Porsche mourns death of legendary engineer Hanz Mezger

Porsche AG mourns the death of Hans Mezger. The legendary engineer died on 10 June 2020 at the age of 90.

Porsche owes him not only the Porsche 911's air-cooled, six-cylinder boxer engine, but also the overall construction of the 917 and its 12-cylinder engine, as well as his creation of the TAG Turbo Formula One engine. For more than three decades, Hans Mezger was responsible for Porsche's most successful racing cars and engines.

Hans Mezger was born on 18 November 1929 in Ottmarsheim, a small village near Ludwigsburg on the outskirts of Stuttgart, the youngest of five children. Hans Mezger decided to study mechanical engineering at the Technical University, now the University of Stuttgart. After graduating in 1956 at the time of the German economic miracle, there was a veritable flood of job offers.

"There were 28. But Porsche was not among them. I wanted to join Porsche because the Type 356 sports car inspired me. So I applied, got an interview, and the company offered me a job in diesel engine development," said Hans Mezger about his start at the Zuffenhausen sports car manufacturer.

Hans Mezger gained his first experience with the four camshaft engine Type 547, developed a formula for calculating cam profiles and became part of Porsche's first Formula One project in 1960. He was involved in the development of the 1.5-litre eight-cylinder Type 753 as well as the corresponding chassis of the 804. Hanz Mezger reported that he has learnt a lot about the design of combustion chambers on the Formula One project, which also directly benefited the design of the six-cylinder boxer engine for the later 901/911. He also wholeheartedly shared Ferry Porsche's philosophy of racing in order to build the best sports car for the road, which he felt was impressive and had a lasting impact on him, as Ferry Porsche too became his role model.

His career included designing the world-famous 'Mezger engine' for the 901 and 911 in the early 1960s. In 1965 Mezger was promoted to head of the department for race car design initiated by Ferdinand Piech.

Porsche also relied on this design principle for the development of the 917 in 1968. With the 917, the first overall victory for Porsche at Le Mans was now finally possible, and once again Ferdinand Piech relied on the skilfulness of Hans Mezger, who was responsible for the overall construction of the vehicle and its 12-cylinder engine.

The 917 dominated at Le Mans and in the World Sportscar Championship in 1970 and 1971. In 1972 and 1973, and right from the start, the 917/10 and 917/30 showed good responsiveness even on the curvy stretches of the CanAm series, thanks to a novel exhaust turbocharging technology developed by Porsche itself. For the first time, turbocharging was successfully given a responsiveness that allowed racing cars and series-production vehicles to be used on all race tracks and public roads. It's a technology that makes Porsche a pioneer in this field, and Mezger and his team brought to series production in 1974 in the form of the 911 Turbo.

But perhaps the most outstanding project took off in 1981 when Ron Dennis and his McLaren racing team set out in search of a powerful turbo engine for Formula One. In the end, Porsche was chosen and the decision was made to design and build a completely new engine, as well as to provide on-site support during the races.

Again, Hans Mezger was the creative mastermind behind the 1.5-litre, V6 engine with an 80-degree bank angle, which would later produce more than 986bhp. The TAG Turbo won a total of 25 races, plus the two Constructors' World Championships in 1984 and 1985.

His commitment to Porsche has made him reject all offers from other manufacturers throughout his career and he still owned his 911 Carrera 3.0 in Grand Prix white - a coveted Porsche classic which has 'his' engine. His loyalty and connection to Porsche was unbroken. He was available to journalists, technicians and interested fans as a discussion partner. The Porsche Museum hosted a celebration for his 90^th birthday with family, friends and former companions. He accompanied Porsche at events, trade fairs and festivities until the very end.