|
BOOK REVIEW
The power behind BMW's success
A gripping glimpse of gifted engine designer Paul Rosche
By Bill McLauchlan
Thursday, February 12, 2004
This is a fascinating book about a legendary man. The first in a "BMW Portraits" series, the book focuses on the now semi-retired Bavarian genius whose many engine designs include the awesome 1.5-litre, turbo 4-cylinder unit that drove the Brabham team to its 1983 F1 World Championship.
He is also the man behind the current V10 that took the BMW.-Williams team to within a whisker of last year's title.
As if that weren't enough, Rosche also designed a V12 that twice captured the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race, was responsible for the entire creation of BMW's fabulous M1 supercar and oversaw the development of virtually every engine found in BMW's production cars since the early 1960s.
Paul Rosche: The history of a legendary engine constructor shows he was often happiest mulling over a problem in his favourite pub, as close friend (and Mercedes SLR McLaren designer) Gordon Murray recalls in one of the book's all-star cast of tributes: "Few of our working lunches took place without weissbier, meat loaf and pretzels."
Author Karl H. Hufstadt has produced a very entertaining and often humorous book about Rosche's stellar career, liberally sprinkled with what his friends and colleagues say about him and the impact Rosche's genius has had on BMW and its international image. Despite some occasionally stilted syntax, the work is full of intriguing insights, such as how Rosche carried on development of an engine project in a private Munich garage after the BMW board denied funding. Or how the company threatened to fire anyone found working on the turbo F1 engine that was almost ditched, but survived to win a world championship in 1983. And Rosche candidly reveals how his "problem child," the M1, "nearly sent me to my death. It didn't function properly at all."
There are lots of marvellous photos too. Every motoring fan will revel in this book, even if you're not a fan of the BMW marque itself.
Published by BMW AG, Munich. $62.00 at MiniGrid stores: 608 Mt. Pleasant Rd., Toronto, and 4461 Hwy #7, Unionville. Or contact www.mini-grid.com.
| 
