Henrich “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 non-Championship Formula One races. Info from Wiki
Heini Walter was born on July 28th 1927 in Alpthal (SZ). When he was two years old, he went to live in Aesch (BL), where he also went to school. After two years’ training as a motorcycle and bicycle mechanic at the Hess company in Basel, Walter went to his parents’ car, motorcycle and bicycle workshop in Aesch, where capacity for work was urgently needed during the difficult postwar period. His parents were also running a taxi and funeral company, so Heini Walter was often needed as a chauffeur. It was during these times that his passion for driving grew and he was able to develop his own style of driving. Later he successfully completed his driving instructor training and carried on with this job for several years.
In 1960 Walter took over the restaurant Hofgarten in Aesch which soon became a well-known meeting place for car racing enthusiasts. It was also the favourite haunt for members of Ecurie Basilisk, which was co-founded by Heini Walter. At the restaurant, it was possible to meet Heini Walter and talk to him, when he was not participating in races. During Walter’s absence, his mother, who had a strict but loving nature, ran the restaurant. Early on, the businessman also started trading cars, which he did until the early 2000’s. He also owned a small garage which was being looked after by Walter’s racing-mechanic Fritz Meier. In addition, Walter worked in the real estate business during the 70’s and 80’s. Heini Walter died on May 12th, 2009 as one of the last exponents of a great motorsport-era.
Bio by Rüdiger Hack
Heinrich “Heini” Walter (* 28. July 1927 in Alpthal; † 12. May 2009 in Aesch) was a Swiss racer.
World Automobile Championship
First start:
1962 German Grand Prix
Final start:
1962 German Grand Prix
Builders
1962 Ecurie Filipinetti
Statistik
World Cup Balance:
no world cup placement
Starts Siege Poles SR
Liv
Heini Walter was an amateur racer who raced mountain and circuit races with a Porsche RSK in the late 1950s. Occasionally he also raced with an MBM race car for the Swiss team Écurie HOBA. Walter was a European mountaineer twice.
The beginning of my career as a racer
In the early 1930s, his parents had moved to Aesch near Basel and opened a bicycle shop. After the war, they also sold mopeds and motorcycles. After school, Heini Walter did a two-year apprenticeship as a bicycle and motorcycle mechanic and worked in the parental operation. Supported by his father, he bought a Bugatti Type 35 A with a 2-liter engine in 1947, with which he ran his first race and ranked second in the amateur class of sports cars with 1.5 to 2 liters engine capacity. In order to participate in the race, he became a member of the Swiss Automobile Club. At his second deployment, the Sierre-Montana winter mountain run on the 21st. He dropped out in December 1947. After that, the car was sold and bought a stronger Bugatti with a 1.5-liter engine and compressor. There was no race participation with this car; because a taxi operation opened by the Walter family took a lot of time. However, in 1950 Heini Walter bought another Bugatti, a Type 35 B with a 2.3-liter compressor engine, with which he achieved his first class victory at the Vue-des-Alpes mountaineering.
From the racer and constructor Harry Merkel, he bought in 1955 a self-built Porsche engine, which, according to the contract, had 1.1 litre engine capacity. With this car he achieved four class victories in the Swiss Championship and was once even faster than Willy-Peter Daetwyler in the 3-liter Ferrari Monza. There was a protest from the drivers and the inspection of the engine showed an engine capacity of 1.3 liters. All victories have been rejected. Disappointment and shame were so great that Walter wanted to give up motorsport.
The 1960s
In the following years, he ran many races with different vehicles, among others airport races in Austria and 1000 km races on the Nürburgring, Rally Monte Carlo, «200 miles from Nuremberg» on the Norisring, on the AVUS etc. In 1960 and 1961, he became European mountain champion with a Porsche RS 60.
In January 1960, Walter started at the invitation of Porsche to the 1000 km race in Buenos Aires; Juan Manuel Fangio was intended to be his partner. However, in the first round there was a serious crash when Harry Blanchard overtook him in a risky maneuver and overturned; Blanchard sustained serious injuries and died on the way to hospital. While trying to escape, Walter fell into the straw bales at the edge of the road, also overturned, was thrown out of the car, but only slightly injured. The heavily damaged car was only ready for operation in May.
Heini Walters best result at the Nürburgring in 1960 was sixth place in the overall classification as well as first place in the sports car class up to 1.6 litre engine capacity of the 1000 km race together with his compatriot Thomas Losinger on a Porsche 718 RSK. The team went 42 laps respectively 948 km in 7:41:14.8 hours.
For winning its first European championship in 1960 and the class victory at the Nürburgring, the municipality of Aesch prepared a big welcome to its fellow citizen Heini Walter. Walter drove his Porsche Spyder across the main street, accompanied by riders and the village music among a large crowd of people standing in the gap. The Automobile Club had already honored Walter in 1959 as the most successful Swiss car racer at that time with the «Coupe de President», the club’s highest award.
After an accident with a Porsche 906 during training for the 1000-km race at the Nürburgring 1968, he announced his retirement from racing. He ran his last race on 1st. Drove in Hockenheim in October 1967 and took second place behind Ed Nelson on Ford GT 40.
Walter had his only use in an automobile world championship monoposto at the 1962 Grand Prix of Germany, driving a Porsche 718 of the Swiss Scuderia Filipinetti. At the finish, Walter was one lap behind winner Graham Hill at B.R.M. and came 14th. Otherwise, he started with sports cars in Formula Junior with a DKW sucker.
That Walter almost always had competitive vehicles available, he owed the family’s well-running business, which from 1960 included the restaurant «Hofgarten» in Aesch, run by his mother. He also traded in real estate and worked as a driving instructor. He sold the restaurant after his mother died in 1975. Occasionally, Porsche Werkwagen left him. Despite having a good connection with Porsche, he bought a Ferrari 250 LM for 68.500 Swiss francs for the 1965 season. After an accident at the St. Ursanne-Rangiers mountaineering, the wagon to the Spider was «rebuilt» and used, however, in the winter of 1965/66. Walter’s last own race car was a Porsche 910 priced at $21,000, respectively. 90’800 Swiss francs, which had previously been used as a factory car several times.
Sickness and death
In the 1990s, Heini Walter contracted cancer and diabetes, as a result of both of his legs amputated. In recent years, his friend and long-time racing mechanic Fritz Mayer has been taking care of him at home, of whom he should have once said: «Fritz takes good care of me as he used to take care of my racing car. » Heini Walter died at the age of just 82.
Gallery Other
