Edgar Barth

Who was Edgar Barth?

Edgar Barth was a German Formula One and sports car racing driver.

Barth was born in Herold. He began his career as a DKW motorcycle racer and later switched to BMW sportscars. The East German factory of BMW would become the Eisenacher Motorenwerk after the war. He raced these Formula 2 cars even in Western Germany until politics prevented this. In 1957, he emigrated to the West.

Barth won the 1959, 1963 and 1964 European Mountain Championships for Porsche and also the 1959 Targa Florio.

Apart from Formula 2 races with Porsche 718, he also took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on numerous occasions.

He participated four times in the German Grand Prix, the last one in 1964 for Rob Walker in a Cooper. Nine months later he succumbed to cancer, and died, aged 48, in Ludwigsburg.

Edgar Barth's son Jürgen Barth became an engineer at Porsche who also went into motorsport, to win the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1977.