Team story
Origins
A caravan manufacturer, Günther Hennerici, financed an unusually shaped Formula 1 car in 1972. For his Eifelland he bought a March 721 and entrusted the bodywork to Luigi Colani. Rolf Stommelen, already supported by Hennerici in the junior categories, remained the programme's driver.
Its championship debut came at Kyalami in the South African Grand Prix.
The Formula 1 journey
Stommelen contested eight Grands Prix in the Type 21. Its best placing was tenth at Monaco, and it scored no points. The problems were not confined to lap times: the bodywork was repeatedly revised during the year.
Its last appearance came in Austria before the Formula 1 programme ended.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Eifelland
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · South African Grand Prix
Rolf Stommelen · South African Grand Prix 1972. The recorded position is P13; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the first recorded race start, or the first entry if the team never started a race.
Sporting landmark · Monaco Grand Prix
Rolf Stommelen · Monaco Grand Prix 1972. The recorded position is P10; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This marks the first win or podium where one exists, otherwise the highest recorded placing for this constructor.
Latest recorded appearance · Austrian Grand Prix
Rolf Stommelen · Austrian Grand Prix 1972. The recorded position is P15; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the last race start attributed to this constructor in the archive, not necessarily the end of the organisation behind it.
A distinctive way of racing
The air intake ahead of the driver and the raised central rear-view mirror made the car instantly recognisable. Beneath those shapes, however, remained a March chassis and mechanical components, with the Cosworth DFV. Inadequate cooling and insufficient downforce forced the return of March aerodynamic elements; Colani's original design was not retained in full throughout the season.
What remains
The experiment brought Colani's industrial design into contact with racing requirements that demanded practical changes. Its most famous silhouette does not tell the whole story of the car's configurations. Eifelland had a single season of attempts on track, without wins or podiums, and remains recognisable through the relationship between Hennerici, Stommelen and a March transformed into something visually new.