Peter Falk

Porsche engineer who headed testing and racing around the 908/03 programme, then served as racing director during the 956/962 Group C era.

Peter Falk was born in Athens on 27 November 1932, the son of an archaeologist. After an apprenticeship as a car mechanic, he studied mechanical engineering with a specialism in automotive technology in Stuttgart. At 18 he came third in a motorbike precision-driving contest in the Northern Black Forest. At 23 he entered his first rally as Alfred Kling’s co-driver and won the class. In 1959 he joined Porsche’s vehicle-testing department, one of ten employees.

In 1964 Falk moved to pre-series development and race support, where Porsche credits him with helping bring the 911 to the road. He co-drove Herbert Linge’s 911 2.0 Coupé at the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally, its first international motorsport appearance, finishing fifth overall. He had developed a speaking tube into Linge’s helmet. Porsche later made him head of the pre-series and racing department; models from the 906 to 917 were built under its aegis.

He hired Hermann Burst in January 1969 and, that October, was Porsche’s lead engineer at the Österreichring test that, with JWA, cured the 917’s high-speed instability. At the end of 1969 Porsche identified him as head of testing and racing; its 908/03 history also calls him race manager. He hired Norbert Singer in 1970. From 1973 to 1981 he was test manager on the 911, 924 and 928, responsible for the body, gearbox, road testing and endurance-run areas.

In 1981 he became head of Porsche’s newly formed main motorsports department, acting as head of race development and racing director. The department left the press office for Flacht; Norbert Singer headed the 956. Under Falk as racing director Porsche took seven Le Mans wins and eleven world titles in the 1980s, plus two Paris–Dakar victories. With Roland Kussmaul he developed the 911 Carrera 3.2 4×4 for the 1984 Dakar in less than a year.

From 1989 he headed chassis development until 1992 and oversaw pre-development of the Boxster and the 993 and 996 generations of the 911. Porsche says he retired in 1993. He then served the Heritage and Museum team as a contemporary witness and helped organise vintage rallies. He died on 23 January 2026, aged 93.