Rolf Wütherich

Who was Rolf Wütherich?

Rudolf Karl Wütherich Rolf Wütherich was born in Heilbronn, Germany on August 5, 1927. In 1950, the former Luftwaffe glider pilot, paratrooper, and aircraft mechanic joined Mercedes-Benz after the war. In 1949, he joined the Porsche factory becoming the second employee of their racing department. He participated as a factory team member at Le Mans in 1952, '53 and '54. Wütherich was also a factory team member for Porsche at Avus, Milia Miglia, Rheims, and the Nurburgring races.

The Porsche factory sent Wütherich to the United States as a field engineer for Johnny von Neumann's Competition Motors in Hollywood, California where the new 550 Spyder racing cars were being distributed. Wütherich arrived in April, 1955. Wütherich later met actor James Dean, a Porsche Speedster racer, at the May 1st Bakersfield races. He befriended Dean and began to work on Dean's Speedster for race events.