13 replies to this topic

[LOLE]

Heini Walter (28 July 1927 - 12 May 2009) was a Swiss racing driver.
He participated in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, on 5 August 1962. He finished 14th, scoring no World Championship points.
He also participated in some non-Championship Formula One races.

He died aged 81.


Copyright Ed Peter.

[Gabrci]

Very sad, even if not unexpected, he has been quite frail recently. A very nice person, he will be missed by the racing world. RIP

[Arjan de Roos]

He was also a great Ferrari and Porsche racer. He crashed a 250 LM (5905) at St. Ursanne and landed upside down. A week later he participated at Ollon-Villars in the ultra-rare 250 LM Spyder.

[Tuboscocca]

The ultra-rare 250LM 'Spyder' was the original 250 LM 'dressed' in a adopted Porsche 906 bodywork.Not very pretty, but a fast fix....
Regards Michael
have a signed copy of his (german written) biography

[Holger Merten]

Heini Walter (28 July 1927 - 12 May 2009) was a Swiss racing driver.
He participated in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, on 5 August 1962. He finished 14th, scoring no World Championship points.
He also participated in some non-Championship Formula One races.
81.

I got the impression copying from Wikipedia is not enough, Therefore this:

Heini Walter was European Hillclimb Champion in 1961. This should not be forgotten.

[ReWind]

And in 1960, too.

[Gabrci]

And also in 1964, for that matter

[ReWind]

But "only" in GT class. Overall champion in 1964 was Edgar Barth.

[Arjan de Roos]

The ultra-rare 250LM 'Spyder' was the original 250 LM 'dressed' in a adopted Porsche 906 bodywork.Not very pretty, but a fast fix....
Regards Michael
have a signed copy of his (german written) biography

No, no, it was 5905 that Walter crashed in a ditch. He couldn't get spare parts in time for repair, so he ran a LM in Spyder version (not ugly at all). The 906 body was used for 5899 after it had crashed en route to another hill climb. Walter raced that car with Herbie Mueller and Hans Illert for the Squadra Tartaruga in several hill climbs.

[David McKinney]

I got the impression copying from Wikipedia is not enough, Therefore this:
Heini Walter was European Hillclimb Champion in 1961. This should not be forgotten.

I thought much the same thing
If you'd asked me who Heini Walter was, I would have said double European Mountain Champion. He in fact finished in the top two positions on the table every year from 1959 to 1963, then won the GT Championship the following year.
Then, after I'd thought about it a bit, I would have added that he'd also had one or two F1 outings
Wiki gives us further proof that there is no motor-sport beyond EffOne to today's "experts"

[Tuboscocca]

Arjan --SORRY you are perfectly right. I hit the keyboard before looking up.
Both, the ugly-one (5899) and the more pretty one(5905) are shown in Marcel Massini's Ferrai 250 LM book.
best regards Michael

Edited by Tuboscocca, 21 May 2009 - 16:41.

[havermanst]

I published a short biography of Heini Walter on Liebe zu Ihm (website dedicated to Porsche)

[Arjan de Roos]

I published a short biography of Heini Walter on Liebe zu Ihm (website dedicated to Porsche)

Good piece

[d j fox]

Just to be really pedantic--the picture shows Walter sitting in the the Fillipinetti Lotus 24 BRM that fellow compatriot Heinz Schiller actually drove in the 62 German GP; it was Schiller's only championship race too.
Walter drove the old Fillipinetti Porsche 718 in the race

Edited by d j fox, 10 June 2009 - 14:47.