Josef Hopf

Josef (Sepp) Hopf (born December 21, 1894 in Oberdorfen ; † August 27, 1993 there ) was a German mechanic. He became known as the race director of BMW .

Life

After graduating from elementary school , Hopf started his apprenticeship as a shoemaker in 1908 , which he completed in 1911. He initially worked in the profession he had learned, but was called up to the infantry for military service in 1915 . After being wounded, he applied for a transfer and in 1917 came to the air force in Oberschleißheim as a fitter's assistant . When the fighting ended, Hopf became unemployed, but in 1920 he got a job as an assistant fitter at BMW in Milbertshofen and initially worked on the engine test bench . After another brief period of unemployment, he worked as a fitter in motorcycle production at BMW. When Rudolf Schleicher came to BMW, Hopf became his employee. In 1924 he took over test bench work again. From 1928 he began working on the compressor motors , with which Ernst Jakob Henne was able to set a world speed record of 216.8 km / h on September 19, 1929.

Hopf developed his own compressor, which was used in the world record in 1932 and also in racing from 1933. After these successes he was appointed master at Schleicher's instigation.

In 1935 he finally became race director and in 1936 production engineer. He was also instrumental in the development of the BMW telescopic fork and received a patent for it in 1937 together with Rudolf Schleicher, Alexander von Falkenhausen and Alfred Böning .

Under his leadership, Henne succeeded in setting the world record for motorcycles in 1937 at 279.5 km / h and Georg "Schorsch" Meier won the Senior TT , the 500 cc class, at the Tourist Trophy on the Isle in 1939 of Man .

During the Second World War he worked with von Falkenhausen on the BMW R75 . After the war he worked in a repair shop in Allach , but came back to the race track in 1947, albeit as a privateer. Hopf now worked in the test department and was involved in the BMW R 25/3 and the BMW R 27 , as well as in converting the motorcycle engines to fan cooling for the BMW Isetta , BMW 600 and BMW 700 . On March 30, 1960, Hopf retired as head of the testing department.

literature

• Motorcycle Classic , 1/95

Web links

• Josef Hopf. In: BMW history. BMW AG, accessed on February 9, 2020 (CV in the BMW Group Archive). 

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rudolf Schleicher: Letter from Rudolf Schleicher to BMW. In: BMW history. BMW AG, July 20, 1977, accessed on February 9, 2020 (document in the BMW Group archive): "Confirmation that alongside him Josef Hopf was significantly involved in the development of the compressor."