in 1963, kuhnke failed to qualify his bkl lotus at the rome grand prix, along with team-mate ernst maring, and both cars suffered engine failures at the solitude grand prix in july. his single world championship formula one entry was at the 1963 german grand prix where he failed to qualify by a considerable margin. the bkl lotus was simply an ordinary lotus, lightly modified by kuhnke, the initials standing for borgward kuhnke lotus.