Herbert Müller

Who was Herbert Müller?

Herbert Müller Rebmann was a racing driver from Switzerland. He was born in Reinach and was nicknamed Stumpen-Herbie. Among others success, he won the Targa Florio twice, in 1966 and 1973, both with Porsche.

Driving a Ferrari 512 in an Interserie race at the Nürburgring, he survived a fiery start collision that ended in the pit lane next to a fire engine. Müller got out of the car and ran towards a fire fighter who put out the flames on his overall.

He died in the 1981 1000 km Nürburgring in his Porsche 908 Turbo, racing with his longtime friend Seigried Brunn. Before the event, Müller stated that he would retire from motorsports after the end of the race. The Porsche 935 of Bobby Rahal had been parked next to the track at Klostertal since lap 1, still loaded with fuel. Then on lap 17, the GT-class Porsche Carrera RS of Karl-Josef Römer spun out at the same corner running into some oil that was left from Rahal's car. Müller, who was right behind Römer at the time entering the Klostertal turn, tried to avoid the spinning Porsche, but ran into the oil, causing him to run wide and hit an earth bank at high speed.