Ernst Loof
Ernst Loof (4 July 1907 – 3 March 1956) was a German automotive engineer and racing driver. He helped design the BMW 328 sports car in the late 1930s. In 1935 there was a rumor that he would replace Achille Varzi at Auto Union, but this was false and Loof never raced for Auto Union.
Loof competed in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, the 1953 German Grand Prix on 2 August 1953. He retired with fuel pump failure after about two metres, the shortest Formula One career on record. He was also a motorcycle racer and designer, achieving successes for Imperia of Bad Godesberg and for BMW before the war.
After the war, Loof co-founded Veritas, which built sports cars and competed in Formula Two with the Meteor. He was the head designer of the Veritas car he drove in the 1953 Grand Prix. Veritas later went bankrupt and its assets were bought by BMW, where Loof worked in styling and body engineering until illness forced his retirement. He died in Bonn in 1956 from a brain tumor.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:58 (CET).