Walter Minx

Walter Paul Minx (February 7, 1917 – June 30, 2009) was a young German immigrant who, in 1940, conspired with his brother Kurt, to extort $100,000 from a Sears Co. executive by threatening to blow up a Sears store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Minx planned to abscond with the money in a home-built submarine but quick police work eventually led to his arrest and imprisonment.

Initial plan Minx's family emigrated from Germany to Milwaukee in 1925. He was nicknamed "Der Macher" (The Doer) because of his ability to build almost anything. In his early twenties, Walter opened an ornamental ironworks shop and the business was soon thriving. But despite the amount of work coming in, Walter was in serious debt. He'd borrowed money from relatives and was uncertain of his ability to pay it back. "I was petrified," he would later tell a reporter, "I was terrified." So he decided on a quick money-making scheme: he would extort money from a rich man using a bomb threat.

Minx first set about building a bomb using a one-inch metal pipe, gunpowder collected from 35 12-gauge shotgun shells, a wind-up clock, and a spring mechanism. Minx related that "It took a long time to get the trigger just right." But he had an even more ambitious project going on the side: a one-man submarine.

The resulting craft was seven feet long, powered by automobile batteries connected to a small electric starter motor. It weighed about 400lbs. Moveable fins on the exterior hull enabled the sub to dive while two-gallon tin cans inside could be filled with lake water using a valve made from a kitchen sink faucet. The cans acted as ballast tanks and helped maintain neutral buoyancy once the vessel dipped below the waves. A small pressurized oxygen tank allowed the sub to stay submerged for up to 48 hours. The sub's operator navigated via a conning tower featuring clear celluloid windows on three sides. Hand-operated levers were used to raise and lower the diving fins and steer the rudder while a radiator petcock could be opened to regulate interior air pressure when necessary. The sub's entry hatch could be bolted closed and opened from the inside. In 1983 Minx and his wife Eleanor moved to Port Charlotte, Florida. He died at Winkler Court, Fort Myers, Florida on June 30, 2009. He was 92 years old.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)

NASCAR Strictly Stock Series NASCAR Strictly Stock Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts Ref 1949 Walter Minx 49 Buick CLT DAB HBO LAN43 HAM MAR HEI NWS 109th 0