Ernst Loof

Ernst Loof (July 4, 1907 – March 3, 1956) was an automotive engineer and racing driver from Neindorf, Germany. He contributed to the design of the BMW 328 sports car in the late 1930s. He participated in one World Championship Grand Prix, on August 2, 1953, but he retired with fuel pump failure and scored no championship points.

Loof was also a famous motorcycle racer and designer, who scored numerous successes in pre-war years for Imperia of Bad Godesberg and for BMW. He later became one of the founders of the Veritas company, successful in Formula 2 with the Meteor racer in the immediate post-war period. The company also built sports cars, mostly BMW engined, as well as the Panhard-engined Dyna-Veritas cabriolets. He was the head designer of the Veritas car he drove in this race. Due to his age at the time, his participation in the race seems to have been mainly for testing purposes. The company had already gone bankrupt by this time, and his further plans were cut short as he contracted an inoperable brain tumor, which caused his death in 1956.