David Thieme

Last updated
David Thieme
Born
David Thieme

1942
Minneapolis, US
Alma mater Pratt Institute
Occupation(s) Designer, Oil Trader and former CEO of Essex Overseas Petroleum Corporation

David Thieme (born in 1942) is an American designer, son of the artist and designer Anthony Thieme. [1] He is best known for having been the former owner of the Essex Overseas Petroleum Corporation, the company that sponsored Team Lotus, between 1979 and 1981, and also the official entry for Porsche in the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans. [2]

Contents

Education and affairs

Thieme studied industrial design at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. In 1973 he used the money that he had achieved with his work as a designer and founded Essex Overseas Petroleum Corporation, an oil-trading company. Based in a room of the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo in Monaco, the company was a one-man show, and was capable of making much money - some sources claim the firm was making about 70 million dollars of profit per year. [3]

Motorsport connections

Thieme's passion for racing cars, and the fact that he struck up a friendship with Colin Chapman in 1978, [4] brought him to Formula 1. Between 1979 and 1981 he became first a major sponsor and ultimately the main sponsor of Team Lotus. With major team presentation parties in 1980 and 1981, in venues like the Royal Albert Hall, Thieme brought glamour and extravagance to motorsport, having even hired the Michelin starred chef Roger Vergé to cook for all his guests at the motorhomes. [5]

In 1979 Essex, also sponsored the official Porsche entries for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, [2] but the two 936s, #12 (driven by Jacky Ickx, Brian Redman and Jürgen Barth) and the #14 (with Bob Wollek and Hurley Haywood) did not finish the race, although the number 14 car took pole position and the number 12 car set the fastest lap.

Fraud charges and jail

In April 1981, David Thieme was arrested at an airport in Zurich because of accusations of fraud to the amount of $7.6 million from the bank Credit Suisse. [6] After two weeks of investigation he was released on bail, which according to sources was $150,000 and paid by Mansour Ojjeh. Subsequently the Essex empire collapsed and Thieme disappeared. [7]

Personal life

According to what is stated Thieme now lives in Paris with his wife, the daughter of comedian André Pousse. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lotus Cars</span> British multinational manufacturer of sports cars and electric lifestyle vehicles.

Lotus Group is a British multinational automotive manufacturer of luxury sports cars and electric vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigel Mansell</span> British racing driver (born 1953)

Nigel Ernest James Mansell, is a British retired racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship (1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series (1993). Mansell was the reigning F1 champion when he moved to CART, becoming the first person to win the CART title in his debut season, and making him the only person to hold both the World Drivers' Championship and the American open-wheel National Championship simultaneously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Chapman</span> English design engineer (1928–1982)

Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of the sports car company Lotus Cars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martini Racing</span> Motor racing teams sponsored by Martini & Rossi

Martini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams race when sponsored by the Italian company Martini & Rossi, a distillery that produces Martini vermouth in Turin. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1958 as Martini International Club, founded by Count Metello Rossi di Montelera of Martini & Rossi. The race cars were marked with the distinctive dark blue, light blue and red stripes mostly on white or silver background body cars, but also red or green ones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lotus Esprit</span> British sports car

The Lotus Esprit is a sports car built by Lotus Cars from 1976 to 2004 at their Hethel, England factory. It has a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. Together with the Lotus Elise / Exige, it is one of Lotus' most long-lived models.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Dennis</span> British businessman (born 1947)

Sir Ronald Dennis is a British businessman and an Official British Business Ambassador for the United Kingdom. He is best known for his former role as owner, CEO, chairman and founder of McLaren Group. Dennis was removed from his McLaren management roles in 2016 but remained a director of the company and a 25-per-cent shareholder until June 2017, when his 37-year association with the company ended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cosworth DFV</span> Internal combustion engine

The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of Double Four Valve, the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had four valves per cylinder.

Jouef is a French brand and former manufacturing company specialized in scale model railroads. The brand name is currently owned by Hornby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Attwood</span> British racing driver (born 1940)

Richard James David "Dickie" Attwood is a British motor racing driver from England. During his career he raced for the BRM, Lotus and Cooper Formula One teams. He competed in 17 World Championship Grands Prix, achieved one podium and scored a total of 11 championship points. He was also a successful sports car racing driver and won the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans race, driving a Porsche 917, the first of Porsche's record 19 victories at the famous race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lotus 78</span> Formula One racing car

The Lotus 78 was a Formula One racing car used in the 1977 and 1978 seasons. It was designed by Peter Wright, Colin Chapman, Martin Ogilvie and Tony Rudd, and was the first ground effect car in Formula One.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team Lotus</span> British motor racing team

Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. More than ten years after its last race, Team Lotus remained one of the most successful racing teams of all time, winning seven Formula One Constructors' titles, six Drivers' Championships, and the Indianapolis 500 in the United States between 1962 and 1978. Under the direction of founder and chief designer Colin Chapman, Lotus was responsible for many innovative and experimental developments in critical motorsport, in both technical and commercial arenas.

Weslake & Co also known as Weslake Research and Development was founded by Harry Weslake, described as England's greatest expert on cylinder head design, with premises in Rye, East Sussex, England. Weslake is most famous for its work with Bentley, Austin, Jaguar and the Gulf-Wyer Ford GT40 Mk.I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williams FW07</span> Formula One motor racing car

The Williams FW07 was a ground effect Formula One racing car designed by Patrick Head, Frank Dernie, and Neil Oatley for the 1979 F1 season.

Maurice Philippe, also known as Maurice Phillippe, was a British aircraft and Formula One car designer.

Peter Eric Warr was a British businessman, racing driver and a manager for several Formula One teams, including Walter Wolf Racing, Fittipaldi Automotive, and Team Lotus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team Lotus (2010–2011)</span> Former Anglo-Malaysian Formula One constructor

Team Lotus, originally Lotus Racing, was a Malaysian-licensed Formula One racing team and constructor, based in Hingham, Norfolk, UK, which competed during the 2010 and 2011 Formula One seasons. The team scored no championship points in the two years it competed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbie Blash</span> FIA Formula One race official

Michael "Herbie" Blash is the Permanent Senior Advisor to the FIA Race Directors at Formula One races.

Colotti Trasmissioni is an Italian mechanical engineering firm located in Modena, Italy. It specializes in gears, limited-slip differentials and transmission systems for racing cars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Len Terry</span> British engineer and car designer (1924–2014)

Leonard E. Terry was an English racing car designer and engineer, known for his work with Lotus, BRM and Eagle. He also designed chassis for many other teams, including ERA and Aston Martin and produced his own car in which he competed.

Michael Roy Pilbeam is a British motorsport designer and engineer known for his work with BRM, Lotus, Surtees and his own company, Pilbeam Racing Designs. An early design was the experimental four wheel drive Formula One BRM P67 of 1964. As of 2014, Pilbeam's company continued to produce hillclimb cars and sports prototype chassis for endurance racing.

References

  1. ↑ [ dead link ]
  2. 1 2 "Kentucky New Era - Google News Archive Search" . Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "F1 News - Grandprix.com > GP Encyclopedia > Sponsors > Essex Petroleum" . Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  4. ↑ Gérard ('Jabby') Crombac, Colin Chapman: The Man and His Cars (Patrick Stephens, Wellingborough, 1986) ISBN   1-85960-844-2 Page 290 and Chapter 19
  5. ↑ "F1 launches on the grand scale". ESPN F1. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "The Bulletin - Google News Archive Search" . Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "The Tuscaloosa News - Google News Archive Search" . Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "David Thieme : Brillante et filante etoile" (JPG). W124.org. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.