A whole system which believes his time has come with chinas president. She ging paying stuarts july 30th on d. W. Ah, ah, an inconspicuous forest trail, south of frankfort, next to one of germanys famous auto bonds in houston with the end of the road for a legendary german racing driver. Lee in a no holds barred, a bid for land speed supremacy. Unfeeling the events of over 80 years ago remain the subject of speculation. With what exactly happened on that fateful day, and what is it that pushes people to pursue speed records at all costs . I me. Ah ah, who was band holes on my aunt who died in january 1938 driving down the perfectly straight autobahn at over 400 Kilometers Per Hour. Thick o an eastern germany home to a museum that was once the racing car factory of our tony own. Germanys 1st state run automaker and a predecessor of todays audi me. The 1930 saw an epic duel between 2 giants of the german racing seen as the relatively young out old well known thought to overtake the dominant Mercedes Benz team. A high profile rivalry that intensified when band told them i joined the our total unity. The young hot shot was to take on mercedes works driver and european champion old old car chola. The out on your bosses had high hopes for holes in maya, who was a boon for both motor racing and a nazi regime, eager to capitalize on the competition for propaganda. The bold, young rising star was perfect. I was in my own home to speak to all of them. I have to find out about it. I always ask them, i got them on my l. He got a bottle and i thought you will nicely with night. Yet were in dresden to meet a man whos written the number of books on the early german motor racing europe, including the 19 thirtys when the countrys big carmakers fought out their rivalry on germanys new out o bonds, a network of modern highways that brought prestige to the nazis header casberg as an automotive historian, the regime he explains, was eager to show that germany could build not only the fastest cars, but also the best roads. To maximize publicity authorities held special record speed weeks on the new high speed motor ways. Another chance for glory, for band or the maya m october. Its already caught while her nose was even on t. Is ish frozen my i broke a series of records that had belonged to car jolla in october 1937. When earning them to also union, it started doing time law child, i am a failed because of a design out of sync with the laws of natures an icon causally, and vig long deep and not all the destination. And par wouldnt. Im ended by the end of the week or the National Racing commission of promise that im led soon be allowed to make for the record attempts merchant. Next and sad, pulled idle was over fallen dog as will them for the outgoing auto union have to respond because its a delicate relationship between a dime there in the public, a dime law or, and indoor from dish tied to alicia until tiffany, when a decision was that if they drive off, then we need to drive as well. Be okay, no, youre missing out. As seen from the teams 10, the wind had picked up when it was, was a my as turn to start on january 28th, 1938. On his 1st run, he clocked 429 Kilometers Per Hour, a personal best, but still not fast enough to wrestle the record back from mercedes adjustments are made while the wind grew stronger. Hosemeier was impatient, reportedly telling his team to just let him get back on the road for a 2nd run. It was 1147 ah, and then disaster at the 9. 2 kilometer mark holes m i as type see car dubbed tom linen wagon or stream liner careened off the road, flipping several times over a distance of 900 meters. The destroyed car came to a stop on an embankment, was a maya was killed instantly. Conspiracy theories spread, blaming reckless annu executives for disregarding the strong winds and sending holes a maya to a premature death. Out o o noon did not appear interested in a formal and thorough investigation. The remains of the car were destroyed before they could be properly examined. Mm. The only viable explanation available under the circumstances was that a gust of wind had blown holes a mile off the road. But is that the true explanation . Ah, why do people put their lives on the line and hair raising duals over a couple of kilometers . And the name of progress on some dubious patriotic quest, or is it personal ambition and ego i, weve come to the since im technical museum, to meet professor could move that. Another historian who has studied the early days of automotive development. Ah, he tells us about the origin of the pursuit of pace, which goes all the way back to the late 19th century, the spanish lac what, particularly slow nickel to sleep and stick. There was a common phrase at the time of the acceleration of the speed of life. I have no food at sight. The lay german monarchy was also called the hero of nervousness. Past particulars for industry and speed is part of that. And as soon as a symptom, but also as a kind of remedy as an op hip smith attacking the 1st month or 250. 00. Some people try to adapt to the era and the racing driver, or someone who could cope with high speed with well conditions into the era content. While there was this new image in which a lot of people saw as the pinnacle of the modern human being, i feel able to adapt to this accelerated pace down the noise mentioned to me. So who were these dare devil . One of them in belgium was actually nickname the red devil. Asked brussels and to the imposing neal Gothic Church of our lady here lies a man who was only known outside belgium to racing, efficient auto, a man who in his time enjoyed a colossal reputation. Tammy, youre not the son of a major hire manufacturer and record breaker. The 1st person to break the 100 Kilometers Per Hour mark at the wheel over 120 years ago. I me, i believe biblical is an architect who has spent years looking into the story of camille and nazi. The driver was famed for his trademark red goatee and his red hot style at the wheel as he thought, fame as the fastest driver. Mm. Can you just get a horse . You know, we said this to me and he was a hero. A big lie. Michael schumacher a man who like driving fast and had a passion for speed and he was determined to break record this connect course im going to saw the 1st race he appears to have taken part in the shunt blue hill climb, reaching an impressive 25 Kilometers Per Hour in an electric car. When you call us back then was slower than bicycles. It was to be home, couldnt do that. These records were heavily covered by the media and especially the sport papers, the other girl. How do you on a look for that . I had saw a trespasser, easy process book on the record breaking car is on display at the Auto World Museum near the cities famous song company f arc. The larger make on dont is a popular exhibit. Among the fastest motorized vehicles of its time surpassed only by steam locomotive. No radiator, no exhaust your nazis car was electric. Ah, in the late 19th century it was still unclear what kind of propulsion would set the pace on land. Steam powered vehicles required, laborious, pre heating, and gasoline engines had a reputation for breaking down. If they started at all, not ideal for record centers. Publicity was always key factor, comey expertly exploited. Ah, the auto world car is not original. Its a replica built by. Its not the foundation of a modern day mobility pioneer. The lack of blueprints for the 899 car left him with a serious challenge. Not least with the numerous features unique to the nazi car. Receipt of his disposal, doing valon dont volunteer. Dont get actually the Steering Wheel lever, which could have sliced open his stomach in an accident. And he was relatively told originally received with no break because he wanted to drive straight ahead as fast as possible. Just finally, book desco, boosted and back. Then they didnt drive on proper road, is willis, wiggily drove on horse racing tracks. No, maybe up to 2 kilometers long. See to piece to alicia vocal. Their academic muscle will do kill me in age of a bull, though a huge crowd does it because they were International Events in multiples. I booked all us to prescribe them. It was like the 1st man on the moon. There was great interest in the technology. You see a biblical data report at the conversion 105. 8 Kilometers Per Hour. A new best mark. But not for long. 3 years later you, nancy was displaced by of all things, a Steam Powered vehicle by this point. Yeah. Nazi had already started competing in races for mercedes Parent Company dime. Lar, even took out a Life Insurance policy on your nazi that corporate commitment brought dividends in 19 o. 3, you nazi one, the gordon bennett. Come in ireland, the worlds most important car, race of that era. Ah, this is the only film footage of your nazi moon. It was a curious quirk of fate that saw the fearless belgian die, not on the track, but during another more harmless type of outdoor pursuit. Another of you, nazis talents, would be his downfall. A knack for imitating animal sounds. Lou during a walk in the woods in 1913, a hunter mistook him for a deer and open fire blue a couple of decades forward. We returned to band holes of maya and his tragic end in 1938. An event that left the motor, racing world in shock. One of its top drivers was dead. Nazi authorities turned his funeral in berlin into a political rally. Friends, family fans and rivals paid their last respect, while the notorious ss held a vigil to the fallen hero. Ah, but what was the actual cause of the accident . A question that was eclipsed amid the pomp of the funeral procession. Nazi ideology could not allow a hero of the german nation to have died due to technical deficiencies, let alone a mortal driver error. The cause was never pursued. Ah, tim nits, home to the original out oh known h q and a branch of the official saxony state archives. We want to look at Historical Documents of specific interest to us is the file concerning the death of band hosemeier containing a range of original documents, formal testimony, affidavits and eye witness accounts. Including this letter from a certain auto gaia to the head of the auto known motor racing team. His eye witness report recalls how the auto renew own car veered onto the grass bank and turned sideways details similar to those observed by time keeper, ca, hello, vis mother who also referred to an exclusion when question. Then theres this hugely important document, a Weather Report from the nearby zepplin airport between 11 and 1230 on the day of the crash. It registered strong winds and gusts of up to 11 meters per 2nd. Interestingly, only the Mercedes Team had asked for a forecast ahead of the record attempts ow total known didnt buy. The car maker later sent a letter to its dealerships, however, insisting it had not recklessly put the driver under unreasonable pressure. And that the wind speed had in no way appeared dangerous. An attempt to shun responsibility. There are no photos or film footage of hose. Am i as final and fatal run itself . Its rumored some material was destroyed. If so, then not everything. However, there is a private film captured by outward emsella who worked in a frankfurt photo processing lab. Ah, on the day of the race, he was on a foot bridge crossing over the autobahn, where he was filming, and air show taking place at the same time. At one point, emsella happened to briefly train his camera on the road below. Pulls a maya can be seen in the runoff zone after his 1st run. He just clocked 429 Kilometers Per Hour, and now set off towards darmstadt on the 2nd and fatal leg of the 2 way record attempt. At 1st glance, with all eyes on the road, the film seems inconspicuous, but a closer look reveals other movement on the right of the picture. Trees visibly swaying to and fro under the strain of evidently strong if not storm like winds. Was this record attempt doomed from the outset . Ah, we next mean motorsports expert martine shorda, the hose, m, i, a crash has become a labor of love for the former bookseller. Over the years, hes collected a wealth of documentation, much of it from private archives. Ah, and theres the one question that never goes away who is to blame for the drivers death. 6 i. 6 1 thing shrewder is certain of is that it cannot have been the wind alone. Its robin lish, chicago, even on the face of it was windy. You can see in this film footage i have on 15 Kilometers Per Hour from which wind blow the car off the road. I think like this can be due to 2 causes, 100 slide or the combination of to zoom of one flight. By analyzing the photos from that in from his day, should i came across some curious inconsistencies among them out own yawns. Motor Sports Division had made changes between the 1st and 2nd runs the air intake duct at the front of the car, for example, was reduced. Busy the completed the nozzle is given on the entire nose was replaced, and behind this little inlet, there was one tube supplying the engine with oxygen with torn on there more tor middle washed off to one and another. You connected to the cocked iron against cockpit prevail. Here like nose in the cockpit mit last. So far as all was, am i and likes driving with the cockpit open. The tube was necessary to prevent him from suffocating at speed. And another photo was of interest. A section of the body on the road. The picture had been taken by a reporter from italy and show as part of the underbody which has on looking triangular openings. They were evidently err valves that could be operated from the cockpit involved in these and also when did and when his loft, he had this outlet for the streaming and at the front where they told him that if it got too intense and at the speed it was like a storm then he could step on this lever. But kinds of off to, you know, dennis or phil or my number or not. I think he did that, which disrupted the lower error dynamic. Because the air was suddenly being redirected underneath the von, when you look for it presses step bill than him. The car takes off the off ever your stir mammal. My only song flow is disrupted at those at junk is 52. 00 plain stock. Took off at just 120 with all that weight really would the accident due to aerodynamics did outdoor on your sufficiently tasked the vehicles behavior at these extreme speeds . Historian, pitch acute says the team were clearly out of their depths when it came to such a technical detail. You hadnt actually time it and it does it so that they never expected it to happen. Its not just they had a plan b, its got a whole issue, was forgotten. There was no way the image of rosy meyer as a National Hero was going to be compromised later by these trivial questions. Theyre still older my as drive would be the last record attempt for our own your own, but not for mercedes. Towards the end of the 1900 thirtys dime le bens worked on a new car designed to pulverize previous milestone. The t 80 with a bombastic 8 meter long monster, weighing in at over 3 tons and with contours, more like those of a finer bomber plain. This prototype is among the most impressive exhibits at the dime le museum and stuttgart. Ah, the impetus for the t 80 was provided by hands stuck previously an outdoor on your star whose success has a hill climbing champion, had been overshadowed by the flat ground feats of all my zone star was starting to fade, but he enjoyed good connections with the nazi leadership who were increasingly eager to see demonstrations of superior german engineering. At stokes request, the t 80 was to be built by a fatty non portia legendary car designer and creator of our toll knowns, type c target top speed, 600 Kilometers Per Hour. This would require an output of 3000 horsepower. The job was entrusted to 2 dimer airplane engines, provided by the high, shabby asian ministry. Each boasting displacement in excess of 44 leaders. Thought as fate had it, the ti 80 project would fall victim to the 2nd world war and 1939. As a result, hans stuck would be denied his own baton von moons house and asked cannonball run and perhaps spared a premature death. After the war, it was clear that speeds of over 600 Kilometers Per Hour on land were not possible with combustion engines. Records of that kind would require Rocket Propulsion and the kind of Space Available on this lunar like landscape bonneville and the state of utah usa. The remnants of a prime evil lake turned into seemingly infinite salt flats by a combination of wind and water. And for almost a century now, the ultimate test track and an el dorado for speed freaks. Oh yes, this would be the stage for a new generation of record seekers. Chief among them art our farms and crag breedlove. The 2 americans were obsessed with being the fastest man in history and were prepared to use all means available to set a new record, which had now been held by a succession of british drivers. The dawn of the 1960 saw our fawns and breathe love open a new chapter in the competition for the ultimate automotive glory. Blue sam holly lives in ontario, canada. He spent years studying the history of the salt flats, erupt, speed records, and the fearless men famed as junkyard. Geniuses. Folly has written the number of books dedicated to that era that time around 96061 that the United States air force was getting rid of a whole bunch of fighter jets from the korean war. And all this stuff was going into the junk market. And so anchor in los angeles were craig b love lived, lived like literally hundreds of j 47. 00 jet engines were being sold as scrap. So he was able to buy one for almost nothing, 500. 00. He got that his 1st jet engine, if he got like an allison engine, it would have cost several 1000. 00. So he was trying to save money by getting a jet o hacking up to 17000 horsepower. Those engines were fitted in 19 fifties air force jets, such as the famous star fighter that reached speeds of over 2200 Kilometers Per Hour. Exactly what kind of power that could translate into with Land Vehicles was difficult to decipher. Given the lack of testing, our funds knew absolutely nothing about jet engines. But somehow he, he found one from a junk dealer and he found a manual about how to, how these things worked. And he actually took this thing apart with no education, no background whatsoever. Just kind of an Innate Intelligence that he had. And he put it back together and he figured out how it worked. So, i mean, that is a stunning story. That literally these guys were doing it in their backyards. They had a, a steel post that was buried in the ground. And they were just literally chain the car to that post. And they would run that engine. And i mean they, they totally blasted the ground dead. I mean all the grass it, everything was, was blasted off of it. Hang on in october 1964 crag breedlove broke his own record not once, but twice. The 2nd attempt, almost costing him his life mad just under 850 Kilometers Per Hour. The brake parachute snapped off on the brake. At that speed they would just burn them up. The car steered across the end of the pre that track, taking out to telephone poles before crashing into a salt lake. Reed love, almost drowned in the desert, but managed to escape through the roof top hatch lyrical in there had been no such miracle for band holes in maya. We went to hamburg to investigate the reasons why this record breaking racing driver was destined to die in january 1938. We thought further inside here at the cities poto to the museum, one of the most exclusive collections of historic motor Sports Memorabilia in the world. A fair share of the cars on display here are prototype from a time when the racing world and the speed those heroes reached enjoy a different kind of fascination than today. Ah, but another exhibit here is highlighted by Museum Curator simone barker, a reaction arcade machine from the late 1930, a prized possession, discovered by chance, by the museum, and the archives of one of the oldest amusement parks in the world. The humvee and t really in the fun we founded in the tivoli in copenhagen. And the great thing about this game is the chance to reenact band all my as well record attempt press this button and were away on dev. Im and the nob enables you to open a, closed the valve. And as you can see, it takes a lot of practice. Amplitude hold too much. I cant do it either. Always. Well, my confusion is alpha to kids. Back then i a blast for the kinder, and he was foster but we didnt come here to see some automotive themed pinball machine. The Museum Archive is home to some rather special protocols from the old zeppelin factory and fleet of ex hoffen southern germany. Out own own conducted wind tunnel tests here on a model of hose m i as 1938 car. The key problem was that the rival mercedes car had around 200 more horse power and out all known lacked the time and money for a new engine. The only way to compensate for the deficit was via aerodynamics. From these records, its clear that out all knowns, tinkering and experimentation with the car was often more guesswork than innovative engineering. The tests could not come close to simulating speeds of over 400 Kilometers Per Hour. Let alone any cross winds. The document dates from january, 18th, 1938, just 10 days prior to the fatal accident. Historian paid a cash bag has little doubt that the tasks were conducted right up to the very last minute. These are aba stand on the on the wound, louder inside. They were done on the mush, if time pressure and the protocol from january 18th refers to tests 3 days before christmas winds isnt in spite of formed between the 20th and 22nd of december. And fredericks often will come of him with a 1. 00 to 2. 00 and a half scale models. And the assumption that a 1. 00 to 1. 00 scale model would be the same, wouldnt dock. And from that night, they calculated a higher output to not have been possible by time those emerged regional eyes that im look at, leon gun in a miscalculation and if so, then by who we went back to motor sports, expert martine shorda, for his opinion, fatty nano porsha, he says, had spent many years in charge of racing Car Development and auto noon before terminating his consultant contract at the end of 1937. That Development Cost out own own. Its ingenious constructor at a most inopportune time. Exactly how is documented in this patent which had been gathering dust in the archives for decades. Given over the notes show how attempts were made to reduce the air resistance while at the same time pushing the car down on to the ground. This involved adjustments to the body such as adding bulged sections along the sides of our uncovered views have been true, so the body is similar to an airplane when the distance across the top is longer than underneath this. And that leads to low pressure on top. And ground pressure without the presence of additional mass. This is how was boiler work force and its what keeps an airplane flying through. So high air moves faster than below was a feature of that in theory makes the vehicle quicker. But at the same time, puts it at the mercy of the whims of the wind. Does this explained the inventors insistence on remaining anonymous . A highly unusual omission when registering the patent . With fire minus name variation gordon. Its something ive always wondered why someone wouldnt want their name included the still unique event or it with hindsight, perhaps that individual suspected that might be resulting risks. But didnt know what initiative was far was showing the aunt of me over the decades. One thing that remained the same was that while the heroes of the road were put on a pedestal, they were at the same time, pons of both political and economic imperatives. By the 19 sixtys record attempts shifted up another gear, as commercial competition took the front seat, sensing an opportunity to boost their image. The tire and fuel industries pumped up, the hype and huge sums of sponsorship money into the inventive constructor, teams o, or over 3 decades. The museum of Technology Ins and time has been home to a vehicle that is perhaps the ultimate embodiment of this unbridled competition. And its excesses, the blue flame, the product of an arrow in record setting vehicles no longer really resembled cars. Its more of a rocket on wheels, 3 tons, propelled by 58000 horsepower. The driver was more of a pilot sitting on a mixture of liquid natural gas and hydrogen peroxide. This was the kind of explosive power, otherwise, usually associated with space travel, oo reg avalanche runs her own Little Museum here in long beach, california. Dedicated to the legacy of them. Landmark run. Sitting in the blue flame that day in october, 1970 was her husband gary. The 1st person to crack the 1000 Kilometers Per Hour mark in a land vehicle. It was a record that would stand for 13 years ah, before coming to fame. Gary gab alicia had been a little known drag racer who lived life in the fast lane. A photo genic hell raiser, who looked good at the wheel of a bullet car and also cut a fine figure for nasas marketing men. Hed been a test subject for the Apollo Program space suit and live support systems. In 1969 they gave gary the choice of either staying with the Apollo Program or continuing on with his adventures in racing. And at that time, hed already been signed to drive the blue flame. And so he gave up apollo for racing on the ground. Mm. Or oh, talks about what it was like and he goes through the count down from, you know, 19, you know all the way down and how it felt when hes pushed back in the seed and experiencing the been in the g horse and gary held the record longer than any other american, and the actually, the only other person that held it longer was john cobb, who held it until craig broke its, he held it, i think, for 24 years. Prag, breed, loves record, stood at 966 Kilometers Per Hour. On october 23rd, 1970 gary galena prepared to set off across the salt flats of bonneville, utah, to break that 5 year old mark, but also to hit the 1000 Kilometers Per Hour figure. He and his team had invested 6 years in the development of the 11 metre, long cigar shaped vehicle for a spectacle that would last just 22 seconds before the fuel would run out. The man in the hat is dick keller. One of the rocket cars creators ah, the former engineer now over 80 years old lives in daphne, alabama. In the mid 19 sixtys, he tells us the u. S. Natural gas industry was also keen to enter the arena. The big selling point was to give the American Public a sensational showcase of gas as more than just a fuel for Old Fashioned heaters. It was a cleaner and more efficient alternative to gasoline and kerosene. A record for the ages would win over new customers and push up profits taylor and his little Engineering Company took up the challenge. Ah, basically our job was to try to do so over city the land speed record and was up to them to take advantage of that. Its ryan promoted to the general of the new record attempt was a massive risk. When donald tests had the blue flame topping 1200 Kilometers Per Hour in the process of breaking the sound barrier. For the worst case scenario, the organizers had taken out Life Insurance for gab alleged worth over 100000. 00. 3210. 01. Ready . 300. 35400. Or with 5 . 5. 6. 650 . Yeah, we did it. Thats exactly how this idea was riding the bus. Ah, blue flame was timed at 622 miles or just over a 1000 Kilometers Per Hour. A speed eventually battered by a british team in 1983 and again in 1997 the 2nd time with the 1st ever supersonic land vehicle and a mark that stands to this day. But despite having only held the record for 13 years, blue flames moment of fame will for some always be the most memorable. Ah, jerry gab, alleged never got the chance to retake the record. He died in 1984 after a motorcycle accident. Ah, the never ending quest for speed has its heroes and its victims. Among them band holes a maya. The exact reasons for the fatal outcome of that run will likely remain a matter of speculation. Was it just the wind that swept him off the road in january . 1938 . Probably not. There were a range of other potential factors involved, Insufficient Development work and technical acumen and time pressure. All things that were kept quiet for quite a while. Diamond might have won the race for the record, but it was the out all noun driver who won the headlines and would feature, and most of the history books. The record sat by who doth corolla was ultimately reduced to a footnote. Oh, as for band hosemeier, was he really the indomitable driver and dare devil who threw caution to the wind on that fateful day . Impervious to any fear . Many observers have blamed the driver for his own death. At the hast thou regional archives in darmstadt, we found photos previously not seen by the public. One is a shawn of woes. Am i am minutes before that final journey with the look of a man who perhaps knew the fate that awaited him lu . [000 00 00;00] ah sweden, a nation rehearsing disaster survival training, full family with stock piling for emergencies. First aid course in sweden, fear of a russian invasion is rising. The population is at home to prepare for a christ freedoms prep close up in 30 minutes on d. W. Innovation. Bring it on. New ideas on conventions. What drive the economy . The engine that social programs do they really make our lives easier . And if this what our future will look like, oh, made in germany 90 minutes on d w. I. Were interested in the global economy. Our portfolio d w business. Beyond here, the closer look out the project, our mission to analyze the fight for market dominance, east versus west. Good. Instead with the w business beyond with. 2 ah, this is the w news coming to live from berlin. Europes heat wave moves east. The death toll is rising as wildfire spread. Many countries are recording their highest temperatures since records began to see what the governments and citizens are