Everybody loves an underdog story, and besides being one of the most influential motorcycles of its kind, this BMW-based sidecar racer is probably the most unlikely hero on three wheels. It was constructed and piloted by a German privateer named Helmut Fath, and spawned the next generation of sidecar racers known as ‘kneelers.’ A holy combination of old parts and new ideas, Helmut Fath’s BMW RS sidecar was pivotal to his rise to prominence in sidecar racing and his historic toppling of BMW’s championship reign
Born in Ursenbach on May 24, 1929, Helmut Fath followed in his father’s footsteps with an immediate interest in motorcycles. A mechanical education at the Max Planck Institute and formative years working for BMW strengthened his fascination, and Fath found his way onto the race track in 1949. It’s said that Fath spun out and wrecked that day Lorsch, subsequently selling his 250 cc racer. Seems like a fitting precursor for the man who’d later become the king of sidecar racing.
Shortly after, Fath borrowed a sidecar rig to get across town and found himself smitten after mastering the basics. He soon purchased a rig of his own and once again found himself at the race track, this time with greater success.
While it was obvious to Fath’s friends that he’d found his calling, he was unwilling to compete at anything other than a hobbyist level. Fath spent the 1952 season maintaining a 500 cc BMW race engine for a friend, and at its conclusion, the engine’s owner urged Fath to put the engine to good use. Soon after, a customer walked into his shop with a frame and a racing sidecar and Fath found himself fresh out of excuses.
Fath’s righthand man (quite literally in this case) was Alfred Wohlgemuth, the owner of the aforementioned sidecar and chassis, and they found success together immediately at Lorsch. Despite a hefty disadvantage in equipment and experience, the fledgling privateers piloted their hybrid creation to a third-place finish, and a record soon after at the Nürburgring. Sustained success would qualify the unlikely duo for an expert competition license, and pit them against the best factory-backed racers for the 1954 season.
While Fath and Wohlgemuth had a charmed introduction to the sport, it was a bridge too far to assume their first machine could compete with BMW’s works racers, and Fath bankrupted himself buying a BMW RS racer from a close friend. It’s here that Fath’s genius showed, as he outfitted the bike with diminutive 16-inch wheels and built a low streamlined sidecar to go along with it.
This new rig was innovative in several ways, most prominently in that the fuel tank was moved from the bike to the sidecar. With its short stature and weight as close to the pavement as possible, Fath and Wohlgemuth’s racer pioneered the next generation of ‘kneelers,’ and the bike was immediately competitive. In the following years, Fath would develop a proprietary fuel injection system, be voted Germany’s best privateer rider and spend his last dollar on a new BMW racing engine to replace the worn-out original.
The pieces would all come together for Fath and Wohlgemuth in 1960, when the duo clinched the podium in the French, British, Belgian, and German GP races and were crowned world champions—as privateers, nonetheless. Two men who had met by chance just a few years earlier had come up against the best factory racers and triumphed on a home-built machine.
Helmut Fath’s story was far from over, but the next chapter in his story marked a low point. A wreck at the Nürburgring in 1961 claimed the life of Alfred Wohlgemuth and cost Fath one of his feet. Fath’s recovery spanned five years, and in his idle time, he developed a proprietary high-revving four-cylinder engine with the help of Dr. Peter Kuhn. With engineer Horst Owesle manning the sidecar, Fath piloted the shed-built bike to a world championship in 1968—marking the first time a BMW-powered bike didn’t win the title since 1953.
While the ledger of Sidecar World Champions is home to many Germans, including duos with more victories to their credit, the underdog story and legacy of innovation surrounding Helmut Fath makes him one of the most significant riders of the sport. And that makes Mecum’s Lot S207 a fascinating study.
While Mecum published only a few short bullet points on the motorcycle, this BMW RS 54 sidecar hails from a momentous period in Fath’s racing career. We know from the bike’s historical passport that it was used by Fath from 1958 to 1960, and translating the document reveals that the chassis is from an earlier Type R69 (used from 1955 to 1960). This would suggest that Lot S207 is the motorcycle that Fath and Wohlgemuth rode in their championship-winning 1960 season, but you’d think it would be advertised as such.
To get to the truth of the matter, you’d likely have to get boots on the ground at Mecum’s Las Vegas 2025 motorcycle sale to review the documentation they have on file. Regardless, we’re talking about a racing sidecar of the highest significance, which was displayed at the BMW Car Club of America Foundation in 2023.
This priceless piece of sidecar racing history is offered without a pre-auction estimate and will be crossing the block on Saturday, February 1, 2025.
Source: Mecum
