. Schwarzkopf: "yea" East Coast(er) General: "-with his position as a legend. When did you become aware of his status???" Mr. Schwarzkopf: "I would like to say, for the first time intensively, as I entered into the company professionally. That was the start of the seventies, more precisely 1972. I didn't want to study. All that bored me. I wanted to work - wanted to do something. Schooling was always a horror for me. So I graduated from college prep school, and then went to my father and said "I don't want to study, I want to join the company. He said "What did I want to do there??" I didn't have the qualifications of a welder, or a metalworker, or a carpenter. What should I do?... And then I said: "I would like to start something here that doesn't already exist here." He asked, "Well what do you have in mind?" I said "A service department." We had built so many rides by then. They need service, the clients need service. I have some ideas and I wanted to do something. My father said, "Do it. Ok, Just do it." He didn't want anything to do with it. And so it came about that I build a service department with a spare parts department. And after the first year my father saw the financial numbers my department generated. From that moment on I got his respect, because he never expected that such profits could be generated solely from service and spare parts. And he let me do it all. And that was very important to me in my continued growth, because through that I quickly developed independence at a young age. I always wanted to be independent - to make and go my own way. And that's why my father actually, because of the fact that he wasn't interested, but then later was. He gave me that, and I thank him for that with all my heart." East Coast(er) General: Then years later, you started your own company." Mr. Schwarzkopf: "I left my father's company when it was forced to close in 1984. I started my own business in 1985, likewise with service and spare parts. And then, in the later years, began building my own rides. But on a smaller scale - a manageable scale, as far as staff." East Coast(er) General: "Yeah okay Let's get back to the new Retro Wildcat 2.0. You're not doing this alone." Mr. Schwarzkopf: "No, I'm not doing it alone..Umm...As I previously mentioned, I've put together a very interesting engineering team, partially from Germany, partially from Italy. Because in Italy during the 1960's and 70's there were two companies that also built attractions similar to the Wildcat - also transportable - and in terms of engineering, almost identical. So I was able to re-animate old engineers that were already in retirement. Both from Germany and Italy, that used to work for my father. And with them I was able to conceive the attraction, as far as engineering is concerned." East Coast(er) General: "But what we haven't mentioned, is where we're standing, at the Premiere (Premier) Rides Booth." Mr. Schwarzkopf: "Here at Premiere Rides." East Coast(er) General: "Yes what do they have to do with this?" Mr. Schwarzkopf: "Exactly...Ummm....Jim Seay, the owner of Premiere (Premier) Rides, and I have known each other for over 30 years. And a few months ago...(Thinks about it)...the opportunity came about to get together and I present my idea, rather my project, to him. He found it very interesting and gave it some thought. A few days later he called me and said; "Wieland, I think this idea is extremely interesting and attractive." He offered assistance if I needed any help with the American market, and would be delighted if he could represent this project, this concept, in the American sector." East Coast(er) General: "So that means the roller coaster is not being built by Premiere (Premier) Rides???" Mr. Schwarzkopf: "No." East Coast(er) General: "But rather by yourself??" Mr. Schwarzkopf: "Exactly." East Coast(er) General: "I think that needs to be explained, because many people might think you are here at Premiere Rides (Premier Rides), because the coaster isn't going to be a real Schwarzkopf coaster, but rather a Premiere (Premier) Rides version of a Schwarzkopf coaster." Mr. Schwarzkopf: "No, No." East Coast(er) General: "That's not the case???" Mr. Schwarzkopf: "No, Absolutely not the case. It remains a Schwarzkopf coaster, even though Premiere (Premier) Rides will be selling it here." East Coast(er) General: "yeah...Okay. Thanks for the explanation and thanks for your time, as we know you're very busy here. And we wish you much luck, especially that you get a Wildcat 2.0 built in time for your father's 100th birthday." Mr. Schwarzkopf: "That's what we hope above all." East Coast(er) General: "That's what we hope above all??" Mr. Schwarzkopf: "(Yes) Exactly." East Coast(er) General: "Thank you very much." Mr. Schwarzkopf: "Many thanks also." End of transcription....Your welcome.

I just wish they showed us more than a stock image.

Year of Wildcats'