Frederick “Rikky” von Opel (born 14 October 1947) is a former racing driver from Liechtenstein, the only driver from that nation to have competed in the Formula One World Championship. He won the Lombard North British Formula 3 Championship in 1972. He participated in 14 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix for the Ensign and Brabham teams, debuting on July 1, 1973. He scored no championship points. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Rikky von Opel was the son of Fritz von Opel and a great-grandson of Adam Opel, the founder of car-maker Opel and is the only driver from Lichenstein to have competed in the F1 World Championship.
He first competed under the name ‘Antonio Bronco’ but soon used his real name after a successful introduction to Formula Ford in 1970. He switched to F3 the following year with a Lotus and then, driving for Mo Nunn’s Iberia Airlines sponsored Ensign team, he took the 1972 Lombard North Central title.
After being impressed with Mo Nunn’s team, he commissioned a car to enter Formula One racing in 1973. The result was the Ensign N173 and his debut came at Paul Ricard in France, where he finished 15th in the Ensign N173, then thirteenth in Great Britain. Things looked positive at the Dutch GP after he qualified a creditable fourteenth (ahead of Emerson Fittipaldi and Graham Hill) but on the morning of the race cracks were found in the chassis and he was unable to start. Similar issues also stopped the team from starting in Germany, followed by fuel system problems ending his Austrian GP and he retired from the Italian GP due to an overheating engine. Unfortunately he was unclassified in Canada and was forced to retire on the opening lap of the US GP as his throttle jammed open.
Ensign had a new car for 1974, the N174, but at the first race in Argentina it was revealed how little little progress had been made. He qualified 26th (more than seven seconds slower than pole-sitter Ronnie Peterson) but worried about the the car’s handling the team withdrew it from the race. Shortly afterwards Rikky left the team.
He later took Richard Robart’s seat at Brabham and raced at the Spanish Grand Prix though retired with an oil leak, followed by a blown engine in Belgium and then did not qualify for Monaco. He went on to take ninth place finishes in Sweden and the Netherlands but after not qualifying in France, he soon afterwards left the team and Formula One and his GP career was over.
Rikky went on to pursue other interests, later studying matters of philosophy and relocated to Thailand where little has been heard about him since.
Rikky von Opel – Automotive heir lays foundation to Ensign marque – from 
