Rolf Wutherich
| Rolf Wütherich | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Rudolf Karl Wütherich Rolf Wütherich August 5, 1927 Heilbronn, Germany |
| Died | July 22, 1981 (aged 53) Kupferzell, West Germany (now Kupferzell, Germany) |
| Nationality | West German |
| Occupation | Field engineer |
| Known for | Befriending James Dean |
Rudolf Karl Wütherich Rolf Wütherich (
audio ; August 5, 1927 – July 22 , 1981), most commonly known as Rolf Wütherich, was a West German automotive engineer and racer.
He was born in Heilbronn, Germany. 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, 1953, and 1954. 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.
In mid-September 1955, Competition Motors received five new Porsche 550 Spyders that were being offered only to 'privateer' racers. Dean traded in his Super Speedster to purchase a new Spyder on September 21. Von Neumann only agreed to sell the new 550 Spyder to Dean as long as Wütherich would accompany him to the races as his mechanic. Dean immediately entered the Salinas Road Races scheduled for October 1-2.
On Friday morning, September 30, 1955, Dean and Wütherich were at Competition Motors preparing Dean’s new Porsche 550 Spyder for the weekend sports car races at Salinas, California. Dean originally intended to trailer the Porsche to Salinas, behind his 1955 Ford Country Squire station wagon, driven by friend and movie stunt man, Bill Hickman, and accompanied by professional photographer, Sanford Roth, who was planning a photo story of Dean at the races for Colliers Magazine. Because the Porsche didn't have enough ‘break-in’ miles prior to the race, Wütherich recommended that Dean drive the Spyder to Salinas to get more ‘seat time’ behind the wheel. The group had coffee and donuts at the Hollywood Ranch Market on Vine Street across from Competition Motors (not the legendary Farmer’s Market at Fairfax and 3rd Ave. as previously reported) before leaving around 1:15 p.m. PST. "Jimmy's and my nerves were pretty frayed when we finally pulled away from Competition Motors," Wütherich told Bill Barrett. "Our first stop was at a service station on Ventura Blvd.", he said. It was at that Mobil station on Ventura Blvd. at Beverly Glen Blvd. in Sherman Oaks where the legendary photo was taken of Dean standing next to the "Little Bastard." The group left around 2:00 p.m., heading north on CA Rt. 99 and then over the ‘Grapevine’ toward Bakersfield.
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