Hans Mezger Looks Back on His Incredible Engineering History

Memory Lane

Among the many famous names in Porsche's history, Hans Mezger stands out a little more than most. Largely because Mezger has quite the resume - he was the designer of the air-cooled six-cylinder boxer engine in the Porsche 911, overall designer of the 917 and its V12 with a 180-degree bank angle, and creator of the TAG Turbo Formula One engine. Thus, it's no surprise that Porsche sat down with one of their most iconic contributors to take a walk down memory lane recently. 

Photos: Porsche

Taking an Interest

Mezger was born and grew up just outside of Stuttgart, where he learned to appreciate art and culture from his family at an early age. "Almost everyone in our family had a talent for painting and played a musical instrument," Mezger said. "I was interested in becoming all kinds of things, from a musician to a physicist." He also found himself particularly enthralled with airplanes. 

Photos: Porsche

Change of Plans

World War II obviously threw a wrench into Mezger's plans, as the design, construction, and operation of aircraft were banned by the Allies following the war. With his aviation dreams on hold indefinitely, Mezger decided to major in mechanical engineering. When he graduated, he received more than two dozen job offers, but not one from Porsche, which is where he really wanted to work. 

Photos: Porsche

Goal Achieved

"I wanted to join Porsche because the Type 356 sports car-inspired me," Mezger said. "So I applied, was invited, and the company offered me a job in tractor development. But I envisioned working on sports and race cars. Fortunately, that worked out in the end, and I started in the calculation department at Porsche." Mezger gained his first experience with the four-cam engine, developed a formula for calculating cam profiles, and became part of Porsche’s first Formula One project in 1960. He was involved in the development of the 1.5-liter eight-cylinder Type 753, as well as the corresponding chassis of the 804.

Photos: Porsche 

Drawing up Blueprints

Mezger's real breakthrough came with the world-famous "Mezger engine" for the 901 and 911, however. Then, in 1965, he was promoted to head of the racing development department created by Ferdinand Piëch. "Sometimes we also worked around the clock," Mezger recalled. "For example, the so-called Ollon-Villars-Spyder was created in just 24 days in 1965." With its tubular frame and fiberglass body, that car became the blueprint for all the race cars that were built in the years to follow. 

Photos: Porsche 

Championship Power

That design principle carried through to the 917 racecar. Mezger took over the overall construction of the vehicle and its 12-cylinder engine. The same turbo technology utilized in CanAm racing was also technology that Mezger and his team brought to Porsche's production vehicles in 1974 in the form of the 911 Turbo. He followed up these momentous achievements by developing the 1.5-liter engine that helped secure multiple motorsports championships in the years to follow.

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>>Join the conversation about  Porsche engineer Hans Mezger here in Rennlist.com.

Lean on Me

Mezger retired from Porsche in 1993 after securing his legacy. But the mastermind hasn't fully moved on, as Porsche has wisely retained him as an adviser they can lean on when needed. And given Mezger's track record, that doesn't surprise us in the least.

Photos: Porsche

>>Join the conversation about  Porsche engineer Hans Mezger here in Rennlist.com.

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