The great Hans Stuck and the little automobile designer Emil Enzmann
11/26/2011
Today, country doctor Dr. Emil Enzmann (pictured in the middle between Franco Sbarro and Frank Rinderknecht) celebrates his 90th birthday, and we wish him a very happy birthday!
Over the last few days, we have reported extensively on the well-known Swiss car manufacturer Emil Enzmann and his most popular work, the Enzmann 506 . Today, however, we would like to focus on a lesser-known and earlier episode in Emil Enzmann's life. We look back to 1932 and let Paula Stuck tell the story (retold on the basis of a report that appeared in the magazine "Sport-Illustrierte"):
We had a flat tire in Schüpfheim, a few kilometers from Lucerne. While we were changing the wheels, a little eleven-year-old boy joined us and started a conversation of his own accord.
"Isn't that the 12-cylinder? Why doesn't it have a high gear? Personally, I think the eight-cylinder is better. I recently drove a model with front-wheel drive. But it's definitely outdated ...."
We listened intently and my husband (Hans Stuck) started a conversation with him.
"Oh, I've known YOU for a long time," he said, peering under the hood. "It's time for you to start racing again. When will your Porsche be ready?"
Naturally, we were very surprised. An eleven-year-old boy in Schüpfheim who talks like a mechanic? One word led to another and finally he invited us to take a look at his own constructions.
His father owned the Hotel Adler and a large garage. In the large dining room, there was a display case containing many shooting awards, football cups and trophies from car races. So the son had inherited his passions from his father - but first and foremost his passion for cars. And now little Emil Enzmann led us into his room and proudly showed us a whole wall of drawings.
The sixteen-cylinder engines just ran into each other. Yes, there was even a 32-cylinder among them, but Emil thought it was too complicated to use. V-shaped engines and gearboxes, 4- and 5-speed transmissions - everything a car enthusiast could wish for. And my husband and Emil sank into heated debates. Hans noted down what Emil was saying and Emil listened intently to the racing driver's views.
Hour after hour passed, and finally Emil gave us three original design drawings as a parting gift. (Two of these were later to appear in specialist journals!)
"And when I'm 15 years old, won't I Mr. Stuck, I'll be your right-handman," Emil asked faithfully.
"When you're 15 years old, I'll be your right-hand man," replied big Hans, and little Emil agreed.
Later (1933), Paul and Hans Stuck thanked him with a picture postcard, which Klein-Emil must have loved.
Unbelievable, but true! Where did Klein-Emil get all this knowledge from? Perhaps from the Automobil Revue, which he still enjoys reading every week ....
