Bobby Kohlrausch
Bobby Kohlrausch
| Bobby Kohlrausch |
| Bobby Kohlrausch was born in Eisenach, Germany in March 1904, to a middle-class family. He joined the post WWI Freikorps and was a NSDAP (Nazi) party member from 1923. While studying engineering at university, Kohlrausch took part in motorcycle racing as an amateur from 1923 until 1929 when he turned to car racing. He raced a BMW Dixi and works Austin Seven but is best known as a MG driver; Kohlrausch made several International class "H" records with his MG "Magic Midget", taking the car to 140mph on the Frankfurt Autobahn. He joined the SS, with the rank of Untersturmführer (2nd Lieutenant) in 1936, although most German drivers were strongly encouraged to join as part of Hitler's motorsport propaganda. |
| In mid 1950, at the age of 46, Bobby acquired Ferdi Lehder's first kleinstrennwagen, the LTE Juwel, which he renamed GvB (Geheimnis von Bobby or Bobby's Secret, perhaps a reference to how he imported the car to East Germany) which he raced without notable success into 1951, a win at Halle Saale over Willy Lehmann being the highlight.
He planned to turn the GvB into a Formula 2 car by supercharging the engine but it came to nothing when Bobby died from a heart attack in 1953.
Our thanks to Rob Young for the photo and research Please get in touch if you can tell us any more about his career. |
