About Helmut Krackowizer, known as “Mister Rudge”

“The most constant race is the one you ride at full throttle …” This was a favourite saying of Dr. Helmut Krackowizer (*1922, †2001), economist, motorsport historian and affectionately known as “Mister Rudge” — a nickname inspired by his lifelong passion for the British motorcycle brand Rudge.

My father, the motorcycle professor

Until the very last years of his life, he could be found in the saddle of one of his beloved Rudge, Velocette or Sunbeam racing motorcycles — or any other machine that was old, authentic and full of character. With an expert’s eye he could instantly tell what was original on a motorcycle and what was not. No wonder: he grew up around these machines and spent his teenage summers working in a motorcycle workshop.

Whenever he saw an older racing motorcycle, you could almost be certain that he knew the story behind it — the brand, the model, the riders, and often even the individual machine’s racing history and achievements.

My father, the collector

My father felt at home on racetracks, among motorcycles, in vintage car museums and in the company of former racers. Around 1960 he began collecting everything related to motorcycle history, technology and racing — from the earliest days around 1890 up to the 1960s.

His “motorcycle literature and image archive” contains old motorcycle magazines, period photographs, books and extensive correspondence with riders and personalities such as Alfred Neubauer, the legendary Mercedes‑Benz racing manager.

After his death, I cared for this “legacy” until it was incorporated into a private collection that brings together several historical motorsport archives.

My father and his friends

Friendships were important to my father throughout his life — and he had many of them: in Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria and perhaps most of all in England. His trips to England were journeys to friends, and often to the Isle of Man. His notes show that he visited the island almost every year during the Tourist Trophy season.

Visiting friends along the way was simply part of his life. Many of these friendships dated back to his own active racing years, from 1946 to 1955.