Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post: Movie of the Week: Rudolf Caracciola at 270 mph Continue reading the Original Blog Post
I wasn’t going to publish this… just too far off topic with nothing to really bring it to relevance… but damn man, these silver cars were just so dope. Call it inspiration.
Ryan , Jocko Johnson blew me away when i first saw this ......................................................................
Oh… Xydias has said that one of the major sources of inspiration behind his first streamliner were these German land speed cars. But, really… our efforts to replicate these cars were only skin deep. The Mercedes cars were crazy sophisticated. The T-80 made something like 3500 horsepower from its aircraft motor… so much power, that the Germans had to come up with a fully mechanical traction control system… and, it actually worked. Nuts. Also, these cars were absolutely HUGE. Just to give you an idea, here’s Alex’s car next to a T-80: I know the W-series Mercedes cars were smaller and less engineered, but it gives you an idea of where they started from…
Great thread, thanks. Engineering is engineering, Ryan, whether it's on one of these or a banger Model A. I see fueling was greatly advanced as shown at 10:49. Even dumping a bucket of water on the driver wouldn't have helped much. Makes my skin burn thinking about it.
Great video. Love those old F1 cars, no wings & no fat gum ball tires, they actually slide on many corners. Fantastic engineering
When my son was stationed in Germany, we went to the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart. The silver Benz race cars were on display! Absolutely jaw dropping. Automotive engineering art at its finest. This museum on line pic leaves out the streamliners at the head of the pack. Mine are who knows where.
The politicians at the top were "***HATS", but these guys were RACERS!! And their technology/cars were SOOO OOOOVER THE TOP!!!
Per Wikipedia. the fuel was "40% methyl alcohol, 32% benzene, 24% ethyl alcohol and 4% gasoline". Methanol is a nerve toxin, and benzene is cancer causing. Sitting in puddle of that for the rest of the race, feeling your skin (likely on some VERY sensitive parts of your body) dissolving away... He was a hell of a lot tougher that I am.
I always look at the side of the track on old racing videos. Trees, posts and rope were obviously considered effective safety barriers.
That Swedish/Austrian liner that ran at Pendine a few years back, a duplicate more or less? Did they ever finish either replica of the famous Lockhart "Blackhawk", speaking of liners?
Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart is well worth the visit. I did Porsche and Mercedes the same day in 2009
@Jarek Thompson That’s the car I had a pic of and can’t find. Thanks for sharing! We spent so much time at the MB Museum we couldn’t make the Porsche.
The Jalopy Journal
