He became famous not only for founding the first magazine for Porsche fans and owners called Christophorus in 1952 (which is still published today), and was its chief, permanent editor from 1952 to 1973, but also for his terrible accident, which went down in the history of motorsports, but ended well for the pilot.
In 1956, at the Berlin Grand Prix, on the AVUS track, Richard competed in the prototype typ 645.
During the race, Richard lost control on the north backing and the car flew off the track, fell 15 meters down and caught fire after the impact. Surprisingly, the pilot escaped with bruises and contusions, as he fell out of the car in mid-air.
The exact cause of the loss of control was never determined. In any case, the project was not continued. AVUS-1956 was the first and last competition for the typ 645. But it played its role in the history of the development of the Porsche motorsport program – its concept was embodied in 1957: the Porsche 718 RSK Spyder 1500, with a wheelbase of 2100 mm, saw the light of day. It can be said that the typ 645 was a transition from 550 to 718. Richard von Frankenberg raced Porsches throughout his sports career, from 1950 to 1959. He participated in the Rallye Monte-Carlo, 24h Le Mans, Mille Miglia, 1000 km Nurburgring, Tourist Trophy. During his career, he managed to win several victories, the most significant of which can be considered the 12 h Reims in 1956. Frankenberg died in a car accident on the Autobahn in 1973. He was 52 years old.
