Born in Berlin on 20th June 1937, Heidi Hetzer was a girl with “benzin im blut”, literally with fuel in her blood, raised in the midst of cars and engine oil. Her father, Siegfried, was a mechanic, owner of a dealership in Berlin, as well as a great traveller known for undertaking a tour of Egypt in 1929 on his motorcycle, a journey that he often recounted to his daughter, making her dream of adventures.
It was in fact in this spirit that Heidi learned to drive at the age of 14, participating in her first competition on a scooter, in a rally around the Müggelberge. At the age of 17, she began her career in the family business as an auto mechanic, following some training courses where she found herself to be the only woman in the classroom. In 1969, at the age of 31, she took over her father's business and became the owner and director of one of Berlin's largest car dealerships.
In parallel with her entrepreneurial career, Heidi Hetzer also cultivated her passion for motor racing. Over the years she took part in numerous competitions: the Mille Miglia from Brescia to Rome and back, the Monte Carlo Rally, the Paris-Berlin Rally and the Panama-Alaska Rally in 1997. She was also on the track at the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico and at the 1989 Tour d'Europe, finishing third in both races. She drove 2000 km across Germany in a Hispano-Suiza and lastly between Düsseldorf and Shanghai in the 2007 Rally.
Heidi was therefore an entrepreneur, a racing driver, but also, and perhaps above all, an adventurer. It was at the age of 77 that she decided to embark upon her most important journey: around the world. As a travel companion, her “oldtimer”, the American vintage car she herself nicknamed ‘Hudo': a 1930 Hudson with 60 horsepower, 3 gears and wooden wheel rims. Starting in Berlin, she travelled across Eastern Europe and China, and then to Australia. After reaching New Zealand, she and Hudo were transferred to the Americas, where she drove through Canada and headed south, crossing the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. Afterwards, she sailed to Africa and finally returned home to Berlin.
However, the trip was not without setbacks and changes of plans. Shortly after her departure she was left without her second, not her beloved car but her friend and rally co-driver, who had to withdraw from the project for health reasons. She received over 150 applications from aspiring replacements and eventually selected a photographer: “At least he won't take the wheel!” she commented. However, Heidi soon resumed the journey on her own.
Still in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, at 3750 metres above sea level, Hetzer and Hudo suffered from the freezing cold of -21° in an attempt to enter China through the Torugart Pass when, due to lack of permits, they were forced to wait. Further complicating entry into Chinese territory was a 69-year limit for applying for a local driver's license, as Heidi Hetzer was 77 at the time. Thanks to the help of a local, she managed to enter the country anyway – bypassing the age obstacle – through an alternative pass, which required an extension of her journey of about 500 km more than the planned route and faced even more severe temperatures.
Of all these, two major challenges threatened to bring her long journey to a complete halt: the loss of two fingers while attempting to repair Hudo's engine, and two tumour-removal surgeries. Nevertheless, Hetzer always resumed the race on the road, ending her adventure on 12th March 2017 with her return to Berlin. More than 63,000 km and almost three years of driving later, Heidi Hetzer finished her round-the-world tour with the Hudo car.
She passed away in 2019, at the age of 81, in her apartment in Berlin, marking the end of an era for many who had known and admired her. Her journey has been inspiring and tenacious, not stopping in the face of difficulties, but pursuing her course with resourcefulness.
She once wrote the following on her blog: “Age does not protect you from life.”
