{"id":10332,"date":"2024-01-18T16:42:23","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T16:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/?p=10332"},"modified":"2024-01-18T16:42:39","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T16:42:39","slug":"herbert-linge-95-porsche-legend-and-safety-pioneer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/?p=10332","title":{"rendered":"Herbert Linge (95): Porsche legend and safety pioneer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Herbert Linge\u2019s 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\u2019s Le Mans,\u2026 Linge, the first mechanic employed by Porsche, passed away aged 95 on January 5th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Linge\u2019s passing, Porsche loses one of its earliest employees. He had started working as an intern for Ferdinand Porsche\u2019s 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 \u2013 founded by Ferdinand\u2019s son Ferry \u2013 when the company relocated from its first location in Gm\u00fcnd (Austria) to Stuttgart in 1949.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A young Herbert Linge meets Ferdinand Porsche. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Weissach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2013 in Weissach \u2013 until his retirement in 1987. As a consultant, he would head the Porsche Carrera Cup (more on that in issue 9<\/a>) from 1990 onwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hans Herrmann – Herbert Linge, Porsche 550 Spyder, in Mille Miglia 1954. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The train incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Linge: \u201cI 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.\u201d Linge was unfazed. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t have stopped in time, we were doing 160 kph.\u201d Herrmann \u2013 Linge went on to score a class win and came an impressive sixth overall in the 1500 cc Porsche Spyder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carrera Panamericana, 1954. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Carrera Panamericana and Le Mans<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Next up, Carrera Panamericana in Mexico, and again the Herrmann \u2013 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 Li\u00e8ge-Rome-Li\u00e8ge for Porsche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later on in the fifties, it was Linge\u2019s turn in the driver\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Falk (left) and Linge have arrived in Monte Carlo, 1965. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Monte Carlo debut for the 911<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Herbert Linge would also be the one driving the new Porsche 911 to its first result \u2013 a class win and fifth overall \u2013 in the 1965 Monte Carlo rally. In Linge\u2019s final stint at Le Mans, in 1970, he drove the camera car that was to record high-speed footage for Steve McQueen\u2019s film Le Mans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ONS safety crew. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Inventor of the real safety car<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Linge\u2019s 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 N\u00fcrburgring in 1972. Quite soon, it proved essential in putting out the flames of Herbert M\u00fcller\u2019s Ferrari that had catapulted in the N\u00fcrburgring pit entry at the end of the first lap. Linge was able to put out the flames quickly, and M\u00fcller escaped with his life intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 N\u00fcrburgring in 1976. Linge\u2019s initiative saved countless lives in racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Herbert Linge ready for testing in Porsche 718\/2 single-seater. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are saddened by the news of Herbert Linge\u2019s death,\u201d says Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development with Porsche. \u201cNot only was he a Porsche man from the very beginning, but also a friend for many decades.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Herbert Linge\u2019s 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\u2019s Le Mans,\u2026 Linge, the first mechanic employed by Porsche, passed away aged 95 on January 5th. With Linge\u2019s passing, Porsche loses one of its earliest employees. He had…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[1454,1455,1131,1453,1225,153,119,970,1387,288,521,1458,1456,137,138,1459,1457,350],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-10332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obituaries","tag-ferdinand-porsche","tag-ferry-porsche","tag-hans-herrmann","tag-herbert-linge","tag-herbert-muller","tag-hockenheim","tag-le-mans","tag-le-mans-24-hours","tag-marathon-de-la-route","tag-mille-miglia","tag-nurburgring","tag-ons","tag-peter-falk","tag-porsche","tag-porsche-911","tag-safety-car","tag-solar-productions","tag-steve-mcqueen","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/P08_0979_a4.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10332"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10346,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10332\/revisions\/10346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10332"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fthb-sponsors&post=10332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}