Herbert Schnitzer, the man who turned BMW into a racing force, has died at 85
For a generation of BMW fans, the name on the side of the car said everything
Motorsport has lost one of its quiet giants. Herbert Schnitzer, who together with his brother Josef built Schnitzer Motorsport into the most successful BMW racing team of all, has died on his 85th birthday at his home in Freilassing, surrounded by family. Few names are as deeply woven into BMW's racing history as his.
Two brothers and a BMW dealership
The Schnitzer story began in the 1960s, when Herbert and his older brother Josef took over the family BMW dealership and founded its racing division in 1967. The division of labour was clear: Josef was the engineering brain, Herbert the businessman and team manager who ran the operation. It was a partnership that would reshape what a privateer BMW team could achieve. When Josef died in 1978, Herbert carried on, and the team won the German touring car championship that same year, a measure of his resolve.
A roll call of victories
The list of Schnitzer achievements reads like a history of BMW motorsport itself. The crowning moment came at the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours, won outright with the BMW V12 LMR. Beyond that, Schnitzer collected European and World Touring Car titles, success in British, Italian, Japanese and Asia-Pacific series, five wins apiece at the Nurburgring and Spa 24 Hours, and a clean sweep of drivers', teams' and manufacturers' honours in the DTM in 2012. Earlier still, the team built Formula 2 engines good enough for Jacques Laffite to win the 1975 European F2 title.
The drivers he helped shape
Part of Schnitzer's legacy is the talent that passed through the team. Roberto Ravaglia, Johnny Cecotto, Joachim Winkelhock and Bruno Spengler all took major titles in Schnitzer machinery, while names such as Stefan Bellof, Gerhard Berger, Nelson Piquet, Jacky Ickx and Walter Rohrl all drove for the team across the decades. Known affectionately as "the Patron," Herbert was the constant presence on the pit wall through all of it.
The end of an era
Schnitzer Motorsport closed its competition programme at the end of 2020, as BMW restructured its racing efforts, though the Schnitzer Classic operation continues to care for the team's historic cars. Herbert was the last surviving member of the founding Schnitzer brothers. Racer Christian Menzel captured what the name meant to so many: "To me, Schnitzer was BMW. They lived the brand's values authentically to all fans."
AutoNext Take
Some racing teams win; a rare few come to define a brand, and Schnitzer did exactly that for BMW. For decades, a white car with that blue-and-red name on the door was a promise of speed, precision and a certain old-school dignity, and Herbert Schnitzer was the man who held it all together long after losing the brother he started with. From everyone at AutoNext, our thoughts are with his family. The cars will keep running at historic events, and every one of them will carry his name up the road.
