Hans Mezger, 1929-2020
His time at Porsche was considerable, his achievements mighty
Of all the era-defining engines we might have chosen for yesterday's Six of the Best, and which were listed as well worthy in the forums, it was the air-cooled flat-six pioneered by Hans Mezger which arguably deserved mention in the hallowed halls of the mighty. The truth is though, you couldn't pick just one engine to define Mezger - even the one which bore his name for so long - because he contributed so much to Porsche, including overall responsibility for the 917 and its 12-cylinder engine, not to mention the TAG Turbo 1.5-litre V6 which powered Niki Lauda to the F1 title twice with McLaren.
It is a monster, possibly unparalleled legacy - one that concludes today with the sad news of the great man's passing on Wednesday. Porsche delivered the news via a press release, one likely long written to tabulate his many achievements over more than three decades with the firm. "The news of his death represents a very sad loss for us. Our thoughts are with his family," says Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board, Research and Development. "We thank Hans Mezger for his extraordinary engineering achievements, which he has done for motorsport in general and for Porsche in particular. His innovations for our series sports cars will remain unforgotten forever."
This is true. For as long as there is Porsche, there will be stories of Mezger. If you wanted to build a Porsche engineer, he would come with the great man's back story. Born in 1929, he avoided enlistment into the final, lunatic throes of the Third Reich only by courtesy of a faked medical certificate. A year later, in 1946, he saw his first race car, and opted to pursue mechanical engineering at what is now the University of Stuttgart. He had already learnt about welding and machining in a year-long internship, and post-graduation there were a flood of job offers.
"There were 28. But Porsche was not among them. I wanted to join Porsche because the Type 356 sports car inspired me. So I applied, got an interview, and the company offered me a job in diesel engine development. Until then, I didn't even know that Porsche had such a thing. But I envisioned working on sports cars. They showed understanding and that's how I started in the calculations department at Porsche," recalled Mezger, years later.
From there, his advancement was swift. He was responsible for developing a formula for calculating cam profiles, and by 1960 he was involved in the development of the 1.5-litre, eight-cylinder engine for F1. "I learned a lot about the design of combustion chambers," noted Mezger. "This also directly benefited the design of the 6-cylinder boxer engine for the later 901/911. I wholeheartedly shared [Ferry Porsche's] philosophy of racing in order to build the best sports car for the road, he had a lasting impact on myself and my work during the entire period I spent at the company."
The design of that unit cemented Mezger's place in history. The first 911's classic shape was the product of the Porsche family, but the rear-mounted, air-cooled 2.0-litre flat-six was his, as were the larger, more powerful derivatives that swiftly followed. Over time it was the two-part aluminium crank case which became synonymous with Mezger as Porsche continued to use it for its highest performing cars all the way up to and including the 997 GT3 RS 4.0 - its final outing and arguably greatest iteration.
As a technical achievement though, it is probably overshadowed by the 917. By 1965 Mezger had been promoted to the head of design for Porsche's race car department, and was responsible for the spaceframe prototype and the exotic Type 912 flat-12 engine that powered it. After its teething problems were overcome, the 917 went on to dominate sportscar racing in the early seventies, and finally delivered Porsche victory at Le Mans.
He very nearly surpassed the achievement the following decade, when Mezger designed the turbocharged TAG motors for McLaren - "probably the most significant development contract for Porsche from an external company." The 80-degree V6 won a total of 25 races alongside two constructors championships, and is heralded as one of the great F1 engines - as anyone who's stood near to one will testify.
Mezger continued designing race engines until his retirement from Porsche in the nineties. But for decades his name continued to be spoken in his absence, often in hallowed tones whenever GT cars or Porsche's racing success were the subject matter. The company finally diverged from the blueprint of his design, but discussion of 'his' flat-six will continue for as long as there are 911s on the road and people to drive them. Like all the best mechanical engineers, Mezger leaves behind a legacy of creation that will live on in personal recollection, the pages of history books and the cars and engines he pioneered. That's how you define an era.
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