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You are here: Home / Books / Book Reviews / Peter Falk – 33 Years of Porsche

Peter Falk – 33 Years of Porsche

23rd August 2017 by: Glen Smale | 2 Comments

As their race director and one of the leading figures in their experimental department, Peter Falk contributed significantly to the character of the sports cars from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen – both on the race track and on the road.

From the first 901 right through to the very last air-cooled Type 993, every Porsche 911 bears the signature of Peter Falk. He joined the company in 1959 and quickly rose through the ranks to head various testing departments. In the mid-sixties, Falk also took over the tactical and technical leadership of the factory’s Rennsport team. In 1981, he was appointed as race director and led Porsche throughout its most successful era of competition. “His” team won at Le Mans, became World Sports Car Champion, conquered the Paris-Dakar Rally, and was victorious in Formula 1 with the TAG Turbo engine.

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In this book, Peter Falk tells of his years with Porsche. A highly-respected person in the world of engineering, he relates how it all began at Porsche – when race drivers and engineers huddled together in a shepherd’s hut at Weissach to discuss suspensions, what the Porsche crew experienced during endless testing adventures in both the Arctic Circle and the Sahara, how the race cars at Le Mans roared to the start over country roads, and how a test drive with a Porsche 908 almost cost him his life. He shares his views on every Porsche race car, from the 904 Carrera GTS to the 962C, and describes the race drivers who competed during his reign: Herrmann, Ickx, Elford, Bell, Stuck and Mass to name just a few. Thumbing through the pages, one is left in no doubt about the commitment that Peter Falk and his fellow engineers and colleagues endured personally, in carrying out their responsibilities. In this way, he provides a good, long look into the inner workings of Porsche.

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Peter Falk shared his personal Porsche stories and fascinating insights with the author Wilfried Müller. On the photographic side, the images in this book come from Peter Falk’s private collection, the Porsche Historical Archive in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, and from the vast collection in the publisher’s possession. Along with the contributions from former colleagues and race drivers, these images and stories give an in-depth portrayal of Peter Falk’s 33 years with Porsche. Scanning through the images selected for the book, the reader can quickly ascertain that the author has gone to impressive lengths to source images seldom seen in other publications. In this area, both Falk and the author have excelled, as the book benefits from many previously unseen photos, and careful selection in other areas have revealed images that skilfully support the text.

It is a measure of an engineer’s skill, creativeness and commitment to the task, when he has excelled in a number of different areas of work. Not only did Peter Falk successfully achieve this, but he did so while giving others the opportunity to grow along with him. The author, Wilfried Müller, has done an excellent job of painting Peter Falk in both his serious work environment, while also showing the light-hearted side of his work.

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This is an excellent account of one of Porsche’s great engineers of a by-gone era, and this book comes highly recommended.

Key Information

Title Peter Falk – 33 Years of Porsche
Rennsport and Development. People, Cars, Stories
Author Peter Falk with Wilfried Müller
Publisher McKlein Publishing/Verlag Reinhard Klein GbR
First published 2016
ISBN (Standard Edition) 978-3-927458-87-1
ISBN (Limited Special Edition) 978-3-927458-90-1
Format 408 pages; 30 x 24 cm; hardcover
Pictures ca. 341 in colour and 174 in black-and-white
Language English (also available in German)
Price 69.90 Euros
Telephone +49 (0)2203-9242570
Web www.racingwebshop.com

Edited by: Glen Smale

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Categories: Book Reviews, Books Tags: Peter Falk, Porsche, Wilfried Müller

Comments

  1. Ervin Raab says

    5th June 2018 at 7:03 am

    Was fortunate enough to spend time at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1988…at the invite of Peter Falk.
    For an engineering student to be able to stay in all three pits of #17, #18, #19 Shell 962C’s was an
    experience that will never be forgotten. Thank you Mr. Falk and Porsche.

    Reply
    • Porsche Road & Race says

      5th June 2018 at 3:55 pm

      You are one lucky man, those are awesome memories, wow!! That was the last year that Porsche raced at Le Mans during the Group C era as a factory team, so your timing was great.

      Reply

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