Born : October 12 1940
Deceased : March 12 2022
Biography Toni Fischhaber
The career of Tony Fischhaber started in 1959, but not without any difficulties. At his first appearance at a hill climb in Wallberg, the race director Otto Sensberg refused to let Fischhaber start the race, because of Fischhaber’s young age. One could call it quite funny, that in the following years that same race director had to give Fischhaber several trophies and awards for winning hill climbs and races. Because Toni Fischhaber knew how to win a race. He became one of the most successful hill climbers of the 1960s. Without any doubt, Fischhaber inherited his race talent from his father, who was a successful racer in the early 1930s.
After the failure to start at the Wallberg Hillclimb the previous year, Toni gave it another try in 1960 in an Alfa Romeo Sprint and finished last in his class. Disappointed, but no reason at all for Fischhaber to give up. Together with his father, Toni started training and competed in another 9 races that same year. Fischhaber bought himself an Alfa-Zagato for the 1961 season. That car delivered him 5 victories and another 6 runner-up finishes. In 1962, Fischhaber started in 25 races and finished most of them with a victory. Toni Fischhaber was the 1962 German Hillclimb Champion, even though he needed some help from Kurt Ahrens and Eckard Schimp. Both of them took the start in a hillclimb that year in their BMW 700, to make sure there were enough cars in the class Fischhaber was competing in. Without their help, Fischhaber could not have earned points for that race.
Porsche works driver
In 1965 Toni Fischhaber became a works driver for Porsche. Teaming up with Gerhard Koch, Fischhaber finished 5th overall in the 1965 Le Mans 24H at the wheel of a Porsche 904 Carrera GTS. A result good enough to bring the class victory home. In 1967 and 1972, Toni Fischhaber won the European Hillclimb Championships in a Porsche. With 19 starts between 1962 and 1983, Fischhaber is a record starter in the 1000 km race on the Nürburgring. His best place was fourth overall in 1982, together with Mario Ketterer and Eckhard Schimpf in a BMW 320i.
At the 1978 Nürburgring 1000km, Toni Fischhaber made a heroic achievement. Toni hadn’t thought about a co-driver. He believed that his good friend Eckhard Schimpf would be his co-driver. But Schimpf already teamed up with Roman Feitler. Neither of these two wanted to do double-stints to help Fischhaber. So Toni did what nobody believed to be possible. Fischhaber completed the whole 1000 kilometers on his own in his Porsche 935.
After his career
After the end of his racing career in 1988, at the age of 48, Fischhaber devoted himself to real estate trading. In his spare time, Fisschaber loved to play tennis and ice hockey in his home town Bad Tölz. March 12 2022, Toni Fischhaber passed away at the age 81.
Pictures courtesy Porsche AG and unknown
