Eberhard Mahle becomes European Champion in 1966. Porsche owes him the first international title in a Porsche 911. Eberhard Mahle had previously achieved success in other brands, such as the German GT Championship in 1957 in an Alfa Romeo and the German Hillclimb Championship in 1959 in a Volvo. He was a works driver for Abarth, Borgward and Mercedes-Benz.
He was also successful early on with the vehicles from Zuffenhausen: in 1959 he came second in the Targa Florio in a Porsche 550 Spyder. In 1960, he won the Solitude Rally in a Porsche 356 Super 90.
Eberhard Mahle (* January 7, 1933 - † December 21, 2021) has petrol in his blood. His father Ernst Mahle founded today's Mahle GmbH with his brother Hermann. The first Mahle high-performance pistons are tested in the Porsche 356 in the early 1950s. From then on, Mahle became an original equipment manufacturer for Porsche. As a teenager, he was already riding motorcycles and driving cars. In 1954, he began his racing career with a DKW 3=6 at the Solitude Rally and immediately won his class. In the same year, Eberhard Mahle bought his first Porsche. Despite the rather modest 40 hp of the 1100 cc boxer engine, he finished sixth in the Achalm hill climb near Reutlingen the following year.
By 1963, the young Swabian had competed in around 210 races and rallies, in which he celebrated six overall and over 150 class victories. After a serious accident in 1964 involving a go-kart through no fault of his own, Eberhard Mahle spent a year and a half in hospital. In 1966, he had recovered sufficiently "to want to give it another go", he said. In 1966, for the first time, there was not only a trophy to be won at the European Hillclimb Championships in the GT class without a displacement limit, but also a title. "That was just right for me," reported Eberhard Mahle.
Eberhard Mahle was thinking about a 911, but Porsche race director Huschke von Hanstein waved him off: he only had rally cars and "besides, you can never win this if Ferrari and Ford are competing with over 300 hp." Mahle decided to go for it anyway and got a used 1965 911 with 165 hp from his friend Gerhard Mitter. At the first start at Rossfeld, a relatively well-developed track with few bends, the horsepower-strong competitors dominate. Nevertheless, Mahle achieved third place.
The other tracks suit the driver and vehicle much better: lots of bends, lots of braking, lots of acceleration. The right environment for a maneuverable 911. "And a better driver can compensate for the lack of performance on such tracks," says Eberhard Mahle modestly. He was the best in 1966: the Swabian won all further races in the GT class, only touching a crash barrier at the finale on the Gaisberg, getting out and inspecting the damage. It was just a dented fender, but he abandoned the race due to the loss of time. No drama: "I was already the uncatchable European champion before the Gaisberg". He knows the road up Salzburg's local mountain very well from races in the years before his European Championship. "Definitely a very winding and very difficult route," he said. And added: "It's actually a shame that I didn't finish in 1966."
This does not diminish his pride at winning the European title. "That was my greatest success," said Eberhard Mahle. "Especially because all the experts said you can't actually win that."
The former racing driver passed away on December 21, 2021 at the age of 88. "The news of his death hits us hard. Our thoughts are with his wife Karin, his family and the clubs for which Ebs Mahle was active into old age," says Achim Stejskal, Head of Porsche Heritage and Museum. "We would like to thank him for his racing successes and his numerous contributions to the museum as a contemporary witness, for example at the Solitude Revival or on the Gaisberg."
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG will not forget Eberhard Mahle.
