“It is with great sadness that we mourn the death of Hans Mezger yesterday [Wednesday] at the age of 90 years,” said Porsche on his Twitter account. “We owe him not only the six-cylinder engine and flat air cooled 911, but also the overall design of the 917 and its 12-cylinder engine, as is the creation of the engine of Formula 1 TAG Turbo “, recalled the constructor.
This turbocharged v-6 engine of 1 500 cm3 was included Niki Lauda in 1984 and Alain Prost in 1985 and 1986, the title of world drivers champion.
“For more than 30 years, Hans Mezger was the designer of the engines and race cars, the most famous,” pointed out the manufacturer of Zuffenhausen.
A life in Porsche
he joined Porsche in 1956, Mezger had started with dealing of diesel engines, but, attracted by the race, he had joined in 1960, the team’s first project for Porsche in F1.
In the aftermath, he had designed the engine for the new model 911, become legendary, which took the name of ” engine Mezger “, before taking the head of the department race to the sides of Ferdinand Piëch. The two men will develop the 917, a monster 4-litre engine, which will allow Porsche won its first le Mans victory in 1970, and to repeat this feat the following year.
In 1981, it supports the design of the turbo engine that has ordered a McLaren. He won a total of 25 races, and, in addition to the titles of pilot of Lauda and Prost, two-time world champion of the constructors to McLaren.
This project “was a huge success and also the development contract the most important designed by Porsche to an outside company,” emphasized Porsche in a press release.
Hans Mezger has steered the projects race with Ferdinand Piëch, as well at le Mans with the terrible 917 in F1 for the McLaren’s of Prost and Senna © Porsche
