MARCH 27, 2007
Heinz Schiller
Heinz Schiller has died at the age of 77. He raced in just one Grand Prix but was nonetheless a talented Swiss driver, who was often seen alongside Jo Siffert in sports car racing.
Heinz Schiller has died at the age of 77. He raced in just one Grand Prix but was nonetheless a talented Swiss driver, who was often seen alongside Jo Siffert in sports car racing.
From the village of Frauenfeld, not far from Zurich, Schiller made his name as a motorboat racer in the 1950s before deciding to race cars, beginning with Porsche sportscars, notably finishing second in class on the 1957 Mille Miglia. The following year he raced a Porsche RS in the Formula 2 race at Pau and was sixth, indicating that he had talent. It was not until 1962 that Georges Filipinetti, a wealthy Swiss car dealer and landowner, decided to set up Ecurie Nationale Suisse and hired Jo Siffert to drive a Lotus 24. Schiller, who had been racing in hillclimbs in the interim, was taken on to race a Porsche 718. For the German GP Siffert switched to a Lotus 21 and so Schiller was given the chance to drive the BRM V8- engined Lotus 24. In 1963, back in the old Porsche 718, he finished third at Pau, albeit a number of laps behind the Lotuses of Jim Clark and Trevor Taylor.
After that he returned to GT racing, still driving for Filipinetti, and enjoyed some good results including a class win on the Ollon-Villars hillclimb. With a new Porsche 904 in 1964 he and Siffert were partnered once again. Schiller also represented the Porsche factory team on occasion. He later retired and ran a Porsche dealership in Geneva.