Peter Nöcker

Partner with Peter Lindner, Racing  Factory Lightweight E-Type 4868 WK

1963 Peter Nöcker

Peter Nöcker, born on 30 April 1928, was a German racing driver best known for his partnership with German importer and distributor for both Aston Martin and Jaguar, Peter Lindner (also from Düsseldorf) and their exploits in the Factory Lightweight E-Type 4868 WK.

Early Racing

Nöcker started racing in 1956 driving a Porsche 550, partnering with Theo Helfrich for the long distance races.  In 1957 he moved up to a Mercedes 300 SL, partnering with Wolfgang Seidel in the Nürburgring 1,000 km race, gained two 2^nd places.  His first win was in the ADAC Hansa-Pokal Rennen (Race) at the Nürburgring on 8^th September beating Wolfgang Seidel into 2^nd place.  1961 saw him drive a Ferrari 250 GT for the first time which he went on to campaign during 1962, claiming four 1^st places, and one more 1^st at the start of 1963 season in the  DARM GT race at Trier in May.

Lindner Nöcker Partnership

In 1963 Lindner signed Nöcker to drive for him in both his Jaguar E-Type and his Mark II.  Nöcker won the first ever European Touring Car Championship title with Lindner’s 3.8-litre Jaguar Mark II.

1963 Peter Nöcker & Peter Lindner
with Lightweight E-Type 4868 WK at Browns Lane

On 3 May 1963 Jaguar Cars registered Lightweight E-Type chassis number S850662 as 4868 WK and it was delivered to Lindner in Germany a fortnight later.  This was the fifth of the twelve Lightweight E-Types produced by Jaguar in 1963, a roadster which was normally raced with hardtop fitted.  

Lindner/Nöcker’s first race together in this was the Nürburgring 1,000 km race on 19 May, which included the other factory Lightweight, chassis number 850663 – registered 49 FXN, entered by the ‘British Peters’; Lumsden and Sargent.  Lindner managed to take the lead on the first lap after making a brilliant start from eighth position.  However, he was overtaken on the second lap by a Ferrari and the car had to retire due to a lack of oil pressure after 25 laps.  Lumsden’s race in his Lightweight 49 FXN was very short, crashing at Flugplatz after only 9 laps, demolishing 150 yards of fencing.

One month later at the same circuit, Lindner and Nöcker won the Six-Hour Touring Car event driving Lindner’s Mark II, beating the Mercedes 300SEs of the Daimler-Benz works team into 2^nd and 3^rd places.  

Although they drove together as a team, Nöcker was generally regarded as being the better, smoother driver.  He was always quicker that Lindner round the Nürburgring and on 30^th June 1963 he drove Lindner’s Lightweight E-Type at the Avus circuit in Berlin, averaging a speed of 132 mph, setting a fastest lap of 137 mph and beating a Ferrari GTO.  Overall 1963 was a very successful season for Nöcker with eight 1^st places, one 2^nd and one 3^rd.

1964 Lindner-Nöcker Lightweight Coupe
at 1000-km Nürburgring (Lothar Spurzem)

The 1964 season proved a lot less successful for the pair.  In preparation for the season, the Lightweight roadster returned to the factory to receive some bodywork improvements, emerging with a rear copied from that of the “Low Drag Coupé”, the last car to be designed by Malcolm Sayer, transforming the car into a sublime coupé.  The bucks from the original low drag coupé had been disposed of and Abbey Panels had to make new formers from Sayer’s original drawings before making the new roof section.  Even the front side / flasher lights were re-sited, just under the surface of the bonnet with a flush perspex lens fitted to further reduce drag.  Mechanical work included a modified exhaust and a larger oil tank, a Powr-Lok differential and ZF gearbox, 7 inch wheels at the front and 7.5 at the rear. 

The car was taken to Le Mans on 18 – 19 April for the Test sessions, where Lindner completed 24 laps on the Saturday and Nöcker 12 laps, with best lap times for both of them of 4 minutes 29 seconds.  For the Sunday the axle ratio was changed to 3.54:1 and Nöcker completed a further 18 laps getting his lap time down to 4 minutes 7 seconds. 

Lindner and Nöcker entered the Lightweight in the Nürburgring 1,000 km at the end of May, but retired after 17 laps with gearbox seizure.

They fared no better at the 1964 Le Mans race on 20-21 June.  By lap 23 the car was ‘steaming’ with the temperature gauge at 100˚C and around 8:00 pm Lindner pulled into the pits and his cooling system was re-filled when it was found to be empty.  The problem persisted and he pitted again at 10:30 pm when in just 3 hours his two mechanics replaced the cylinder head and gasket.  The problem persisted and at 3:22 am Nöcker pitted for more water and a dose of Barseal, another two gallons were added at 5:25 am and the car was eventually retired at 7:30 am after 149 laps.  Following the race the car was returned to the factory where it was found there was a large crack in its rear face.  It is believed that a combination of the weight of the heavy ZF box and a thick aluminium spacer which increased the unsupported length of the gearbox, caused it to crack under load.  Ironically had a cast iron block been used the problem would not have occurred. 

Nöcker’s only win that year was on 5 July in the DARM GT (over 1,600 cc) race at the Noris-Ring in Nürnberg beating Porsche 904s into 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th places.  Two weeks later the Lightweight was entered for the Grand Prix at Zolder in Belgium, now fitted with an iron engine block and a Jaguar four speed all-synchro gearbox replacing the ZF, but failed to finish.

On 11 October 1964, the pair entered the Lightweight for the 1,000 km race on the Montlhéry circuit near Paris.  Lindner sadly passed away (aged 34) after colliding with Franco Patria’s Abarth-Simca 1300.

Patria was on the way back out of the pit lane with new tyres and a full tank, waiting for the marshalls to allow him back on track.  Peter Lindner came out of the steep curve in front of the start and finish on the wet track and appearing to aquaplane, lost control of the Jaguar on the smooth track.  He clipped the bales of straw, and the car was thrown about ten metres in the air, spinning in the process and ejecting Lindner who was not strapped in.  The Jaguar hit Patria’s Abarth and pushed him against a wall.  Franco Patria and the three marshalls; René Dumoulin, Roger Millot and Jean Pairards were killed immediately.  Peter Lindner was initially conscious, and taken to hospital where he died.  Lindner’s Lightweight was impounded by the French authorities and was locked away in storage at Montlhéry for the next seventeen years.

Race Results- Jaguar Related

After Lindner

Nöcker went back to racing Porsches, 904s and then 906s for the Porsche System Engineering team in 1965 and 1966.  His best results for Porsche were a pair of 4^th places in the 1965 Le Mans and then the 1966 Nürburgring 1,000 km.

Peter Nöcker’s last race was the 1968 Nürburgring 1,000 km, driving a Porsche 911T with Dieter Glemser for the IGFA team, finishing 37^th overall but 6^th in the GT 2 litre class.

Peter Nöcker died on 7 October 2007 at the age of 79.

Lindner-Nöcker Lightweight E-Type

In 1974 Patrick Lansard rescued 4868 WK from the French authorities and it went through a number of owners before being acquired by Guy Black of Lynx Engineering in 1979.  Lynx re-constructed it using parts from the original car and a new ex-factory monocoque, with the original monocoque and bonnet put into storage.  The re-constructed car was sold to Howard Cohen from California, USA and was sold on again in 1982.  In 1984 it was bought by Peter Klaus of Aschaffenburg, Germany and became part of his Rosso Bianco Collection. 

Restored Car  (CMC – Classic Motor Cars)

When this Collection was split up in 2006 Peter Neumark, owner of Classic Motor Cars (CMC) of Bridgnorth, UK, bought the re-constructed car and the damaged monocoque and bonnet, with the goal of restoring 4848 WK to its original glory.  CMC had previously restored the original 1961 Geneva press E-Type, 9600 HP. 

They un-riveted, flattened, repaired and reformed every single panel from the damaged body managing to save over 90% of the original metalwork.  Over 7,000 skilled man hours went into the restoration, with more than 5,000 hours spent on the body alone.

“We tested the metal to see if it would weld and once we were sure it would, we took the decision to completely restore the original body.  It was a bit loopy really but it has all worked out and it was very definitely a labour of love.  In fact I had to install more than £30,000 worth of welding equipment just for this one job” said Neumark.  

Restored Car (CMC – Classic Motor Cars)

Peter Wilson who worked in the Competition Department in 1964, helped with the restoration, as well as Lindner’s own family who provided old photographs and cine footage of the car.

The Lindner-Nöcker was unveiled in Bridgnorth in 2010 in the presence of more than 300 people, including Lansard, Lindner’s nephew Thomas Fritz and Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis, “The car is so beautifully restored, I am sure it is a lot nicer than when it left the factory.  If Sir William Lyons had been standing beside me, he would say ‘Dewis, why’s it taken so long!’  This is just another landmark in what is going to be a wonderful year for the E-Type.”

“Many people said that it could not be done but we have proved them wrong. ironically, because of the work we have done, this car may be fresh out of restoration, but it is probably the most original Lightweight E-Type that there is!”   Neumark.

Lindner-Nöcker Slot-Car
On Display in the Collection Centre

Although the Lindner-Nöcker didn’t race again, it took part in many social events during the E-Type’s 50^th Anniversary year (2011), including Goodwood and Villa D’Este. 

At the International Historic Motoring Awards in 2011, the car won the Restoration of the Year Award.

In period the car was also produced as a Revell (slot-car) model and one of these, together with a model of Briggs Cunningham’s 1963 Lightweight E-Type is on permanent display in the Jaguar Collection at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon.

Authors: Shihanki Elpitiya and Tony Merrygold

Race results from www.RacingSportsCars.com

© Text and Images – Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust  (except where stated)

Sources and Further Reading:

• Porter, Philip and Page, James, Jaguar Lightweight E-Type: The Autobiography of 49 FXN (Porter Press International, 2017)

• Lord Montagu of Beaulieu and foreword by HRH Prince Michael of Kent, Jaguar (Quiller Press, 1997)

• Whyte, Andrew, Jaguar: The Definitive History of a Great British Car (Patrick Stephens Limited, 1990)

• Porter, Philip, Jaguar: E-Type The Definitive History (Porter Press International, 2015)

• Martin, Brian James, Jaguar: From the Shop Floor (Veloce Publishing Ltd, 2018)

• Porter, Philip, Jaguar: Sports Racing Cars (Bay View Books, 1995)

• Skilleter, Paul, Jaguar: The Sporting Heritage (Virgin Publishing, 2001)

• Skilleter, Paul, Norman Dewis of Jaguar: Developing the Legend (PJ Publishing Ltd, 2017)

• Porter, Philip and Skilleter, Paul, Sir William Lyons: The Official Biography (Haynes Publishing, 2001)

• Bingham, Phillip, The All-American Hero and Jaguar’s Racing E-types (Porter Press International, 2020)

• Wilson, Peter D., XJ13: The Definitive Story of the Jaguar Le Mans Car and the V12 Engine That Powered It (PJ Publishing, 2011)