Heini Walter’s list of successes reads quite differently. His first race is the Gempenberg race in 1947 – incidentally the last in a long series of hill climbs between Gempen and Dornach, which were held for the first time in 1911. To do this, he bought a 2-liter Bugatti 35, which he chauffeurs up the hill fast enough to finish second. This is the start. He cruised around the Swiss mountains in the Bugatti for a few more years. He continues with all sorts of other vehicles from different manufacturers. 1955 is a black year for him. On the one hand he is disqualified from the championship because his Porsche had too much cc and on the other hand he has a nasty accident in Les Rangiers that puts him out of action for many weeks.
Walter’s career really got going in 1957. With a Porsche 550RS Spyder, he won the Swiss championship for the first and not for the last time. He already won the first European mountain championship in 1960 in the sports car category with a Porsche 718 RSK. A year later he defends this title. The third success followed in 1964, this time in the GT category in a Porsche 904 GTS. Walter achieves countless victories and class victories in hillclimbs. His name is in the list of winners at Gaisberg, Rossfeld, Mont Ventoux, Schauinsland/Freiburg, Trento-Bodone, Ollon-Villars and others. In 1965, Heini Walter bought a Ferrari 250 LM, with which he was successful in hillclimbing as well as road racing. He also competes in a number of long-distance races with this car, including the 1000-kilometer race again.
Only once Heini Walter starts in a Formula 1 race – at the Nürburgring, how could it be otherwise. In 1962 he took part in the German Grand Prix. The busy Scuderia Filipinetti put him in a Porsche 718, with which he already attracted attention in practice with a good 14th place (from 30 drivers). He finishes fourteenth leaving Nino Vaccarella and Lucien Bianchi behind him. Heini Walter ended his career in 1967, when he still contested a few races in Germany with a Porsche 910. A second place at the Nations Cup in Hockenheim remains his best result. In 1968 he finally gave up his helmet and devoted himself entirely to his business obligations.
Heini Walter passed away in May 2009 at the age of 82. All info and photos Udo Klingel
about Heini Walter
