A series of incredible photos have been unearthed, showing what is believed to be a Porsche engineer wringing out a Mercedes sedan on the Nurburgring.
Imgur user Rexhardwick writes that the photos are
“A set of kodachromes shot by a Porsche engineer as he took a mercedes sedan around the Nurburgring in 1967. Descriptions are transcribed directly from the notes on the original slides. I’ve acquired his life’s work as a photographer and I am looking for any information about this man.”
It’s startling to think that these photos were taken by hand while driving the ‘Ring, which was even more deadly in the pre-Lauda crash era than today. The changes and improvements made in the name of safety are evident in the sparseness of the track’s landscape, and the lack of familiar devices like Armco barrier and fencing.
Man, look at that track. I’ve seen back roads to summer camps that are better paved. To think that racers took THAT course on in cars with skinny tires, and minimal crash protection, at 100 mph plus? Forget balls of steel…clearly they were made from the same stuff as Captain America’s shield. Amazing.
Very cool .Back when the Ring still was the Ring in all its glory and sublime * [ to be taken literally ] beauty .
And isn’t it something that Porsche would take a sedan out on the track rather than say an SL ? Oh … but theres a reason for that if you know Porsche history . 1967 was Round One of many to come of Porsche considering making a 4dr 911 to go up against Mercedes .
Took em decades to finally do it [ Panamera ] and unfortunately when they did they based it on the Audi A8 instead of creating a 4dr 911 .
* Sublime in literary terms means Beautiful but Deadly
re: “Sublime in literary terms means Beautiful but Deadly”
do not wish to be confrontational, only want to confirm the accuracy or inaccuracy of my own knowledge regarding the meaning of this word. i must admit i was surprised by the ‘deadly’ reference in your definition. can you provide a valid citation? i searched several sites [examples below] but always came up empty.
http://theliterarylink.com/sublime.html
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sublime?show=0&t=1396987035
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sublime?s=t
You need to read Burke’s essay ‘A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Philosophical_Inquiry_into_the_Origin_of_Our_Ideas_of_the_Sublime_and_Beautiful
‘In short, the Beautiful, according to Burke, is what is well-formed and aesthetically pleasing, whereas the Sublime is what has the power to compel and destroy us. The preference for the Sublime over the Beautiful was to mark the transition from the Neoclassical to the Romantic era.’
And i thought i’d never get to use my lit degree on a car blog.
Eek! Sorry guys, but “Pedants On Parade” is at the next site over. We do cars and such around here. As you may have heard, a few of them are deadly because of the starter switch, and many because of the car payments.
Jeff, you’ve obviously never driven a proper rear-engined 911 (like a 930). Beauty mixed with terror indeed.
What kind of number plate is the red Dauphine wearing? It looks like one from North America.
how odd – that does appear to be a NA spec plate.
It’s hard to tell, but this could be a U.S. Armed Forces plate.
that’s a US Forces Germany plate. There are bases all over that area. Many more then than now, obviously.
That old W111 probably has a column-shifted four speed. Maybe the driver was resting the camera on the shifter in third gear to get those photos.
Where’s all the trees? It sure has filled in since then.
Sublime!
I noted in the first photo a Nash Metropolitan, a Dauphine, and a Borgward. But what is the car that looks like a Morris Minor, but isn’t?
I think it is a DKW 3=6, the car that Saab got started by cloning.
Or an Auto Union 1000
Auto Union 1000 didn’t have “suicide doors”, hinges were moved to the front.
Could also be a DKW F89, the predecessor of 3=6 – really hard to tell the difference without a closer view.
Yep, F89. Now, in the second picture, what is the fifth car in the front row? I’m going to say it’s another Dauphine.
btw, Ron B., great info on the Gordini!
Looks more like 1962…
First picture, MGA, Ford Taunus? Borgward, Mercedes, DKW F93 (3=6), BMW600, DKW F91, Renault Dauphine.
Ford Taurus? Not unless Ford reused the nameplate, and I recall it was a new nameplate. First gen Taurus was built as a 1986 model.
TauNus, not TauRus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Taunus
So, naturally we’re all wondering what sort of ‘Ring time he threw down. 10 minutes? I wonder if ‘Ring times were the marketing benchmark that they are today.
Judging by the lack of blur in the photos, and film and camera speeds of the time, and the fact that the camera was hand-held, I don’t think he was going all that fast in most of them.
The dauphine is a Gordini as shown by the slightly down in the front stance and extra chrome bit in the front. A cousin of mine was a designer for Porsche for two decades ,I’ll forward the links to him and see if he can put a name to the photographer. I’m guessing it’s far earlier than 1967 too given the types of cars lined up at the start such as MGA’s . It’s amusing to see Adenauer Corner stacked up with cars in the grass in #7 . It’s a bit tamer now but the 70’s saw plenty of carnage there.
Ha. A DKW. DKW-Vemag and Gordini, like they had in Brazil when I was a child.
Vemag was the Brazilian CKD producer/importer who started doing own development from the late 50s onward, all based on DKW technology. Interesting stuff.
Aah, those were the days. When men were men and women were women. Looks like “Grand Prix Legends” (the game)
Yep, everyone in that crowd looks so elegant. Then the wretched seventies came, and we still haven’t recovered. No 1970’s reminiscing for me.
And the car – so nice when you could actually see the ends of the fenders, and an actual hood ornament!
GoPro – circa 1967
Wow, great shot of the infamous corkscrew turn. Anyone know what the uphill turnoff is (where there appear to be a couple of cars lined up)?
Maybe a tow truck shortcut back to the “barn”? It’s also a dirty trick, since the uphill is likely in sight before you see that the track is a sharp right turn.
That is the Steilstrecke, a shortcut for the Karussell. The picture was taken at the right hander immediately before the Karussell.