Well I guess they did sort of build one, the Rosemeyer concept from 2000.
Mike,
Great find and great article, I can't believe I've never seen this piece of automotive history!
I do have to question though the actual level of Nazi involement. In the article "The Silver Cars from the North" By Gary Doyle, he states the following:
"The German cars were the result of rule changes for formula racing established in 1932 for the 1934 season. A car weight of 750 kilograms was mandated minus the driver, fluids and tires. Mercedes and Auto Union, a newer company with no racing history, decided to build unique answers to the problems of speed, endurance and durability. The Nazi regime provided seed money as they felt there were propaganda opportunities in highlighting German design and technological prowess through Grand Prix auto racing. Their stipend was split between two companies, though originally intended for Mercedes alone. Hitler was convinced that the competition between the two concerns might yield better results. Karl Ludvigsen in The Mercedes Benz Racing Cars points out that this was a Hitlerian management precept and used throughout the regime. The 450,000 Reich marks, which was the total amount of the Nazi participation, only amounted to about ten percent of any years racing budget for either firm."
I think Karl Ludvigsen is a pretty reputable source. Is this revisionist history or is the Nazi's actual financial involvement overstated? I mean being a 10% sponsor of a NASCAR team gets you pits passes and some signed ball caps, but you're hardly running the show.
Great find and great article, I can't believe I've never seen this piece of automotive history!
I do have to question though the actual level of Nazi involement. In the article "The Silver Cars from the North" By Gary Doyle, he states the following:
"The German cars were the result of rule changes for formula racing established in 1932 for the 1934 season. A car weight of 750 kilograms was mandated minus the driver, fluids and tires. Mercedes and Auto Union, a newer company with no racing history, decided to build unique answers to the problems of speed, endurance and durability. The Nazi regime provided seed money as they felt there were propaganda opportunities in highlighting German design and technological prowess through Grand Prix auto racing. Their stipend was split between two companies, though originally intended for Mercedes alone. Hitler was convinced that the competition between the two concerns might yield better results. Karl Ludvigsen in The Mercedes Benz Racing Cars points out that this was a Hitlerian management precept and used throughout the regime. The 450,000 Reich marks, which was the total amount of the Nazi participation, only amounted to about ten percent of any years racing budget for either firm."
I think Karl Ludvigsen is a pretty reputable source. Is this revisionist history or is the Nazi's actual financial involvement overstated? I mean being a 10% sponsor of a NASCAR team gets you pits passes and some signed ball caps, but you're hardly running the show.
I already thought the first-gen A8's were the best of their generation of big German sedans, but this takes it to a whole other level. Great find!!
I like the JATO one best, simply because I've recounted a very similar version myself on multiple beer-addled occasions. My version goes something like this: Guy gets a hold of an Air Force surplus rocket, check...straps it to the roofrack on a sixties era station wagon, check...and blasts himself across a dry lake bed (presumably Bonneville, but best not to be too specific, amd in my version the guy, let's just call him the "deceased" does not actually become airborne)...he melts the brakes immediately and is left to helplessly watch as the mountains on the far side of the lakebed draw closer and closer, he eventually strikes the base of a mountain at 400mph (this is when all the assembled car guys go, ohhhh, and my wife says it's time to go home). Yes I do realize the physics don't work, but damn what a story!
Raise a toast to Saint Joe Strummer
Blink-182 is a punk band?!?!
Audi, nothing succeeds like success, the RS will equal much more profit on the same number of vehicles sold. Considering their short supply it's a logical step, but at $111,000 for an RS5 I'd rather grey market a B5 RS4 or maybe an urQuattro instead. Should still have enough left over for a decent used R8, haha
Audi, nothing succeeds like success, the RS will equal much more profit on the same number of vehicles sold. Considering their short supply it's a logical step, but at $111,000 for an RS5 I'd rather grey market a B5 RS4 or maybe an urQuattro instead. Should still have enough left over for a decent used R8, haha
The rest of this might, I say might, be defendable... but $135 for 6 platinum plugs, $132 for new wires and $87 to install, now that's highway robbery!
Jeez, Walter, I'm not talking about the guys who built the fucking railroad here
Apparently the only way to keep a Dino from being rebadged a Ferrari is to hide it in a barn for twenty years, who knew?
If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.
Actually this seems a little high for a GT1, but you need something to park next to your Dauer 962 that's not a Cayenne!
Actually this seems a little high for a GT1, but you need something to park next to your Dauer 962 that's not a Cayenne!
Dominance, there is no substitute. (seriously, I'm the first one to nominate the 956 & 962 ?!?!)
Westland Ford is in...wait for it...Ogden, Utah. That's no "GF", that's Wife #2, as is God's wish for us here on Earth!
Where the hell did the Singer go? If you're gonna drive down the canyon road from your mansion in Silicon Valley to work every day, then only a Singer would do.
OK, when the greatest diesel question was accompanied by a Unimog, i thought asked and answered, and again Mr. Spin you nailed your own question, the Singer is the car we would all build if money was no concern
Spin,
Well asked and answered, when you nominated the Lola T70 from THX 113 you picked the coolest movie car of all time. I'll go the more obscure route, wasn't Naked Lunch the movie in which Peter Weller drove a messerschmitt? (an exhaustive 2 minute search of Google images and IMDB didn't help)
Well asked and answered, when you nominated the Lola T70 from THX 113 you picked the coolest movie car of all time. I'll go the more obscure route, wasn't Naked Lunch the movie in which Peter Weller drove a messerschmitt? (an exhaustive 2 minute search of Google images and IMDB didn't help)
OK, at the threat of being a killjoy, Simona's performance is epic and should earn massive respect, regardless of her plumbing. If you want to get in an argument of which driver you'd rather share a racesuit with then I'm voting for Vanina Ickx, but I think we may be missing the point of the story. The ladies are here to drive and to win, get used to it, and at some point we'll have to start discussing them without schwing-o-meter (at least no every single time...)
As Paul Harvey used to say, "and now you know the rest of the story"...well played, Bill, well played!
I do have to question the hydrological engineering skills of all of those who doubted the stability of this airdock setup. I mean, 2 friggin' weeks afloat, damn.
I do have to question the hydrological engineering skills of all of those who doubted the stability of this airdock setup. I mean, 2 friggin' weeks afloat, damn.
Pantone FTW!!
Fair enough, I just knew he went to catholic high school here, I'm not saying we share the same Scientology purification machine or anything
