Drivers and constructors
Baltisberger, Hans

Hans Baltisberger was born on 18 September 1922 as one of five children of a doctor from Reutlingen and was the much-cited problem child. Instead of taking over his father’s practice, he dropped out of medical school and opened an advertising agency as a graphic designer in 1945. His first own motorbike changed everything in 1948. The more he got into motorbike racing, the more his advertising office began to disintegrate. With an iron will, Baltisberger acquired the necessary technical know-how and soon outran the German competition. He lost the German championship in 1951 due to a crash literally on the last metres of the last classification run.

In 1954, Hans Baltisberger, coming from BMW, joined the NSU factory team and was able to climb the podium several times in the 125 cc as well as in the 250 cc class. When NSU withdrew

from motorsport, Baltisberger switched to the NSU Sportmax as a private rider – just like H. P. Müller. In several hot duels, Baltisberger was able to prevail against his former team colleague Müller and became German champion in the class up to 250 cc in 1955. In 1956, the father of two was able to repeat this success, but he had a fatal accident before the end of the season at the Grand Prix of Czechoslovakia on 26 August 1956.

NSU racing team

Picture: The NSU racing team with Werner Haas, constructor, Ewald Praxl, Hans Baltisberger and Rupert Hollaus (1954).

Baumm, Gustav Adolf

Born in Silesia on 16 June 1920, Gustav Adolf Baumm called himself a “graphic artist by profession” and had already been working on aerodynamics and streamlined record-breaking vehicles for some time when he came into contact with NSU in 1951. In addition to his undisputed creative talent, Baumm possessed the ability to masterfully put himself into technical situations. Although he looked like a “Ersatzchristus von Oberammergau”, he was able to convince the NSU management of his ideas.

In cooperation with the NSU research department, Baumm demonstrated his expertise and his characteristic practicality and produced two record-breaking vehicles, which the husband and family father drove himself to record honours for the first time in April 1954. Thanks to the excellent drag coefficients (0.07)

and the good steering behaviour of the “Baumm’s deckchairs”, their inventor set eleven new speed records in the classes from 50 cc to 175 cc at the first go with the Baumm I (50 cc Quickly engine with 3.4 hp) and the Baumm II (100 cc Fox four-stroke engine with 7.2 hp). In another record hunt in May 1955, an improved Quickly engine (4.7 hp) and a 125 cc Rennfox engine (18 hp) were used in the tried and tested Bäummen. In one day, Baumm set 22 new world records up to the 350 cc class.

After Baumm – without much racing experience – had proven himself to be an excellent rider in the various test and record rides, he also wanted to prove the suitability of his streamlined designs for circuit racing. During a corresponding demonstration drive on the Nürburgring on 23 May 1955, Gustav Adolf Baumm went off the track and suffered serious injuries to which he succumbed on the same day.

Baumm, Gustav Adolf

Picture: G. A. Baumm with family after a successful record hunt (1954)

Böhm, Hermann

Picture: Detail; person on the left

The heavyweight Hermann Böhm was born on May 15, 1916, and began his sidecar career at the tender age of 18 as a “grease monkey” for former European champion Hans Schumann, with whom he became German champion in the sidecar class up to 600 cc in 1934 and 1935. Thanks to this experience, Böhm was soon able to set up his own business as a sidecar driver and joined the NSU works team in 1937. Even then, he entered into a long-standing partnership with Karl Fuchs and won the Schleizer Dreieck race and Schotten with him in the very first season.

After the war, Hermann Böhm started again with Fuchs on NSU and were able to record 22 placings in 1946. In 1947, the unbeatable team won 31 first and second prizes as well as the German championship in the 600 sidecar class and the German mountain championship in the 1,000 cc class. In 1948, the first

material fatigue of the NSU pre-war sidecars became noticeable, which is why Böhm was able to win “only” 13 prizes and the German Championship up to 600 cc.

In 1949, Hermann Böhm and Karl Fuchs became members of the newly founded NSU works team, but they did not manage to win a title that year on the less stable 500 cc NSU Kompressorgespann. In 1950, the Böhm/Fuchs team won almost all sidecar races and thus the German championship in the class up to 600 cc for the third time.

A year before his retirement from active racing, Böhm set several class records as well as the absolute world speed record for sidecars of 248 km/h at the 1951 NSU record attempts on the Munich-Ingolstadt autobahn with streamlined NSU supercharged machines (350 cc and 500 cc). Böhm was a six-time German champion and received the “Silver Laurel Leaf” as the highest sports award from German President Heuss. Hermann Böhm died in Stadtsteinach on February 21, 1983.

Böhm, Hermann

Picture: Cartoon of the Böhm/Fuchs team from the NSU press department (1950).

Fleischmann, Heiner

Heiner Fleischmann, a trained automotive mechanic, was born in Amberg on February 2, 1914. In 1933, he followed his brother Toni, who raced for Triumph, to Nuremberg as a mechanic and moved to NSU’s testing department in 1934. There he decided to switch to racing as well. At the Schleizer Dreieck race at the end of 1934, he impressed with the fastest time of all ID drivers (108 km/h). As early as August 1935, he competed as a licensed driver in the Grand Hill Climb in Freiburg.

Now victory followed victory. In 1936 he became German champion in the class up to 350 cc. He won this title again in 1937, taking ten victories and three second places. He raced on all tracks at home and abroad, in the 350 cc and 500 cc classes, and was always to be found in the top ranks. However, an injury and compulsory military service put him out of racing in 1938.

Since DKW had improved its machines considerably in the meantime, Fleischmann switched from NSU to its rival DKW.

In 1939, he took the title of European champion on a 350 cc DKW, which at the time was equivalent to today’s world championship. At the peak of success, World War II ended his stellar career for the time being.

When regulated racing became possible again in Germany in 1947, Heiner Fleischmann was once again part of the action. Already at the first races, he succeeded on NSU to tie up to old successes, and he wins the German mountain championship 1947 at the first go.

Because NSU technology was constantly becoming more competitive, he was able to relegate his arch-rival Georg “Schorsch” Meier to 2nd place in the Eilenriede race in 1950. This duel culminated in the legendary race at the Hockenheimring in 1950. Until the 13th lap, Fleischmann was hanging on to the rear wheel of the “cast-iron” Meier, when a bump suddenly became his undoing. He flew into the spectators together with his machine, among whom there were fatalities and injuries. Fleischmann was also seriously injured, but soon returned to the starting grid and in 1950 secured the championship title in the 350 cc class in addition to several

victories. The following year, Heiner Fleischmann retired from racing and from then on took care of his hotel in Amberg, where he died at the age of only 49 on December 25, 1963.

Picture: Heiner Fleischmann before the start (1950).

Froede, Dr. Walter

Walter Froede was born in Hamburg on April 28, 1910, and passed his Abitur there as a first-class student in 1927. He then went to the shipyard school at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg for two years as a mechanical engineering apprentice and then began studying general mechanical engineering in Berlin on a scholarship from Blohm & Voss, working part-time as a trainee at the Berlin locomotive manufacturer Borsig. In 1935, he graduated with a diploma and went to work as an engineer at the Experimental Institute for Motor Vehicles at the TH Berlin, where he received his doctorate in 1941.

That same year, Froede joined NSU as head of the testing department for motorcycles and Wehrmacht vehicles, and two years after the end of the war he took over as head of the American repair operations at the NSU plant. From 1950, as head of NSU’s racing department, he was instrumental in developing the engines, chassis and fairings for NSU’s world championship and record-breaking machines. Together with chief designer Albert Roder and racing manager Ernst-Gustav Germer, he led NSU to both championship titles from 1952 to

1954 and speed records in 1951, 1954 and 1956. Baumm’s reclining chair and its inventor may just be considered his discovery.

Just as the collaboration with Gustav Adolf Baumm began in 1951, so did Froede’s collaboration with the inventor Felix Wankel, which he intensively promoted from 1952 as head of research and preliminary development. As head of the research and development department for the Wankel engine (1956), director of the research department (1961) and head of NSU Wankel research (1969), the engineer with a doctorate stood for the unusual power unit until his retirement in 1971. Although Dr. Walter Froede had been involved since 1950 with all the design work that was crucial for the world record and world championship machines, his real life’s work consisted of developing the Wankel engine to production maturity, from the NSU/Wankel Spider to the NSU Ro 80.

Froede, Dr. Walter

Picture: Dr. Froede with models of his record-breaking vehicles and parts of a Wankel engine (1955).

Germer, Ernst-Gustav

NSU General Director Walter E. Niegtsch, who was enthusiastic about motor sports, had hired Ernst-Gustav Germer, born on October 28, 1917, a former professional officer, in 1949 at a Heilbronn car dealership to build up the fast NSU squad, and he was entrusted with its organizational management until 1956. Wearing knickerbockers, a suede vest and a Manx cap, Germer became a trademark on the race tracks. Alongside the head of research, Dr. Walter Froede, and the head of testing and later chief designer, Ewald Praxl, Germer was regarded as one of the “godfathers” of NSU’s worldwide successes.

As race director, Germer not only had to find the right drivers for the extraordinary NSU machines, but he was also responsible for making sure that everyone and everything was in the right place at the right time to win for NSU. His schedule included all NSU successes up to the dissolution of the racing department in 1956: Winning the double German Motorcycle Championship in 1950 (350 cc and 600 cc sidecars); setting eight world speed records in 1951; winning the German Motorcycle Championship

(125 cc) in 1952; winning the World Brand Championship (250 cc), the double World Championship and the double German Championship (125 cc and 250 cc) in 1953; Winning the double world championship (125 cc and 250 cc), the triple German championship (125 cc, 250 cc and 350 cc) and setting eleven world speed records in 1954; winning the German off-road championship (250 cc) and setting 22 new world speed records in 1955; winning the German off-road championship (250 cc) and setting all world speed records possible for motorcycles in 1956.

After the factory’s retirement from motorsport, Germer became head of domestic sales and took over the Audi Sales Center Southwest from 1972 until his retirement.

Germer, Ernst-Gustav

Picture: Ernst-Gustav Germer (3rd from left) with Director Frankenberger, Werner Haas, H. P. Müller, Ewald Praxl and Albert Roder (1954).

Haas, Werner

Werner Haas became a legend in just three racing years. Born on March 30, 1927, the Augsburg native became enthusiastic about motorcycling at an early age and, after completing his automotive apprenticeship, worked as a vacuum cleaner salesman and truck driver. In 1947, he tinkered together a racing machine based on an NSU 501 OSL in a friend’s living room and immediately won his first race in Mindelheim. In 1949 he rebuilt a 500 cc SS Bullus racing machine and competed in Riem as a credentialed rider, where he finished 3rd. In the winter of 1951/52 Haas then worked as a test rider for ARDIE.

In 1952 Haas took part in the Feldberg race with a self-tuned 125 cc Puch and finished fourth behind three NSU Rennfox. This placing earned him the attention of NSU race director Germer, who signed him up for one of the NSU Rennfoxes a few days later at Solitude – due to an acute shortage of drivers. Werner Haas prevailed against the international competition, won the race and immediately received a factory contract. A star was born. In the same season, he proved his ability – both on Rennfox and Rennmax – with several victories and 2nd places.

The racing year 1953 was then completely dominated by the combination of Werner Haas and NSU: In the class up to 125 cc, Haas won seven out of eleven races contested on the revised NSU Rennfox and finished second twice. On NSU Rennmax, Haas won five of 13 races contested and three second places. Werner Haas became double world champion in 1953 and two-time German champion in the quarter and eight-liter class as well as sportsman of the year.

In the 1954 season, Haas almost repeated the incredible successes of the previous year. In the 125 cc class, he won two of nine races and finished second three times. In the class up to 250 cc, Haas won eight times in 13 races and finished second once. This meant that in 1954 Werner Haas was once again two-time German champion in the two small classes and world champion in the class up to 250 cc.

Just as quickly as his career had begun, Haas ended it. With the end of NSU’s factory motorsport involvement, Werner Haas also withdrew from racing and devoted himself to his hobbies: off-road racing on the NSU Geländemax, mountain climbing and flying. Still in 1955, Haas opened a DEA service station with an espresso bar and a fast car wash in Augsburg. On November 13, 1956, the three-time world champion and four-time German champion on NSU fell victim to his passion, sport flying, and was killed in a plane crash.

Picture: Werner Haas on NSU Rennfox in action (1953).

Herz, Wilhelm

Wilhelm Herz was born on January 18, 1912, in Lampertheim, Hesse, the son of a carpenter. In 1932, he won for the first time at Hockenheim on a DKW he had converted himself in the 500 cc ID class. Since 1934 Herz had the international license, became a member of the DKW works team for one season in 1937 and best privateer driver in the 500 cc class in 1938 on DKW. In 1939 he switched to the NSU works team, but failed to achieve any significant success with the new NSU supercharged engines.

Soon after the end of the Second World War, Wilhelm Herz began to repair and optimize one of the 350 cc NSU pre-war supercharged engines that had been made available to him by the factory. In 1948, he became German champion in the 350 cc class. From 1949, he was a member of the newly founded NSU factory team and worked tirelessly to bring the world speed record for motorcycles to Neckarsulm. Thanks to his technical expertise, Herz played a major role in the development of the Delphin I, its streamlined fairing and its supercharged engines. On April 12, 1951, he set a new absolute world speed record for

motorcycles of 290 km/h (valid for the classes from 500 cc to 1,250 cc) on the Munich-Ingolstadt 500 cc supercharged freeway.

After New Zealander Russel Wright had improved Herz’s record by almost 8 km/h in 1955, NSU took all the speed records possible for motorcycles at the beginning of August 1956 on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA, with the revised Baumm II and the Delphin III. Herz succeeded in raising the absolute speed record to 339 km/h, a record that stood until 1962 according to FIM standards.

Wilhelm Herz had been president of the Badischer Motorsport-Club e.V. since 1953 and was also associated with national motorsport as managing director of Hockenheim-Ring GmbH. However, the hunt for records did not let him go, even as an independent NSU dealer. In a private initiative, for example, he set 14 international and 24 U.S. records on the salt lakes of Utah in 1965 with a record car of his own construction with the proven 350 cc and 500 cc NSU supercharged engines. The multiple family and grandfather Wilhelm Herz died on January 5, 1998 and was buried at his own request in his hometown.

Picture: Wilhelm Herz exercising for fitness (1949).

Hollaus, Rupert

The first Austrian motorcycle world champion Rupert Hollaus was born on September 1, 1931 in Traisen and came into contact with motorcycles at an early age as the son of a workshop owner. At the age of 18, he already scored his first successes in motorcycle races. The young Hollaus first attracted attention in Germany in 1951, when he finished fifth in the “Schauinsland hill climb” on a Moto Guzzi-Albatros. In 1952 he won several times on Moto Guzzi in the 250 cc class and on Norton in the class up to 350 cc. In addition, he had purchased a 125 cc Mondial and was thus able to compete in three classes. Wherever he competed in Germany in 1953, the privateer Hollaus took good, often even first places, such as at Feldberg, Schotten and Solitude. Towards the end of the season, he joined NSU: at the races on the Avus, in Monza and in Barcelona, he was also able to demonstrate his skills – especially on wet and winding tracks – on Rennfox and Rennmax, and was already given a permanent works contract for 1954.

Hollaus felt visibly at home on the clad NSU machines of the 1954 racing year. On the Rennmax, he started twelve times in the 250 cc class, winning three races and finishing second five times. In the 125 cc class he competed nine times, finished 2nd and won seven times. Before the end of the season, he thus became the first motorcycle world champion from Austria. But fate struck just a few days later: during one of the training rides for the “Grand Prix of Nations” in Monza on September 11, 1954, Hollaus touched down with the footrest in a bend, crashed into the straw bales at the side of the road and was killed instantly. The fatal accident prompted NSU to immediately withdraw all entries for the upcoming race. With the decision soon to follow to withdraw from motorsport at the factory, Monza 1954 is not only associated with the tragic death of world champion Rupert Hollaus, but at the same time stands for the last outing of the NSU factory racing team that had been so successful.

Hollaus, Rupert

Picture: Rupert Hollaus with his trophies (1954).

Müller, H. P.

The “racing tiger” Hermann Paul Müller was born in Bielefeld on November 21, 1909, and after leaving secondary school in 1928 completed a year of voluntary work in engine construction at Dürkopp-Werke AG as well as the flying school in Münster. H. P. reviews his motorsport career, which includes 203 first prizes as well as numerous titles and records, in a “profile” in 1969:

“I made my debut as a racing driver 40 years ago at the ‘Teutoburgerwald Race’ in 1929. I achieved my first major success in 1932, when I became German champion for motorcycles with sidecars, class 600 cc. I came to ‘AUDI’ in the middle of 1935 as a factory driver for the 500 cc solo class. Already in 1936 I could win the German championship and become vice European champion. After a previous aptitude test, I received a contract as a driver for AUTO UNION racing cars for 1937, as well as for 1938 and 1939. I participated in almost all international automobile races. My greatest success came in 1939 at the French Grand Prix, which I won in a new record time. In the same year I became vice mountain champion and vice European champion for Grand Prix racing cars. With the

outbreak of the 2nd World War all sporting activity ceased. I became a soldier in 1939.

When it was finally over, however, there were no more automobile races for the time being. I returned to the motorcycle. With a purchasable 250 cc DKW racing machine I started as a private rider. Victory followed victory. In 1950 the time had come. AUTO UNION engaged me again as a factory driver. In the following time I could become four times German champion of the solo classes 125 and/or 250 ccm. In 1952 I drove for the Italian company Mondial and in 1953 for Horex. In 1954 NSU engaged me. Once again, a German championship title was due, but this time in the class up to 350 cc. But the real highlights of the second phase of my racing career were yet to come. At the end of 1954, the NSU team was told by the management: ‘NSU is no longer racing on the roads! But, you can, if you want, privately drive a Sportmax to the races.’ I said yes.

It was worthwhile. I became the world champion of 1955, but that wasn’t all. NSU sought to wipe out all existing motorcycle world records over the short distances of 1 km to 10 miles. In 1956, the time had come. On the Salt Flats in the state of Utah,

USA, I succeeded in setting or significantly improving 38 world records with an NSU Baumm vehicle in the classes from 50 to 350 cc. Since from this point on no German company was involved in racing anymore, I also gave up racing.”

From 1959, the father of two worked for AUTO UNION GmbH, Ingolstadt, and the Dutch engine factory Pluvier NV, and retired at the end of 1972. Interested in motor sports all his life, H. P. Müller died in Ingolstadt on December 30, 1975.

Pictures: H. P. Müller with wife Mariele in front of the trophy cabinet at home (1954) and “racing tiger” Müller relaxing in the paddock (1954).

Panowitz, Karl-Heinz

Karl-Heinz Panowitz from Böblingen was born on November 4, 1922, and after his apprenticeship he worked as a self-employed businessman. In 1960, he entered active motorsport with an Alfa Romeo and as early as 1962 he became German Touring Car Mountain Champion on NSU Prinz II (30). The “level-headed daredevil” was winner of the Great NSU Winner’s Cup in 1963 as the most successful NSU sports driver and won the German GT Rallye Championship in 1966 on NSU/Wankel Spider. After the eighth round, the Avus Rallye, Panowitz became German GT Rallye Champion in all displacement classes – ahead of Porsche 911, Mercedes 250 SE, Glas 1304 TS and Alfa Romeo Super. For the first time in the history of motorsport, the Panowitz/Strunz team brought an automobile with a Wankel engine to championship glory in competition.

After considerable disagreement among the technical commissioners of the International Motor Sport Authority FIA, the NSU/Wankel Spider with 500 cc chamber volume was

classified in the class up to 1000 cc reciprocating engines. Due to lack of competition, Panowitz had to contest the championship rounds several times in the 1300 cc class.

In 1967 he drove the Norwegian Winter Rallye and in 1968 he participated in the Monte Carlo Rallye. At the same time he offered courses to sports drivers in Hockenheim. In 1972 he worked as chief instructor for the ADAC Gau Württemberg and the Motorsport Club Stuttgart e.V. in an anti-skid school. In 1972 Panowitz received as the most successful sportsman on Neckarsulm and Ingolstadt markes the golden AUDI NSU winner pin with double brilliants by member of the board H. E. Schönbeck and by H. P.Müller of the press department/sports support presented. Karl-Heinz Panowitz died in 1973.

Praxl, Ewald

Born on July 5, 1911 in Postelberg/Czech Republic, Ewald Praxl studied mechanical engineering at the German Technical University in Prague and then joined NSU in 1939 as a young engineer in the off-road vehicle department. There, the ‘Kettenkraftrad’ was built, which was used not only in agriculture and forestry but also by the German Armed Forces. After World War II, Praxl became the first designer in the design department, and the type designations for the Fox, Lux and Max motorcycles, which he also played a major role in designing, are closely associated with his name.

In 1951, Praxl became head of the testing and racing department and was thus responsible for the world speed records of 1951, 1954, 1955 and 1956, as well as for the 1953 and 1954 motorcycle world championships. After the company’s withdrawal from motorsport, he took over the management of the development of production vehicles from 1956. He described himself as the father of the NSU Ro 80, while Dr. Froede was responsible for the development of the Wankel engine. In 1962, he was given power of attorney.

After the merger with Auto Union GmbH, Praxl took over as head of Wankel Research in Neckarsulm in 1971 and became division manager in 1974. Ewald Praxl retired in 1976 after 37 years with the company and died on December 27, 1988.

Praxl, Ewald

Picture: Ewald Praxl with Rupert Hollaus and H. P. Müller at the NSU racing bus (1954).

Roder, Albert

Albert Roder was born in Nuremberg on January 20, 1896, and built his first two-stroke engine at the age of sixteen. At the age of just 18, Roder received his first patent (No. 290893) for a new type of aircraft engine. In 1920, the self-taught engineer co-founded ZIRO Motoren GmbH and constructed two-stroke engines and motorcycles under the ZIRO brand, of which five left the production hall every week. In 1923, together with partners, he founded Erlanger Motoren AG (ERMAG) and produced the well-known 250 cc two-stroke ERMAG as well as an ERMAG four-stroke model in 1924, also with 250 cc. Roder moved to Zündapp-Werke GmbH in Nuremberg in 1928 as deputy design manager. It was to his credit that Zündapp was able to join the front line of German motorcycle manufacturers with its wide-ranging, attractive product line.

In 1936, Albert Roder joined NSU Werke as deputy head of development and, as deputy chief designer under Walter W. Moore, was responsible for the development of the new NSU two-cylinder supercharged engine. Nevertheless, in 1939 he

could not resist the offer to become chief designer at Victoria in Nuremberg, especially since Victoria was one of the leading German motorcycle manufacturers of the pre-war period.

In 1947, he returned to NSU because he hoped to realize his ideas and was now hired as chief designer. In this role, he registered 70 NSU patents, including the UltraMax valve control system, the central press frame and several front fork solutions for motorcycles. During his tenure, NSU became the largest motorcycle factory in the world. Together with Ewald Praxl and Ernst-Gustav Germer, Roder also established NSU’s worldwide fame in international motorsports. He was instrumental in the further development of NSU supercharged engines as well as the development of the NSU Rennfox (1951) and the NSU Rennmax (1952). NSU owes its numerous national and international championship titles to his work, as well as winning the World Brand Championship in 1953.

As chief designer, Roder developed all series-produced motorcycles such as the NSU Max, NSU Lux, NSU Quickly, the NSU Lambretta motor scooter and, as head of series production, he was also responsible for the development and production of

the Prinz I, Prinz II, Prinz III and Prinz 4 automobiles from 1956. In 1961, Albert Roder retired with the rank of director and died in Neckarsulm on September 5, 1970.

Picture: The designer Albert Roder at his working tool (1950).

Sautter, Werner

Picture: detail; person on the left

Werner Sautter was born on October 27, 1928. The trained car mechanic was one of the best off-road drivers in the world in the 1950s and one of the most successful NSU athletes after the war. No one raced the off-road Max better over hill and dale, through mud and scree than he did.

On an NSU Max off-road motorcycle, he became German champion in the sidecar class up to 250 cc three times in a row from 1955 to 1957. From 1955 to 1958, he won 75 gold medals in 85 starts and 22 class victories. His most significant successes were his victory in 1954 at the DMV Two-Day Tour, where he was the only rider out of 200 to remain penalty-free, and at the Austrian Alpine Tour, where he won the coveted Edelweiss with the fastest mountain time. These achievements were unparalleled at the time in off-road racing and certainly due in part to his co-driver Karl-Heinz Piwon.

The technically gifted Sautter was appointed by the race director at that time Ernst-Gustav Germer as number 1 in the NSU factory team and was instrumental in the further development of the “Geländemax” chassis. His fairness was also remarkable: at the International Six-Day Race in 1954, he retired through no fault of his own – a gold medal in sight – in order to save a competitor who had fallen in front of him. In 1960, Werner Sautter was awarded the golden sports badge with diamonds by the ADAC.

Sautter, Werner

Picture: Werner Sautter/Karl-Heinz Piwon with their NSU “Geländemax” motorcycle and sidecar on a green field (1955)

Spiess, Siegfried

Siegfried Spiess was born in Stuttgart on May 23, 1935 and, like many others, found his way to motorsport via motorcycles. An NSU Fox tuned and built by him, an NSU Sportmax and an MV Agusta were the vehicles with which Spiess won his first championship title in the mid-fifties. He managed to win the title in the ID class at the first attempt. Only a serious crash prevented him from continuing to race motorcycles and he turned to automobile racing.

Siegfried Spiess became German Touring Car Champion in 1963 on NSU Prinz II (30). In 1965, he repeated the success on an NSU Prinz 1000. The 75 hp engine tuned by Spiess was later used by NSU as standard in the NSU TTS. This laid the foundation for his later tuning business.

After narrowly missing out on the championship title in 1966 as runner-up, he repeated this in 1967 with an NSU-supplied NSU/Wankel Spider as German mountain champion in all classes against larger-displacement competition (up to 2,500 cc) with eleven victories in eleven races. In addition, he won the King’s

Cup at the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race that year. In 1968 and Spiess again became German Hillclimb Champion with victories in all classification races.

In 1968, Spiess took leave from active motorsport and drove his NSU 1300 TT only sporadically. The last championship title with a Spiess NSU engine was won by Willi Bergmeister in 1974. As a successful sportsman on Neckarsulm and Ingolstadt brands, Spiess received the golden AUDI NSU winner’s pin with double diamonds from board member H. E. Schönbeck.

In 1972, Spiess founded his tuning company and dedicated himself with success to engine tuning. His Audi 1.6 liter engine won the European Cup, and his engines for the Formula VW Super V won several German and European titles. He then turned to Formula 3 engines and won the first German championship title in 1985. In 1990, Michael Schumacher became German Formula 3 Champion on an engine tuned by Spiess. Since 2000, Siegfried Spiess has been working on Opel’s DTM engines.

Spiess, Siegfried

Picture: Family photo (from left): Siegfried Spiess with son, NSU Prince II (30), NSU Prince 1000 and winner’s wreaths (1965).