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BOOK REVIEW NORBERT SINGER: MY RACING LIFE WITH PORSCHE 1970-2004 RRP €75
When vocalist Rob Dickinson set up shop in California to exquisitely reimagine Porsche 911s, he named his company Singer. In part, it tipped the hat to his music career, but it was also a clear nod to the mastermind behind so much of Porsche’s motorsport success: Norbert Singer.
The great engineer teamed up with rally reporterturned-author Wilfried Muller to write My Racing
Life with Porsche 1970-2004, which came out last year. And thanks to the translation by Autosport’s own Australian racing guru and former Mainz resident Andrew van Leeuwen, there’s an English-language version of this exquisite book now available.
As the cover art of Singer standing proudly over a 956/962 reminds the reader, he’s best celebrated for his work honing the ground-effect Group C great. Singer has already lent his hand to a couple of titles that study the (Dauer form included) seven-time Le Mans 24 Hours race-winning machine, so we’ll set aside any anecdotes of that car for this review.
But the good news is that from his near 35-year career, there’s so much more rich detail to be found.
First thing to note is that the presentation of this book is beautifully done. The thick, glossy pages of this hardback are loaded with stunning images – unpainted test cars are often the pick of the bunch – and each caption is worth a read for another titbit of information. There’s not masses of writing across the 360 pages, neither is there a back section dedicated to vital statistics and race results. So, although it sits very nicely on the coffee table, it’s also something that can be read in just one or two sittings.
Whether or not you take your time, choosing to savour the forewords by Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass, and no matter how well-versed you are with elite sportscar racing, there’s a great deal to be learned. One such lesser-known anecdote is that of Nigel Mansell testing the 911 GT1 at Barcelona in the late 1990s to see if endurance racing tickled his fancy, before the Ceram coating broke off the clutch after 49 laps.
Another reminiscence that piques Autosport’s interest comes from when Singer and his team were developing the 917/10 for its imperious turn at Can-am. They trialled the car with a V16 engine, with management insisting it broke a lap record, only for the project to be canned in favour of a boosted V12. That, too, offers a highlight, with Singer recalling when the car was briefly tested on 22-inch wheels to maximise mechanical grip. But to make the thick tyres fit, two front wheels had to be welded together.
The end result, as photographed, looks not unlike a dual-axle Ford Transit van.
Standing proud, among the many noteworthy sections, is the chapter devoted to the “fascinating project, frustrating politics” of the Indycar Type 2708. In another case of a famous private tester,
Singer recalls how Mario Andretti – then contracted to Newman-haas – flew over to Weissach for a 78-lap session. He ran 3.5 seconds quicker than any other driver and offered insider knowledge on how to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, only to decide he was too old to wait out the two-year development cycle that was required to make the car a consistent winner.
Singer outlines his frustration – “deeply disappointed” and “I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard” – at how his chassis was binned off in favour of a tie-up with March Engineering, and then when the project was canned altogether.
That this review can pick out sections at will and readers can still buy the book in confidence knowing there’s so many more fascinating stories to be consumed is testament to Singer and Muller’s work.
The prose is eloquent, and Singer’s detail in recalling retirement reasons shows it’s a work of real passion and pride. When the cost is converted, Norbert Singer: my racing life with Porsche 1970-2004 is more than worth the £71 price of admission.