Alex von Falkenhausen

Alex von Falkenhausen (Alexander Freiherr von Falkenhausen, 1907 to 1989) was a German racing driver and graduate engineer from Munich who shaped BMW's racing and engine work for much of the twentieth century. He studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich and joined BMW's motorcycle division as a works off-road rider and designer, winning gold medals at the International Six Days Trial in 1936 and 1937 on a BMW R 5 fitted with a rear suspension he had designed, a layout carried into series production on the BMW R 51. After the Second World War he raced a privately owned BMW 328 and then founded his own firm, AFM, whose prototype won the 1948 German sports car championship. He returned to BMW in 1954 to run its racing department, took responsibility for engine development from 1 May 1957, and handed the racing department to Paul Rosche in 1976. He proposed turbocharging for touring car racing in 1968, an idea that reached series production as the BMW 2002 turbo in 1972.