Huschke von Hanstein
Huschke von Hanstein
| Huschke von Hanstein |
| As a result of the war, Hanstein's family's possessions were lost in socialist East Germany. Somewhat impoverished, he took to racing kleinstrennwagens in a Condor, taking a win at Aachen in July 1949, a second at Leverkusen in August and another win at Grenzlandring in September. In June 1950, he married Ursula von Kaufmann at the Nürburgring circuit and Huschke achieved a second at Feldbergrennen in October, driving a Monopoletta.
Hanstein joined Porsche, then a small sports car manufacturer, serving as an ambassador especially to foreign markets like France, which were rather difficult for Germans at the time. Due to his aristocratic background and diplomatic skills, he succeeded both in selling cars as well as passing technical inspections before races, like at the 24 hours of Le Mans were he led Porsche 356 to class wins. In 1956 Hanstein drove a Porsche 550 Spyder all the way to Sicily to enter in the Targa Florio, for which he hired Umberto Maglioli. The experienced Italian did most of the driving in the long distance race across the mountains, scoring Porsche's first major win. In the Condor's office, Aachen, July 1949, photo courtesy Rob Young |
| Huschke von Hanstein, the "racing baron", continued to serve as representative in German and international automobile organizations until his death in Stuttgart, January 1996.
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Fritz Sittig Enno Werner von Hanstein, nicknamed Huschke was born in Halle on 3rd January 1911 to a Prussian noble family, his father Carlo von Hanstein was a Prussian Army officer and Junker. In the late 1930s, Huschke drove a BMW 328 and in 1940, together with Walter Bäumer won the Mille Miglia.
Hanstein led the Porsche racing teams until the middle of the 1960s, when Porsche decided to let young engineers like Ferdinand Piech take over. Without Hanstein's aristocratic skills, the Porsche team promptly ran into trouble at 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans due to misunderstandings with the French.