Born into German aristocracy back on the 12th January 1914, Goertz joined the banking industry after completing his studies. Fortunately, his prospects in finance didn’t pan out and soon he was immigrating to the US where he eventually moved to LA and worked at a car wash and in a factory making aircraft engines.
His life saw five years of service in the US Army and the creation of his own design studio set up in 1953. This was when he met Max Hoffmann, BMW's main importer in America. Hoffmann knew of BMW's plans to build a sports car and suggested that Goertz should contact BMW in Munich, which led to him designing the famous BMW cars.