‘Hoodwinked:’ The Curious Case of Le Mans, the Mechanic & Fake Porsches
Former Porsche Le Mans winner Jürgen Barth among accused in bizarre multi-million dollar German fraud trial.
Former Porsche press representative, race driver and Le Mans 24 Hour winner Jürgen Barth stands among the accused before the Aachen regional court in a bizarre multi-million dollar German fraud trail around counterfeit classic racing Porsches.
German police allege that Barth and his cronies have built more than 20 new Porsche clones. They then sold them under fake ‘historically significant’ lineage pretences. Many of the counterfeit cars allegedly fetched several million dollars apiece.
Jürgen’s father, Edgar Barth (driving the 550 RS below) was also a former Le Mans Porsche driver. Barth Senior established an extensive private Porsche archive. A personal acquaintance of Ferry Porsche, Jürgen was once even the Porsche Museum curator. Also a talented driver, he won the 1977 Le Mans 24 Hours driving a Porsche 936 Spyder alongside Belgian maestro Jacky Ickx and American Hurley Haywood.
Accused Exploited Fake Information for Gain
Jürgen later expanded the family archive to include full information on all the Porsche racing cars ever built. It however seems that Jürgen’s intentions may not have been quite as crystal clear as they may have once seemed.
German newspaper Handelsblatt reports that Jürgen and his cohorts allegedly exploited Le Mans winner (swapping with Ickx below) Mr. Barth’s archive information, and his reputation as a Porsche expert, to link fake new-build knock-offs of the original Porsches, to false credentials. The cabal then sold their fakes as original Porsches, for vast sums of money.
The Handelsblatt expose reveals that Aachen police established the so-called ‘Ferry’ case in 2017. Investigators taped a Jürgen Barth telephone conversation with Aachen workshop owner Uwe Niermann. The tapes allegedly reveal the two fabricating the ‘history’ of one of their newly knocked off Porsche 550 RS Spyders.
Police Raided Jürgen Barth’s Home in 2019
Based on that evidence, police raided Barth’s home in 2019 to discover what is believed to be the largest and most comprehensive Porsche archive in the world. Police contend that the taped telephone conversation proves that Barth and Niermann ‘operated as fraudsters’. Barth argues that the call was merely an isolated, friendly conversation.
“Historic racing cars are never completely historical because competition components are constantly replaced,” Barth testified. Barth further revealed that that cash-strapped Porsche often sold racing chassis, engines, and components in the 1980s. He contends that these ‘original’ parts created the so-called ‘restructuring cycle’.
That however fails to explain how multiple examples of historically significant Porsche chassis and engines exist today. Other cars supposedly once scrapped, have since mysteriously reappeared. For example, three examples of Porsche 917-043 (top) reported as a total loss after a 1970 Hockenheim racing crash, allegedly exist in 2024!
Barth Cohort previously Jailed for Fake Porsche Fraud
Uwe Niermann was previously jailed for four months for offering an apparently significant Porsche to a Brazilian collector. That car proved to be counterfeit and Niermann charged for fraud. Niermann is also said to have built ‘historically important’ new Porsches, including dubious 904s and 917s, (Le Mans origionals above) for other customers.
Jürgen Barth remains defiant that the allegations against him are absurd. He was however banned from Porsche. The counterfeit Porsche case originally went to trial in 2021 before a main defendant fell ill and was unable to stand. The case resumed in February 2024 with further hearings set through to 6 June.
According to Handelsblatt, the trio of lawyers representing Porsche seek to confiscate and scrap the alleged counterfeit Porsche race cars.
Images: Porsche