Of course, Otto Mathé is no stranger to motorsport: after all, he also achieved remarkable motorsport success as a one-armed man and was the owner of the famous Berlin-Rom car, the VW-based Porsche. But there is a lot more to know about the "Tyrolean hotshot", which is why Siegfried Strasser has dedicated a book to him. And the research was certainly not done with a few Google searches, because there is very little online about the exceptional talent from Innsbruck.
From bicycle to motorcycle
Otto Mathé (1907 to 1995) was born in Tyrol and was certainly not a child who was born with everything in his cradle. He worked his way up with diligence and courage, not shying away from risks or unorthodox paths. He celebrated his first racing successes on a bicycle, without gears, and became mountain champion of Tyrol and Voralberg. Later, he saddled up on a motorcycle and was fast everywhere, whether on the mountain, on the circuit or on ice, sand and grass.
It was on his motorcycle that he suffered a serious accident that left his arm permanently paralyzed.
The accident and its consequences
Others would have given up, but Otto Mathé was not prepared to do so. After just three months, he was skiing again with one arm and soon became known for his precision-made pistons. He opened a service station and began to develop his own engine oil formulations and additives.
He earned so much money that he could afford to become a racing driver. Whether in the Fiat 508 Balilla Spider, the Berlin-Rome car or his self-developed "Fetzenflieger", Otto was always fast and, above all, at the front when conditions were difficult. His driving technique, in which he threw himself onto the steering wheel with his chest so that he could change gear with one arm, was unorthodox but effective.
In 1957, Mathé came second in the first post-war Gaisberg race in the Fetzenflieger. And he also excelled again in the ice races. He ended his racing career in 1959 and turned his attention to other things.
Viewed from different perspectives
Strasser not only tells the biography of this exceptional talent, but also approaches the subject from different perspectives. He shows newspaper clippings from the time wherever they can be found, mentions race results and documents memories of contemporaries. The subject of the "Berlin-Rome car" is also addressed several times.
Otto Mathé was not only a good racing driver, but also an inventor and a marketing genius, and the author devotes one or more chapters to each of these aspects.
Worth seeing pictures
The life and work of Otto Mathé is documented on 144 pages and there is no shortage of rare and rarely seen images from the period. There are also two photos of Count Galeazzo Ciano's Lancia Aprilia Aerodinamica, which Mathé once owned.
Mathé was a collector in general, couldn't throw anything away and some of the things he once owned are now also depicted in Strasser's book.
Not just for Mathé fans
You don't necessarily have to be a fan of Otto Mathé to be captivated by this book. After all, it is mainly set in the exciting period after the Second World War, when many an interesting racing event was founded or revived. And it is not only about these events that you learn a lot, but also about other aspects of pre- and post-war Austria that are worth knowing.
EUR 24.80 is certainly a modest contribution to the extensive research of Siegfried Strasser, who has ensured with this book that Otto Mathé will not be forgotten.
Bibliographical details
- Title: Otto Mathé - Tyrol's one-armed devil of a man
- Author: Siegfried C. Strasser
- Language: German
- Publisher: Edition Tirol
- Edition: 1st edition 2019
- Format: Hardcover, 26 x 21.5 cm
- Scope: 144 pages, over 160 illustrations
- ISBN number: 978-3-85361-241-5
- Price: EUR 24.80
- Buy/order: From the publisher Edition Tirol, by email, from Tyrolia or from local bookshops
