The Swift Swiss —Jean Pierre Kunstle

If the name Jean Pierre Kunstle came up in a conversation about sports car racing, it wouldn’t be surprising if it didn’t sound familiar.  He was sort of a “mystery man” since not much was written about him personally, virtually all reports were about his racing success on the track.  He appeared on the sports car racing scene in 1954 and departed six years later as one of the best drivers on the West Coast.  Who was this man they called “The Swift Swiss”?

There were many reasons to immigrate to the United States in the 1950s – perhaps it was a job opportunity, a need to see more of the world or a desire to find a better way of life that motivated individuals to relocate from another part of the world.  However, in the case of 22-year old Kunstle of Geneva, Switzerland, it was an American tourist that was the key factor in his moving to the U.S. in 1951.

Kunstle was born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1929, but raised in Geneva, living in the Hotel de Russie on Lake Geneva, owned and operated by his family.  He lived there through his college years and shortly after graduating from the College Privat of Geneva, he met an American girl, Elizabeth Cain, who was vacationing in the area.  After a short courtship, they decided to marry in her hometown of Schenectady, NY so it was off to America.

One of the wedding gifts the couple received was a new Chevrolet Coupe.  It was then that the new Mrs. Kunstle found her husband was not a very good driver, so she became his driving instructor.  The Chevrolet proved to be unreliable so they sold it and purchased a new sporty MG, which was much more fitting for the young couple.  Apparently, Jean Pierre was a good student and improved his driving to the point he competed in a couple of local hill climbs.

Moving up the performance scale quickly, Kunstle purchased an early Porsche Cabriolet from Max Hoffman, in New York, and there were suggestions he took the car to Thompson Raceway in Connecticut to try his hand at road racing.  From Terry O’Neil’s book “Northeast American Sports Car races 1950-1959” this information is confirmed, the race results show Kunstle, in a 356 Porsche, winning his Class 6 race on October 11, 1952.  Indeed, his wife must have taught him how to drive very well!  Winning his first SCCA road race was an auspicious start for the young driver.

A Change of Scenery

For his day job, Kunstle was an outside salesman for a New York textile manufacturer who made among other things, items for car interiors.  His sales territory included all the western states and California looked like a good place to establish his base of operation.  Kunstle chose San Francisco to set up his office and after a few months his wife journeyed out to join him.  The couple eventually discovered Carmel, on the Monterey Peninsula, and decided to make it their home in 1953.  Those that knew him said he was handsome, charming, intelligent and confident with an air of sophistication most likely due to his European upbringing.  Characteristics similar to two other racing personalities of that period, Alfonso Juan de Portago of Spain and Wolfgang von Trips of Germany, both of whom occasionally competed in the U.S.

Of course, if you lived anywhere near the Monterey area you couldn’t help but hear about the annual sports car races at Pebble Beach and perhaps even the races through Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, events he may have attended as a spectator.  This close proximity with racing and sports cars gave him an idea, to open a sports car sales and service store to take advantage of the growing interest in this new sport.  He decided to make the change and in 1953, he gave up his textile sales job and opened Kunstle Motor Company in Carmel, initially with Porsche, plus any other marque he could sell.  Getting his business established was the priority for the balance of the year with any desire to race put on the back burner.

He joined the San Francisco Region of the SCCA and was listed in the club’s National Directory from 1956 through 1960 as John Paul Kunstle.  Maybe he did this to “blend in” to American society or, due to the stuffy SCCA membership attitudes which prevailed at that time, to make it easier to join the club.

Into the Fray
Kunstle’s first West Coast race was at Willow Spring, a new race track in the Southern California desert.  The date was May 9, 1954, where he entered his Porsche 356 for Novice Class drivers.  Race results only showed the top finishers of which Kunstle was not one of them so he must have finished down the field.  This was the first event his car carried what would become his standard race number of 118, which he would use on his cars the rest of his California racing career.

Next up, was Golden Gate Park in June 1954, where he entered the Porsche Cabriolet in the Mayor’s Cup race.  The field of 37 cars included two drivers Kunstle would become even more familiar with in the near future, John von Neumann and Ken Miles.  Against the toughest competition he had faced so far, Kunstle came home in sixth place giving an indication of his growing talent behind the wheel.

Now rated as a Senior Driver, he entered the race at Santa Clara Fairgrounds in July.  In his mixed class race group, he finished 3rd overall and 1st in class, more signs of his improving skills.  Palm Springs in October produced another 1st in class followed by another class victory at March Field, in November.  All in all it had been a good year, a learning year, becoming familiar with new road courses, his car and the other drivers.

A Breakout Year

The 1955 season would be a real break through for Kunstle as he filled his calendar with a steady string of races throughout the year.  He would expand his racing by running three different cars – a new Devin Panhard in H Modified Class, his 356 Porsche in F Production and a Porsche 550 in F Modified.  The Porsche 550 was the first in a series of Porsche Spyders that Kunstle would become best known for and had his greatest success.

The first half of the year he raced the Devin Panhard at Pebble Beach, Bakersfield (finished 2nd ahead of actor James Dean), Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa and Hansen Dam.  He earned enough National Points to finish 4th in the U.S. in the G Mod Class.  He raced his Porsche 356 at Buchanan Field (1st and 2nd); then drove I. W. Stephenson’s OSCA at Santa Rosa (3rd).  The next race at Salinas would be the beginning of five straight races in 550s for Kunstle, a stretch in which he placed no lower than 5th.

The 550 he raced at Salinas already had history before he acquired it.  After the Sebring 12 Hours race each year, the Porsche team would sell off their cars to several distributors including John von Neumann, who sold the car to Kunstle, who put it to good use at Salinas Airport in early October with a 1st.

At Torrey Pines, in late October, there was a 6-hour enduro on Saturday with Kunstle co-driving in W. R. Turner’s 550.  During the race, the 550 received damage front and rear from collisions with other cars and hay bales, putting several dents in the body and buckling the bonnet.  None the less, they soldiered on and with the car looking more like a rolling wreck, the team finished 3rd overall.  For the Sunday under 1500-cc Production car race, Kunstle drove a Porsche 356 Super to a 1st place finish, but he still had one more event to run that weekend.

At the start of the main event for modified cars under 1500-cc, Kunstle jumped out to an early lead in in the same 550 he had co-driven in the 6-hour enduro the day before.  The damage had been sufficiently repaired so he could race the car.  As the race unfolded, he fought off several other drivers, staying in the lead for most of the race.  A slight error in the closing laps of the race allowed Ken Miles to slip by for a very close win.  Giving Miles, the recognized top driver in the Under 1500-cc class, such a hard race propelled Kunstle into the top level of drivers in the F Modified Class along with Ritchie Ginther, Jack McAfee and of course Miles…fast company indeed!  Kunstle concluded a very good year by taking a 2nd and 4th at Palm Springs.

From the book “Porsche Legends” by Randy Leffingwell, Kunstle recalled in an interview, “You know I had dices with Miles.  He would win on Saturday, I would win on Sunday.  It was murder.”

A Constant Threat

For whatever reason, this Northern California resident was shifting his focus to racing primarily in Southern California.  Perhaps he liked the competition or the offers of cars to race came from that area.  With the exception of an April race at Pebble Beach, the rest of 1956 was filled with racing in Cal Club events.

For the balance of 1956, Kunstle would race Porsche 550s for owners W.R. Turner and Al Hoskings at Palm Springs (DNF, 1st), Pebble Beach (2nd), Bakersfield (DNF), Santa Maria (3rd, 2nd) Santa Barbara (3rd, 2nd and a 1st), Palm Springs (DNF) and Paramount Ranch (2nd, 2nd).  Kunstle had shown he was a constant threat for a podium finish at any race he entered and he looked forward to the 1957 season.

1957 – The Best Year

Kunstle now was about to embark on only his fifth year of road racing having accomplished quite a bit in such a short period of time.  His calendar of races would include the familiar venues of Paramount Ranch (2), Santa Barbara and Pomona (2).  In addition, he tried something new, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Riverside Raceway to round out his year.

After the opening races at Paramount Ranch (3rd, DNF, 3rd) he brokered the sale of Al Hosking’s Porsche 550 to Roy Turnbull who had organized the first Hawaii Speed Week.  Turnbull raced the car successfully in Hawaii for the next several years.  Kunstle had purchased another 550 from the John Edgar stable and prepared it for his first race at Sebring.  This Porsche 550 had been raced at the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans where it finished 5th overall and 1st in class.  After being acquired by the Edgar team, it was raced in several events before Kunstle bought the car and raced it at Palm Springs in November 1956.

For his Sebring co-driver, Kunstle chose none other than Ken Miles, his fiercest competitor and a friend.  In what Kunstle called his best race of his career, he and Miles finished an amazing 5th overall and 2nd in class.  However, all was not wine and roses – he had accepted $1500.00 for finishing 2nd in class.  Of course, this was supposed to be an amateur sport governed by the Sports Car Club of America, accepting money was a transgression of their rules.  The result was a 12-month suspension from SCCA sanctioned races, including those held in Northern California.  The Cal Club, which was not officially affiliated with the SCCA, decided since Sebring was an International race they would not place any such penalty on Kunstle and he was free to race in any of their “amateur” events.

Besides a potential suspension hanging over his head, Kunstle’s 550 was badly damaged in a rollover while being transported back to Southern California from Sebring.  The car was taken to John von Neumann’s shop where it sat in pieces while a decision was made regarding it’s future.  Fortunately, another west coast racer by the name of George Keck heard about the car and ended up trading his 550 Spyder to Kunstle for the damaged Sebring car. Once rebuilt with a new body, this 550 became known as the RSKeck.

With the threat of a suspension removed which would have meant the end to his season, Kunstle carried on with at Santa Barbara (1st, 2nd), Pomona (1st, 2nd), Riverside (4th, 2nd), Pomona (2nd, 3rd) and Paramount Ranch (1st, 2nd) to finish an interesting year of racing.

Besides racing, Kunstle had his car dealership in Carmel to attend to.  In October 1957, he closed the store in Carmel and moved to a larger facility in Monterey and announced he had added FIAT to the other makes he offered.  He was also involved in the effort to bring Laguna Seca to reality as a member of the Executive Committee of Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP).

Changes in the Wind

After establishing himself as one of the top drivers on the west coast, Kunstle began a three-year period that saw several changes both on and off the track.  His racing schedule included some old and some new road courses; he raced several different car brands and his long association with the Porsche 550 would come to an end.  During the year Kunstle would also drive an Alfa Giulietta, a Fiat-Abarth Zagato and a Porsche 356. There was also a change at home with an additional member joining the family, a daughter, Sylvia.

>The 1958 racing calendar included two new races for Kunstle, Hawaii (DNF) and the first race weekend at Riverside (3rd, DNF).  Other races where at familiar road courses – Palm Springs (2nd, DNF), Laguna Seca (7th) and Santa Barbara (DNF).  For his return visit to the 12 Hours of Sebring, Kunstle once again had Ken Miles as his co-driver in a Porsche 550RS.  Unfortunately, their race lasted just 59 laps before the clutch gave up putting an end to their effort.

The 1959 season brought about a big change when Kunstle embarked on a project to compete in his own special.  In search of more speed and perhaps influenced by Ken Miles very successful Cooper Porsche special, Kunstle traveled to Europe near the end of the previous year to gather ideas for a 2-liter car.  He was attracted to the Lotus 15 by its lightweight and ability to accept a variety of engines.

Early in 1959, he acquired a Lotus 15 along with a 2-liter Ferrari engine.  The engine was rebuilt to produce 200 horsepower and then married to the Lotus chassis resulting in the Lotus-Ferrari Special.  The car made its debut on June 7, 1959, at Laguna Seca where it ran very strong, claiming a front row grid spot for the first race.  Despite a small fuel leak he finished third.  In the main event, he quickly moved into the lead but was slowed by a troublesome gearbox and eventually retired.

The Lotus-Ferrari did not race again until September but this time in the hand of Kunstle’s friend and fellow Monterey Area resident, Chuck Parsons.  The car’s problems had been resolved and Parsons drove the special to an 8th place at Vaca Valley, a 2nd place at Laguna Seca and a 10th at Riverside in November.  It appears, at some point, Kunstle sold the car to Parsons who would compete in eight races the following year, finishing in only three.

A New Ride and Busy Year

Prior to the start of the 1960 racing season, Kunstle became west coast distributor for the Stanguellini Formula Jr., a class of cars that was becoming very popular.  To promote the car, he raced it exclusively beginning in Northern California at Stockton where he had some teething problems with the new car and finished 7th on Saturday and a DNF on Sunday.  The next event at Cotati, in April, was more successful with a 1st and 2nd in class followed by Santa Barbara where Kunstle had a DNF in race #1 then loaned the Stanguellini to Ken Miles who finished 3rd in race #2.  In June, Kunstle raced at Laguna Seca in two races finishing with a DNF and 4th.

This apparently was Kunstle’s last race since no other results for the remainder of 1960 or succeeding years were found for races in either Northern or Southern California.  There may have been several factors leading to this decision.  His daughter, Holly, recalls,  “he had a growing family and a business to think of so perhaps the risks were becoming too great.”  The fact that two racers Kunstle knew died in racing accidents this same year— Jim Hughes at Sebring in March and Sam Weiss at Laguna Seca in June— may have prompted his decision.  Another contributing factor was a desire to return to his native Switzerland and the lifestyle he had enjoyed prior to coming to the U.S.  It was time for a major change.  Over the next several months he sold his car dealership in Monterey, packed up and one of the best racers on the West Coast departed with his family for Geneva in 1962.

Post Racing Life

Over the next 31 years, Kunstle applied his business knowledge to several different opportunities.  Through a former schoolmate, Kunstle became the Public Relations Manager for RCA Records were he managed several popular singers including Nina Simone.  He moved on to the public relations department of Goodyear Tires Racing Division in Europe working with noted motorsports photographer, Bernard Cahier.

>Kunstle’s other passion beside cars, was sailing and along with racing on Lake Geneva, he owned a store which sold yachting material.  He also designed a new type of boat, a hybrid if you will, a luxury yacht combined with racing capability of which a dozen were produced.  Carrying on the boating theme, at the beginning of the 1980’s he created a small rental boat company in Turkey called Alcor Yachting.  After a few years, he needed a new challenge so he turned back to his first passion…cars.  He became involved in buying, restoring and selling classic old cars and if that wasn’t enough to keep him busy, he organized vintage car rallies in Switzerland.

>In 1979, Kunstle made a trip to California and entered the Monterey Historics Vintage Car Event, visiting once again the race track he helped bring to life 22 years earlier.  He race a 1959 Lancia B20S to a 10th finish out of 22 cars in his group.

Unfortunately, Kunstle’s health began to decline in the early 1990’s due to heart trouble.  He was able to enter the 1992 Tour de France in a Porsche 356A Carrera, finishing 48th out of 94 cars entered.  However, the following year in March, his condition worsened and he passed away at age 63.

Jean Pierre Kunstle certainly led an interesting and exciting life, moving from his home to a foreign country at a young age, starting a new business, becoming a top race driver, returning to his native country to raise a family and becoming an entrepreneur and successful businessman.  I feel he is the kind of person we all would have enjoyed knowing and learning more about his many adventures in life.

Photo Credits:  Allen Kuhn, Pete Vanlaw, Jim Sitz, Holly (Kunstle) Piguet, Paul House, Gary Horstkorta.