+8 Herbert Linge (95): Porsche legend and safety pioneer
Herbert Linge (95): Porsche legend and safety pioneer
Herbert Linge (95): Porsche legend and safety pioneer
Herbert Linge (95): Porsche legend and safety pioneer
Herbert Linge (95): Porsche legend and safety pioneer
Herbert Linge (95): Porsche legend and safety pioneer
Herbert Linge (95): Porsche legend and safety pioneer
Herbert Linge (95): Porsche legend and safety pioneer
Herbert Linge (95): Porsche legend and safety pioneer
Herbert Linge’s life reads like a novel: ducking under closing railway gates in the Mille Miglia, finishing ninth at Le Mans whilst recording footage for Steve McQueen’s Le Mans,… Linge, the first mechanic employed by Porsche, passed away aged 95 on January 5th.
With Linge’s passing, Porsche loses one of its earliest employees. He had started working as an intern for Ferdinand Porsche’s engineering company in Stuttgart in 1943, aged just 14 at the time. After the war, he became the first mechanic employed by the sports car firm Porsche – founded by Ferdinand’s son Ferry – when the company relocated from its first location in Gmünd (Austria) to Stuttgart in 1949.
Weissach
Linge represented Porsche unlike any other. More than that, the Weissach native suggested to Porsche this small town in the vicinity of Stuttgart could be ideally situated to build a discrete test base. Linge was a mechanic who developed first into a test driver and subsequently raced for Porsche as well. No 356 was allowed to go out for delivery before Linge had performed a validation drive. Linge worked for Porsche – in Weissach – until his retirement in 1987. As a consultant, he would head the Porsche Carrera Cup (more on that in issue 9) from 1990 onwards.
The train incident
Working for Porsche led to stints in racing, rallying and road racing. Famously, in the 1954 Mille Miglia, he was co-driver in the Porsche 550 Spyder Hans Herrmann drove to class honours. Just after Pescara, the Porsche ran into an unexpected problem, in the form of the Rome-bound express train keeping up with its schedule. A level crossing appeared, with the barriers starting to close.
Linge: “I was looking at a map of the circuit when Hans knocked me on the back of the helmet. I knew what that meant and ducked down in my seat.” Linge was unfazed. “We couldn’t have stopped in time, we were doing 160 kph.” Herrmann – Linge went on to score a class win and came an impressive sixth overall in the 1500 cc Porsche Spyder.
Carrera Panamericana and Le Mans
Next up, Carrera Panamericana in Mexico, and again the Herrmann – Linge combo in the Porsche 550 Spyder made a name for themselves. The duo came third overall and took class honours. Still in 1954, the duo Polensky – Linge won Liège-Rome-Liège for Porsche.
Later on in the fifties, it was Linge’s turn in the driver’s seat. He debuted in Le Mans in 1958 with Carel Godin de Beaufort, coming second in class and fifth overall in the Porsche 550 RS. In 1960, Linge and Hans Joachim Walter scored a class win in the Porsche 1600 GS at Le Mans. More class wins followed.
Monte Carlo debut for the 911
Herbert Linge would also be the one driving the new Porsche 911 to its first result – a class win and fifth overall – in the 1965 Monte Carlo rally. In Linge’s final stint at Le Mans, in 1970, he drove the camera car that was to record high-speed footage for Steve McQueen’s film Le Mans.
McQueen had planned to drive himself. His production company Solar Production bought a Porsche 908 for that matter, but in the end, no insurance company would take on the risk. Instead, Linge and Jonathan Williams drove the 908/02, with a big camera mounted on the nose and on the rear. Despite frequent stops to swap the film, Linge and Williams finished ninth, even though they were not classified, having run insufficient distance.
Inventor of the real safety car
Having finished his racing career, Herbert Linge remained in touch with the sport. Having established the opening lap as the most dangerous one in a race, Linge came up with a fast-response vehicle. An adapted Porsche 914/6 GT, equipped with a 120-litre water tank, became the first safety car. Before, the safety marshal had a course vehicle with which he could go out on the track for an inspection, in many cases post-mortem.
Linge’s idea was to arrive at the accident scene as quickly as possible. The car was used for the first time in Hockenheim and on the Nürburgring in 1972. Quite soon, it proved essential in putting out the flames of Herbert Müller’s Ferrari that had catapulted in the Nürburgring pit entry at the end of the first lap. Linge was able to put out the flames quickly, and Müller escaped with his life intact.
The ONS safety crew quickly caught on, and the car was dispatched at Le Mans as well. A 911 and other cars followed. The 911 was quick to respond when Niki Lauda had his near-fateful accident at the Nürburgring in 1976. Linge’s initiative saved countless lives in racing.
“We are saddened by the news of Herbert Linge’s death,” says Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development with Porsche. “Not only was he a Porsche man from the very beginning, but also a friend for many decades.”
