20 replies to this topic

[Arjan de Roos]

Reading books and magazines on Ferrari, Maserati, racing in the 50s often makes a name pop up:
Hans Tanner. Of course he was present in this world called racing. I have his Ferrari book and read many of his writings.

But what was his story. How did he get into racing? Why? How did he get involved business wise (Tec Mec)? Where did he go? Why was there such an end to his life?

To me his he is a household name in racing, but very much an unknown.

Can anyone tell us more on him? Or where we can find more? Anyone who knew him/met him?

[Graham Gauld]

Hans was Swiss and was a bit of a wheeler dealer and fixer. He was particularly well known to the Americans who came to Modena and wanted help in buying Ferrari's and Maserati's. I met him on a number of occasions and one of the funniest was in the Hotel Palace in Modena after practice for the 1957 Modena Grand Prix. All the drivers and wives were there and, of course, Hans. Whilst chatting to Louise Collins, Peter's wife, Hans came up and in his heavy accent said " Louise....are you going to the ball after zee race ?" Louise answered yes, that she was. To which Hans came out with the killer line " Ah good, I weel be there wearing my tightest blue trousers !" There's no answer to that. Another insight into the way Hans worked happened a year later when I was at the Maserati factory. Hans was there with Temple Buell who was buying the two 250F Maserati's he ran. Hans was stuck to Temple like glue and when we walked outside Temple admired two large Aladdin-style pots at the front door. At this Hans quickly said " .....I can get these for you !".
He was a real character and though I cannot put hand on heart and say this is true, the story went that Hans didn't have a driving licence and his "road tests" were usually as a passenger.
Ron Flockhart wanted Hans to navigate for him on the Mille Miglia with the Ecurie Ecosse D type Jaguar but David Murray vetoed the idea.
Hans committed suicide in Florida, I think

[HDonaldCapps]

A Few of the Theads Mentioning Hans Tanner

[Arjan de Roos]

Originally posted by HDonaldCapps
A Few of the Theads Mentioning Hans Tanner

Thank you for this list. I had it prepared also. Still 80% of all refer to "Ferrari, 6th edition". All other only refer to him being present at a certain venue as a journo, bar the following 'famous' stories:

-1-

Originally posted by Doug Nye
'Coche' in 'Motor Racing' was originally Hans Tanner - he who never had a driving licence so far as I know, and who conducted track tests form the passenger seat. Later - after Tanner did a runner from Modena leaving bills unpaid and allegedly began gun running to Cuba before finally shooting himself - seldom a dull moment in that household... - Pete Coltrin became 'Coche', the American ex-'Hot Rod' magazine based in Modena where he had settled with his local wife, Gabriella, 'Lella'. During the Tanner period as 'Coche', Pete and Jenks described it as 'Motr Racing's regular cock column', 'cos Tanner was always talking complete poppycock.

Not - as we know now - completely true, but not completely unkind either...

DCN

PS - I can't remember really clearly but I think 'Baladeur' was several people, most often the great Kent Karslake.

-2-

Originally posted by Gil Bouffard
Here is the quote from Doug Nye's book, Dino-The little Ferrari, Osprey Publishing 1979.

" Hans Tanner-late Ferrari historian -explained its origin as having been brought to Ferrari by Fantuzzi, the former Maserati body-builder after he had bodied three Piccolo Maserati 250Fs for sale to private customers. These cars carried twin-nostril nose cones to make them look a little exotic and more attractive to race organizers, the shape having been sketched by Tanner himself, who in turn copied it from the stillborn Sacha-Gordine mid-engined Grand Prix car of 1953.... On Fantuzzi's suggestion it was adopted by Chiti's design team."

Gil

[ReWind]

On the US Social Security Death Index there is one Hans Tanner:
b. 02 March 1927
d. ?? March 1975
Is it him?

[DanTanner]

My name is Dan Tanner. I am the adopted son of Hans Tanner's uncle Hans, who called himself John Tanner in America. My dad was the eldest of three Tanner brothers: Hans (John), Albert, and Walter. From here on I will refer to my dad as "John" to avoid confusion with his namesake nephew and the subject of this thread, Hans. John was born in 1989, and Albert, Hans' father, was born in 1900. Walter was born about 1915. Their hometown was Neuhausen, the location of the famed Rheinfall, in Schaffhausen Canton, Switzerland.

John married his first wife, Martha, in Switzerland and with her emigrated to America in 1923. Albert and his wife Hulda had two sons, Hans and Max. Walter and his wife Leni never had children. Albert and Hulda and Walter and Leni died in Switzerland, respectively in Neuhausen and Schaffhausen. John's first wife died without me or my mother ever meeting her, without children. My mother, Mathilda, was a divorcee with me at age four when she and John met in 1945 and married. In 1946 my sister Joyce was born to them and in 1956 my sister Naomi. You can check my family and friends Web site at www.dan-ruth-tanner.com.

I met Hans once, in 1954. I visited Neuhausen several times, and my wife Ruth and daughter Mathilda (my late mother's namesake) and I are close to Max's widow Marie-Claire and her son Robert and daughter Pamela (they are, like my sisters, blood-related to Has as neices and a nephew).

Hans married and had a child and divorced, and gave up custody of a daughter. We have no idea how to contact his ex-wife or child.

Hans emigrated to America and settled in the Los Angeles area. After his association with auto racing (he wrote books about Ferrari, Maseratti, and Ford race cars, about great races, and about great drivers), he became editor of "Car and Driver" and of another of the publisher's magazines, "Guns and Ammo". He became a collector of and authority on antique weapons. He began to date a divorcee who had a young son. He also became ill with a type of blood cancer like leukemia, but which ravages red blood cells instead of the white cells. I don't know whether the illness or the drugs and treatment for it made him mad at the end of his life, but he shot and killed his girlfriend and then himself.

I plan to add indo about Hans to my Web site, and would dearly appreciate any photographs that anyone can share with me. My e-dress is djt@dan-ruth-tanner.com

Thank you,
Dan Tanner

[David M. Kane]

Dan I will ask Bob Wallace if he has anything to contribute he knew Hans well. When I met with him 2 weeks ago he mentioned Hans gun collection, including a Gold Plated Luger that was a gift from President Battisa of Cuba.

He also mention the hotel bill problem in Modena, he said he brought a lot Americans to Modena who bought cars there from Maserati and Ferrari.

[Ed Niles]

The Swiss and Modenese comments are correct, so far as I know. In Los Angeles, Hans became enamored of the Ferrari Owners Club, and was instrumental in organizing the Virginia City (Nevada) Hill Climb for that organization. He also found a sculptor to make a pair of "Prancing Horse" statuettes, one of which became a perpetual award for the person contributing the most to the (California) FOC, and the other became the Pebble Beach award. Later, it seemed to me that his interests drifted somewhat away from cars and more into guns He lived in a modest apartment on the West side (sort of) of L.A., in the living room of which he shot his girl friend and himself, reason unknown but speculation was drunken argument. It's true that he was estranged from his daughter, who presumably inherited his modest estate from which I bought his Ferrari photo collection. (Wish I had kept it!). He lives on through the two Hans Tanner Trophies awarded each year. He was a very interesting guy with a large repretoire of tales, although he didn't like to talk about his Cuba days, perhaps wisely.

[DanTanner]

I have added a page about my cousin Hans to my site . You can find the page at
http://www.dan-ruth-.../Hans/hans.html

As my page says, Hans was very ill at the time of his tragic end. I do not know if drink or an argument played any part. The effects of his estate were auctioned to pay civil damages to the minor son of his unfortunate victim.

Dan Tanner

[Cris]

Dan, welcome to the board. I have always been fascinated by the myths surrounding Hans Tanner.

And Ed, welcome to you too. Your contributions over on F-chat and your old Oldtimers columns make for great reading.

Cris

[DanTanner]

Thank you Chris. I have already had a nice e-mail message from Dave Kane, who hopes to put Bob Wallace in touch, perhaps as soon as next week. I hope so, because we'll be out of the country from 21Dec06-18Jan07.

Dan

[Scuderia SSS]

I've just bought "Great Racing Drivers of the World" Hardback by Hans for a very good price, so i will enjoy reading that when it arrives.
Good to see you posting here Dan. I hope your hunt for info and photos works out well.

[DanTanner]

Enjoy the book. I had it and a couple of others once (or at least they were in my family's house), but I've not seen them in years. I am glad my best frend hung onto his Petersen publications. If you find and can scan any neat pix, please e-mail them to me.

Dam

[Jack-the-Lad]

I have all six editions of Tanner's Ferrari book. I guess that makes me a "completist" if nothing else.....

Jack

[DanTanner]

That's marvelous, Jack!

Back around 1970, my friend Roger pointed me to a classified ad offering the Ferrari winner from the 1954 Mille Mille in Italy (spelling?) and the Pan-Am Road Race in Mexico. Supposedly, Hans drove (is that true?) in both, winning with Phil Hill. It was being offered for $4,000. It had been rebuilt, the ad said, with a certificate from E. Ferrari. ! tried to bid, but was too late. It was sold to a collector, a lawyer living in Florida, by the advertiser, who lived in Shawnee Mission KS. I wrote to him to say who I am, and he was kind enough to tell me where the car went.

As you can see, my family knows very little about Hans. But my page for him (which you can surf to via www.dan-ruth-tanner.com) is coming along, with bits of info I'm gleaning. As always, contributions are welcome.

Dan

[DanTanner]

This link http://www.dan-ruth-.../neuhausen.html contains photos of the Rheinfall in Neuhausen, Switzerland, where Hans' mother and father and brother all lived until their deaths, and a photo of a needlepoint of the Tanner's house in Schaffhausen, Switzerland where Hans' father Albert Tanner was born. Hans' grandmother made the needlepoint for my dad and shen it to him un the US in 1930. I took the Rheinfall photo in 1970.

[Arjan de Roos]

At the splendid dacorsa.net site they have a page dedicated to his books. The Dacorsa guys have made a great catalogue of literature on Ferrari and other italian cars.

http://www.dacorsa.net/1962.0.html

[Arjan de Roos]

Originally posted by DanTanner
That's marvelous, Jack!

Back around 1970, my friend Roger pointed me to a classified ad offering the Ferrari winner from the 1954 Mille Mille in Italy (spelling?) and the Pan-Am Road Race in Mexico. Supposedly, Hans drove (is that true?) in both, winning with Phil Hill. It was being offered for $4,000. It had been rebuilt, the ad said, with a certificate from E. Ferrari. ! tried to bid, but was too late. It was sold to a collector, a lawyer living in Florida, by the advertiser, who lived in Shawnee Mission KS. I wrote to him to say who I am, and he was kind enough to tell me where the car went.

Dan

In 1954 Phil Hill participated in the Carrera Panamericana in the Ferrari 375 MM (Chassis 0286AM). He was partnered by Richie Ginther (see also the splendid Ginther thread!). They came second.
The 1954 Mille Miglia was won by Alberto Ascari in a Lancia D24. A Ferrari came second (Vittorio Marzotto in the 500 Mondial 0418MD).

I believe Hans Tanner's racing exploits are quite thin as driver.

[DanTanner]

Thank you. I don't believe that I ever heard my cousin Hans say that he had driven in races. I only met him once, and I was only 13 at the time. Perhaps I just projected what I knew about him into a belief that he's been a driver, and even a winner. But I have no direct knowledge that he ever drove at all, let alone won any races. As you can tell, I neither have nor claim to have knowledge in the field of auto racing.

My wife and I are departing for a month's sabbatical tomorrow. If folks reading this thread either know or can point me to resources with information that is valid, I will use it to augment the page on our family site that I've dedicated to Hans. Thank you all in advance, and happy holidays to all readers of this.

[DanTanner]

Ruth and I returned to the USA six days ago. I see there have been no additions to this thread in the month we were away, so I suppose that nobody has more info on my late cousin Hans Tanner.

Drop me a line at dantanner@charter.net or djt@dan-ruth-tanner.com or dan@progressmart.com if you would like me to send you a link to slides from our month at our place in Calibishie, Dominica.

Thank you,
Dan

[Bjorn Kjer]

In their book Maserati 450S , Bollee & Oosthoek says about Temple Buell : As for the team organization, Swiss insider Hans Tanner managed Buells Formula One stable in Europe (1958).