Norbert Singer (born 16 November 1939) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

automotive

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

. He has played a key role in every one of

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

’s 16 overall race victories between 1970 and 1998 at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

. Singer was born in Eger (Cheb), which is today part of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, but was part of the

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...

, in 1939. Singer joined the racing department of the

company in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

in March 1970. the young engineer from the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

was soon given the job of cooling the gearboxes of the powerful 917 racers which had broken down in 1969. His first task was successful and the

Porsche 917 The Porsche 917 is a sports prototype race car developed by German manufacturer Porsche to exploit the regulations regarding the construction of 5-litre sports cars. Powered by a Type 912 flat-12 engine which was progressively enlarged from ...

dominated the event in 1970 as well as in 1971, the first year Singer attended the great race. Singer was involved in the 911 Carrera RSR and RSR Turbo 2.1 from 1972 to 1974 Singer was then given the task of developing the

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in german: Neunelfer) is a two-door 2+2 high performance rear-engined sports car introduced in September 1964 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine and origin ...

road car for racing, and in doing so he created eventually what is by far the most successful customer race car that Porsche ever produced: the

Porsche 935 The Porsche 935 was a race car developed and manufactured by German automaker Porsche. Introduced in 1976 as the factory racing version of the Porsche 930, 911 (930) Turbo and prepared for Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-Group 5 ( ...

which won at the

1979 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 47th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 9 and 10 June 1979. With no other major works cars this year, the Porsche team were the strong favourites to win. Their competition would be from Cosworth-po ...

outright, a remarkable feat for a modified 15-year-old road car design. Following this, Singer designed the bodywork of the

Porsche 956 The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was later upgraded to the 956B in 1984. In 1983, driven by Stefan Bellof, this car est ...

and

962 Year 962 ( CMLXII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * December – Arab–Byzantine wars – Sack of Aleppo: A Byzantine e ...

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

cars which won 7

titles and three Manufacturers’ and two teams’ World Championships between 1982 and 1986 In the 1990s, Singer engineered the Porsche WSC open sports car which claimed two victories in 1996 and 1997. He oversaw the

Porsche 911 GT1 The Porsche 911 GT1 is a car designed and developed by German automobile manufacturer Porsche AG to compete in the GT1 class of sportscar racing, which also required a street-legal version for homologation purposes. The limited-production street ...

project which finally put the 911’s engine into the middle, something that he'd wanted to do since the 935. The 911 GT1 achieved

's 16th victory at

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

. Singer subsequently retired from Porsche’s racing department in 2004 and took up a role with the

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

monitoring performance in endurance racing. He continued to support customer teams at races until 2010, and lectures at university about engineering. Singer was a consultant on the Dynamics and Lightweighting Study, a modified version of the 964 which was produced by Singer Vehicle Design, a company whose name is partly an homage to his work on 911s.

References

External links

24:16 - Le Mans 24 Hours : 16 Wins With Porsche : An Autobiography with Michael Cotton

The Norbert Singer Fan Club

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singer, Norbert 1939 births Living people People from Cheb People from Sudetenland German automotive engineers Porsche people 24 Hours of Le Mans Technical University of Munich alumni Engineers from Stuttgart Sudeten German people