Hans Mezger, longtime Porsche engineer responsible for the engine found in the Porsche 911 as well as the development of the Porsche 917, has passed away at the age of 90.
Mezger, born in 1929 on the outskirts of Stuttgart, joined Porsche in 1956 after graduating from the Technical University in the same city. He was initially offered a job in diesel engine development but after expressing a desire to work on sports cars, Mezger joined Porsche’s calculations department.
After working on Porsche’s first Formula One program, Mezger then developed the air-cooled flat six engine for the 901 and 911 which would become known as the ‘Mezger engine’, named after its creator.
In 1965, the German was appointed as the head of the department for race car design initiated by Ferdinand Piëch. In this position, he would become responsible for the creation of the Porsche 917, working on the overall construction and designing its engine.
The 917 would go on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice and achieve much championship success in the World Sportscar Championship and Can-Am.
After achieving great success in sportscars, Porsche teamed up with Ron Dennis and the McLaren Formula One team to create an engine for its F1 efforts.
The Mezger-created, TAG-Turbo badged 1,5 V6 engine would power Niki Lauda to his second and third world titles in 1984 and 1985. A third consecutive world championship followed with Alain Prost in 1986, and McLaren also won the constructors championship in 1984 and 1985.
“The news of his death represents a very sad loss for us. Our thoughts are with his family,” says Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board at Porsche.
“We thank Hans Mezger for his extraordinary engineering achievements, which he has done for motorsport in general and for Porsche in particular. His innovations for our series sports cars will remain unforgotten forever.”
Motorsport Week offers its condolences to Mezger’s family and friends during this difficult time.
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