Kurt Kuhnke was born in April 1910 in Stettin, Poland very close to the border with Germany. He raced motorbikes initially before switching to Formula 3 in the latter part of 1951. Kurt was one of the first Germans to acquire a Cooper, a Mk IV known as "Atlas" from Gottfried Vollmer and stuck with the marque thought his career. He was one of the most prolific drivers and continued to race 500s though to '59 notching many good placings along the way. Wins include Avus in June and Halle Saale in October 1952, Leipzig in May and Dresden in July '53, Halle Saale in September gave him second overall in the West German championship to Adolf Lang.

In the early 1960's, Kurt, already in his 50s, had a brief Formula One career, failing to qualify a Lotus 18 at the 1962 Grand Prix de Pau before retiring the same car from the Solitude Grand Prix  with engine failure. Problems with the Borgward engine in his Lotus caused him to miss four races he had entered in the second half of 1962.

In 1963, Kuhnke failed to qualify his Lotus at the Rome Grand Prix and suffered engine failure at the Solitude Grand Prix in July. His single World Championship entry was at the 1963 German Grand Prix where he failed to qualify. The BKL was an modified Lotus, the initials standing for Borgward Kuhnke Lotus. After this, he retired at Karlskoga in Sweden with before moving away from racing.

Kurt Kuhnke died on the 8th February 1969.