Heinz Melkus (20 April 1928 – 5 September 2005) was an

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

race car driver and constructor of

sport car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

s. He founded the company

Melkus Melkus was a marque of single seat racing cars and sport cars founded by the race driver Heinz Melkus in Dresden in East Germany. The company existed from 1959 to 1986, and then from 2009 to 2012. The cars originally used engines from Wartbur ...

to produce race and sport cars, his

Wartburg The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the p ...

based

Melkus RS 1000 Melkus RS 1000 is a sports car produced by Melkus. It is powered by a tuned, mid-mounted 3-cylinder 2-stroke 992 cm3 engine, similar to the one in the Wartburg 353, and features gull-wing doors. 101 cars were made between 1969 and 1979 ...

was with 101 build units the most successful one. His sons, Ulli and Peter Melkus have resumed to build sports cars in 2006.

Racing record

* 1958 East German champion in

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

up to 500 cc * 1960 East German champion in

Formula Junior Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI (''International Sporting Commission'', the part of the FIA that then regulated motorsports). The class was intended to provide an entry level class ...

up to 1000 cc * 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1972 Winner of the Main event of the Friendship of Socialist Countries Cup * 1967, 1968, 1972 East German champion in

/Class C 9/Class B 8/ E up to 1300 cc

Literature

* Horst Ihling: ''BMW (Ost), EMW, Wartburg. Autorennsport in der DDR''. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2006, . * Wolfgang Melenk: ''Heinz Melkus. Fahrlehrer, Konstrukteur und Rennfahrer. Festschrift zum 75. Geburtstag''. Limbacher Druck GmbH, without ISBN. * Wolfgang Melenk, Frank Rönicke: ''Meister des Sports. Der Automobilrennsport in der DDR''. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, . * Wolfgang Melenk, Mike Jordan: ''Rennsportlegende Heinz Melkus. Lebenswerk und Sportkarriere des Dresdner Automobilkonstrukteurs und Autorennfahrers''. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2008, . German racing drivers 1928 births 2005 deaths Sportspeople from Dresden Racing drivers from Saxony East German racing drivers {{Germany-autoracing-bio-stub