Burning passion: The story of Otto Mathé and his Fetzenflieger

Motor racing was everything to Otto Mathé. In the 1950s, he sped from one victory to another with the legendary Fetzenflieger (tatterflinger). The name said it all: The cloth covers of the engine occasionally caught fire. Austrian race car driver Otto Mathé had a distinct disadvantage: His right arm was disabled after a motorcycle accident. In 1948 he returned to the track on four wheels. His most remarkable race car: the Fetzenflieger. A silvercolored monoposto with a 130hp Porsche Carrera engine. Two cloth tarps in the vicinity of the carburetor enabled rapid changing of spark plugs and simultaneously served as an air filter. Innovative, but decidedly risky: after every misfire, Mathé left a trail of flaming tatters behind him. Unique: Episode 10 of 9:11 Magazine. Magnus Walker encounters the Porsche he fell in love with as a tenyearold; a Le Mans win aided by a stopwatch; the only 911 on Norfolk Island; in the nick of time at Le Mans; and the extraordinary life story of Herbert Linge. See t