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Karl Heinz Panowitz - Natural, but late

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Created on March 27, 2026

Text:

Emanuel Zifreund

Photos:

NSU/Wankel-Spider-Club Deutschland e. V.

57

Emanuel Zifreund

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NSU/Wankel-Spider-Club Deutschland e. V.

57

Emanuel Zifreund

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Panowitz with the winner's wreath from the 1962 Austrian Grand Prix. Meanwhile, the Sarotti Moor guards the water pipe

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Karl Heinz Panowitz: Rarely without sunglasses

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NSU Prinz 30 (1960) - XXIII International Rally Wiesbaden 1961

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NSU Prinz 30 (1960) - Panowitz, 12-hour race for touring cars at the Nürburgring in 1961

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NSU Prinz 30 (1960) - Panowitz at the start of the 1961 Spessart mountain race, hopefully followed by an ice-cold Coca-Cola

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Porsche 1500 GS Carrera (1959) - ADAC mountain record Freiburg-Schauinsland

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NSU Prinz 30 (1960) - Off to Corsica: Loading onto the steamer "Napoleon"

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NSU Prinz 30 (1960) - Panowitz/Nyffeler, Tour de Corse Automobile 1961

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NSU Prinz 30 (1960) - Panowitz after winning the 600cc class at the Schorndorf hill climb in 1961

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Porsche 1500 GS Carrera (1959) - International Rally Hanseat 1961

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NSU Prinz 30 (1960) - Downhill with a winner's wreath: Karl Heinz Panowitz at the Rusel mountain race in 1962

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Eight races, six victories, two second places - In the 1962 season, Karl Heinz Panowitz was the superior German touring car mountain champion

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Mountain champion 1962: Karl Heinz Panowitz. The trophy (a replica of Panowitz's NSU Prinz) was made by NSU apprentices in their training workshop

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Early on in his career (1962/63), Panowitz had already amassed a considerable trophy collection

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Karl Heinz Panowitz and his wife Lore. The shelves are already well stocked with rally memorabilia. Will there be another one in Monte Carlo?

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DKW Junior De Luxe (1962) - Karl Heinz Panowitz (left) with co-driver Gert Raschig at the technical scrutineering for the 1963 Monte Carlo Rally

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DKW Junior De Luxe (1962) - Karl Heinz Panowitz/Gert Raschig, Rally Monte Carlo 1963

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NSU Prinz 30 (1960) - Panowitz drifting at the Lyon-Charbonnieres - Stuttgart-Solitude Rally in 1963

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Porsche 2000 GS Carrera 2 () - Karl Heinz Panowitz at the 1963 Solitude Autumn Test Drive

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September 1, 1963: Start of the International ADAC 500 km race for the Bernd Rosemeyer Challenge Prize at the Nürburgring - 8th round of the Gran Turismo World Championship up to 1 liter

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The assembled NSU sports driver team at the end of 1963: in the middle, the only one without a full head of hair, NSU Technical Director Viktor Frankenberger; to his right Karl Heinz Panowitz

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NSU Prinz (1964) - Panowitz, Neuffen hill climb 1964

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NSU Prinz 1000 TT (1964) - Panowitz at the 1965 Peissenberg race, without any black ice

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Steyr-Puch 500 (1965) - Karl Heinz Panowitz, ÖASC International Semperit Rally 1965 in Austria, organized

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Karl Hein Panowitz at the 1966 Hockenheimring race of the Wiesbadener Automobilclub (WAC)

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - As a "bon vivant with a special sense of humor", Panowitz was naturally also welcome at the carnival, for example at MC Sindelfingen

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Karl Heinz Panowitz - German Touring Car Mountain Champion 1962 on NSU - German Grand Tourisme Rally Champion 1966 on NSU/Wankel Spider

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - NSU used the jump at the 1966 Avus Rally as an advertising motif

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - The NSU team for the 1966 Deutschlandrallye, far left Rainer Strunz and Karl Heinz Panowitz

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Not only indispensable when putting on his helmet: without his co-driver Rainer Strunz, Karl Heinz Panowitz would hardly have been so successful. He was the "pathfinder" and "brain trust" for the "level-headed daredevil"

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Humorous snapshot of Strunz and Panowitz at the 1966 Avus Rally as an autograph card from Hockenheim

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Karl Heinz Panowitz at the Solitude Autumn Test Drive 1966

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Panowitz and Strunz with their rally team at Kolbenschmidt in Neckarsulm

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Panowitz/Strunz, Rally Avus 1966

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Rainer Strunz (left) and Karl Heinz Panowitz as German rally champions for GT cars

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Victory despite fender bender at the 1966 Deutschlandrallye, comment by Panowitz: "Even the best can lose their way once in a while." Left: co-driver Strunz and mechanic Faigle

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Team mates at NSU: driver Sigfried Spiess and mechanic Roland Faigle

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Signed photo of Strunz and Panowitz at the 1966 Avus Rally

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) – The successes of Panowitz and Strunz were of course also publicized in advertising

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Panowitz not only had talent as a driver, but also as an entertainer, as he demonstrates here at Solitude

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Solitude Autumn Test Drive 1966: The Opel Rekord has to work hard to keep up with Panowitz

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Photo opportunity with Gepard after Panowitz's victory in the 1967 Hesse Rally

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Photo shoot with cheetah and lady for Hessischer Rundfunk at the start of the 1967 season

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Karl Heinz Panowitz and Hans Wang at the start of the International Winter Rally Norway 1967

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Karl Heinz Panowitz and co-driver Hans G. Wang in a good mood after the International Winter Rally Norway 1967

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - The crowd favorites Panowitz and Wang at the International Winter Rally Norway 1967

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - International Winter Rally Norway 1967: 195 "Swedish spikes" in every tire

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - International Winter Rally Norway 1967: The runners not only glide better over the snow, they also protect the front axle

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - International Winter Rally Norway 1967: Skids were also fitted under the engine and rear axle

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Third place for Panowitz in the "Prize of Baden" of the 1967 AvD Germany Trophy

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Panowitz (#30) ahead of Schondelmaier (#34) at the 1967 "Prize of Baden" at the Hockenheimring

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - David against Goliath at the 1967 "Prize of the Nations" at the Hockenheimring

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Panowitz at the "Prize of Nations" at the Hockenheimring ahead of two Honda S 800s and an MG Midget

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Victory in the up to 1000 cc class and third place overall for Panowitz in the 1968 DARM race at the Norisring

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Elegant for the factory tour: son Sven, wife Lore and Karl Heinz Panowitz

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Karl Heinz Panowitz (center) and the man to whom his Spider owes its engine: Felix Wankel

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Karl Heinz Panowitz was always in a good mood and was considered a "bon vivant with a special sense of humor"

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A model of his NSU Prinz 30 as a trophy for the 1962 hill climb championship, built in the NSU apprentice workshop - Special exhibition "German Rally Champion 1966 Karl Hein Panowitz" at Motorworld Böblingen

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Others collect stamps; Panowitz and Strunz collected trophies and awards - special exhibition "German Rally Champion 1966 Karl Hein Panowitz" at Motorworld Böblingen

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Displaying all of Panowitz's trophies would go beyond the showcases - special exhibition "German Rally Champion 1966 Karl Hein Panowitz" at Motorworld Böblingen

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Panowitz' red rally car - Special exhibition "German Rally Champion 1966 Karl Hein Panowitz" at Motorworld Böblingen

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - Dashboard with additional instruments for Panowitz and handle for the Strunz - Special exhibition "German Rally Champion 1966 Karl Hein Panowitz" at Motorworld Böblingen

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NSU/Wankel Spider (1966) - White is unusual. Panowitz usually competed in red - special exhibition "German Rally Champion 1966 Karl Hein Panowitz" at Motorworld Böblingen

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This demonstration model is probably the only Wankel engine with a crankshaft - Special exhibition "German Rally Champion 1966 Karl Hein Panowitz" at Motorworld Böblingen

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The engine of an NSU/Wankel Spider - special exhibition "German Rally Champion 1966 Karl Hein Panowitz" at Motorworld Böblingen

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Summary

60 years ago, Karl Heinz Panowitz from Böblingen won the German Rally Championship in an NSU/Wankel Spider. Despite numerous other successes, the "bon vivant with a special sense of humor" is almost forgotten today. We remember the talented night and fog driver, who only started racing at an age when others had already stopped.

This article contains the following chapters

First successes
Back to NSU
Rotary superiority
Reliably fast
Norway 1967
After racing

Estimated reading time: 12min

Preview (beginning of the article)

It was a provocation with consequences. At the end of the Gordon Bennett drive in October 1959, the pilot - a timber manufacturer from Pfäffingen - was foaming at the mouth. Instead of announcing the route during the journey like any other co-pilot, his co-driver had only ever asked "Can't it go any faster?". "Well, why don't you drive yourself?" was the angry reply from the driver, who had no idea what he was setting in motion. The former fighter pilot Karl Heinz Panowitz was a late starter and had no previous motorsport experience to fall back on, especially not in go-karts, as is usually the case at the beginning of a racing career nowadays. Even at the age of 40, Panowitz still had no idea how to race, how to make cars faster or - see above - what the co-driver's job in a rally car is. Together with his first wife, he ran a laundry and owned a car rental business. According to a written interview, it was "the joy of driving" that brought him to racing. And, of course, it was chance that brought him to the aforementioned wood manufacturer's car. He was a customer of Panowitz's car rental company and his original co-driver had dropped out at short notice.

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