Franz Heim (racing driver)
Franz Heim (born July 4, 1882 in Wiesbaden ; † January 6, 1926 in Mannheim ), was a German racing car driver , entrepreneur and founder of the Heim & Cie. in Mannheim.
After starting out as a racing mechanic and co-driver for René Hanriot and Victor Hémery , he had his greatest racing successes as a works driver for Benz & Cie. 1910 and as an independent racing driver in 1911.
After the First World War he started with his own designs at the AVUS in 1921 and 1922 and at the first Italian Grand Prix in Monza in 1922 .
Life
At the age of 14, Heim was the second apprentice to join Benz & Cie. was discontinued. During his four-year apprenticeship he was under the personal guidance of Carl Benz . His racing career at Benz & Cie. began in 1907 as a racing mechanic and co-driver for René Hanriot . With him, Heim took third place at the 1908 Grand Prix de l'ACF and fourth place at the 1908 American Grand Price . As a racing mechanic for Victor Hémery and Barney Oldfield , he was involved in the successful world speed records with the Blitzen-Benz in 1909 and 1910 . In 1910, Franz Heim was the pilot of the 2 x 200 hp Benz speedboat when attempting a world record on the water in Monaco . Heim claimed a driver position for himself and was able to prevail. He was named a Benz works driver . In May 1910 he won the Ries hill climb near Graz on his first outing . This was followed by further victories all over Europe with the stations Liège, Antwerp, Ostend, Boulogne sur Mer and Brooklands . At the end of the year he jumped in for George Robertson in the Vanderbilt Cup .
In 1911, there were hardly any works races planned at Benz. Heim therefore left Benz and became an independent racing driver. He drove the Ries hill climb again in May. for the Austrian beer industrialist Theodor Dreher on the 200-hp Blitzen-Benz and won again in front of 70,000 spectators. He also secured class victory at the Russian Tsar Prize and was personally presented by Tsar Nicholas II with His Majesty's Prize for Category II . In 1912 , Franz Heim was hired by Lorraine-Dietrich as a driver for the French Grand Prix at the Circuit de Dieppe . Shortly after the start, he retired with engine failure. Heim began developing passenger cars in his Mannheim workshop. In the winter of 1913/14 he was engaged by LG "Cupid" Hornsted for world record attempts , which were successful.
After that, the burst First World War and home became one of the first German tank commanders in a captured British Mark I . After the war, Heim founded his automobile company Heim & Cie and, together with Arthur Henney, developed a racing car for the opening race at the Berlin AVUS in 1921. In the very first race, Heim came third with his Heim 8/30. This success was an important advertisement for Heim & Cie, and the new 8/40 model became a bestseller. For the 1922 season , Franz Heim developed Grand Prix racing cars with their own home six-cylinder engines . At the first Italian Grand Prix in Monza in 1922 , Franz Heim and Reinhold Stahl started with the Heim Grand Prix cars, albeit with Selve engines. Both failed. Due to inflation and the global economic crisis , the home Grand Prix cars were no longer used.
Heim founded another company in 1923, Heim Motorenwerk . In 1924 the Heim model series 9/60 (and 8/80 sports cars) with in-house engines went into series production. The sales figures were well below expectations, and Heim suffered a serious heart attack. November 1925, sales collapsed and Franz Heim committed suicide on January 6, 1926.
statistics
Some selected results from Franz Heim's assignments as a racing mechanic, racing driver and racing team owner.
| date | Race type | space | place | driver | Car type | No. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 25, 1907 | run | 4th |
AC Belgique Bastogne (Belgium) Imperial Prize formula |
René Hanriot | Benz 38/60 | 16 |
| Sep 1 1907 | Grand Prix | 3. |
Coppa Florio Brescia (Italy) |
René Hanriot | Benz 38/60 | 16B |
| July 7, 1908 | Grand Prix | 3. |
Grand Prix de l'ACF Circuit de Dieppe (France) |
René Hanriot | Benz 120 hp | 23 |
| Sep 20 1908 | Hill climb | 4. 3. |
Semmering hill climb (Austria) class 10; GP class 11 - without limit |
René Hanriot (for alder) |
Benz 150 hp | unknown |
| Nov. 26, 1908 | Grand Prix | 4th |
American Grand Prize Savannah-Effingham Raceway , Savannah (USA) |
René Hanriot | Benz 150 hp | 15th |
| Nov 8, 1909 | Record run | 202.7 km / h |
Brooklands Weybridge (England) |
Victor Hémery | " Blitzen-Benz " Benz 200 PS (No. 1) | no |
| 17th Mar 1910 | Record run | 211.9 km / h | Daytona Beach Road Course , Daytona Beach (USA) | Barney Oldfield | " Blitzen-Benz " Benz 200 PS (No. 1) | no |
| May 15, 1910 | Hill climb | 1. |
Ries (Austria) record with 4: 24.4 min |
Franz Heim | Benz Prince Heinrich car version 1908/75 hp | 24 |
| June 2-8 , 1910 | Long haul | 5. | Prince Heinrich ride | Arthur Henney | Benz Prinz Heinrich car version 1910/80 hp | 4th |
| June 12, 1910 | Sprint race | 1. | Coupe de la Meuse Liège (Belgium) Small touring car |
Franz Heim | Benz Prinz-Heinrich-Wagen version 1910 | unknown |
| 1910 | Sprint race | 1. | Antwerp (Belgium) | Franz Heim | Possibly. Benz Prince Heinrich car | unknown |
| July 16-18 , 1910 | Sprint race | 1. (8 times) |
Meeting from Ostend (Belgium) u. a. - Wenduyne 10 km class 7 - Touring car 20 km |
Franz Heim | Benz Prince Heinrich car | unknown |
| 20./ July 21, 1910 | Sprint race |
1. (2 times) 2. 2. |
Boulogne sur Mer (France) - Coupe Franchomme, 7 km class 2 - Coupe Caraman-Chimay 3 km - 1 km ascent racing car |
Franz Heim | Possibly. Benz Prince Heinrich car | unknown |
| Aug 1910 | Sprint race | 12 times) |
Brooklands Weybridge (England) August Sprint Race |
Franz Heim | Benz Prinz-Heinrich-Wagen version 1908 | 6th |
| Oct. 1, 1910 | run | 27 |
Vanderbilt Cup Long Island Motor Parkway , New York (USA) |
Franz Heim | Benz Prince Heinrich car version 1908/105 hp | 8th |
| Nov 12, 1910 | Grand Prix | 2. |
American Grand Prize Savannah-Effingham Raceway , Savannah (USA) |
Victor Hémery | BENZ Grand Prix 150 hp | 9 |
| May 21, 1911 | Hill climb | 1 |
Ries (Austria) record with 4: 16.2 min |
Franz Heim | " Blitzen-Benz " Benz 200 PS (No. 2) | no |
| 7.- 16. Sep. 1911 | 9 day rally | 1 (class II) | Imperial Prize St. Petersburg - Sevastopol ( Russia ) |
Franz Heim | Benz 25/40 | 10 |
| Nov 30, 1911 | Grand Prix | Failure (8) |
American Grand Prize Savannah-Effingham Raceway , Savannah (USA) |
Victor Hémery | Benz 150 hp | 56 |
| June 25-26 , 1912 | Grand Prix | Failure (1) |
Grand Prix de l'ACF Circuit de Dieppe (France) |
Franz Heim | Lorraine-Dietrich | 57 |
| December 22, 1913 | Record run | 113.8 km / h 118.8 km / h |
Brooklands Weybridge (England) - for half a mile (804.67 meters) - with a standing start for 1 km, - with a standing start |
LG "Cupid" Hornsted | " Blitzen-Benz " Benz 200 PS (No. 3) | no |
| Sep 24 1921 | run | 3. |
AVUS Berlin (Germany) Class VIII A |
Franz Heim | Home 8/30 | 12 |
| 25 Sep 1921 | run | Failure (5) |
AVUS Berlin (Germany) class VIA |
Franz Heim | Home 6/18 | 8th |
| June 11, 1922 | run | 5. Failure accident (7) |
AVUS Berlin (Germany) Class II (8 tax PS) |
Franz Heim Reinhold Stahl Arthur Henney |
Home 8/24 | 4 5 10 |
| Sep 10 1922 | Grand Prix | Failure (16) Failure (7) |
Gran Premio d'Italia Autodromo Nazionale Monza , Monza (Italy) |
Franz Heim Reinhold Stahl |
Home Monza | 7 31 |
Web links
- Dietrich Conrad: Heim & Cie
- Franz Heim in the digital archive of Mercedes-Benz Classic
- Howard Kroplick: Vanderbilt Cup Races - Drivers - Franz Heim. Vanderbilt Cup Races, August 10, 2016, accessed February 17, 2020 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Monaco
- ^ Austrian National Library: ANNO, Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung, 1910-05-22. Retrieved February 17, 2020 .
- ^ Vanderbilt Cup Races - Blog - The Three Benz in the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race. Retrieved February 17, 2020 .
- ↑ Ries hill climb
- ↑ a b c PTRACER: 1921 Avus race - The Complete Story - The Fastlane. The fastlane, January 7, 2019, accessed February 17, 2020 (American English).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Home, Franz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German racing driver, entrepreneur and founder of Badische Automobilfabrik Heim & Co |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 4th July 1882 |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 6, 1926 |