Nürburgring - Hermann Lang
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- čas přidán 28. 03. 2007
- In 1962 Hermann Lang came back to the Nürburgring to drive his Mercedes W125 Grand Prix car again. The 1937 Mercedes W125 Data: 8-Cylinder In-line 5,660 CC 646 bhp at 5,800 rpm (The most powerfull gp car ever built up until the late seventies)
- Auta a dopravní prostředky
To all the fools who do not understand the greatness of the car and the driver - Hermann Lang was one of the great drivers of the 1930s. The W125 was "the" most powerful car of the era. The era was dominated by the German car makers - Mercedes and Auto Union. These cars rang rings around the top cars from France, Italy and Britain! These guys had balls of steel, no helmet no seat- belts no roll cages and driving at 200 mph on skinny tires! They were the best of the best of their era. 600+ horsepower in 1930s is like having 2000 hp now - Insane! These cars were special not just for their power and technology but also their endurance, reliability and engineering that went into it. Its plain stupid to compare these legends to a modern car 80 years later and saying a 200 hp car will beat this.
@Querty Man - Well put. The almost total dominance of the German team headed by Neubauer was a model of perfection and efficiency. One notable exception to their achievements happened at the 1935 German Grand Prix where Mercedes and Auto Union were practically guaranteed a win. Tazio Nuvolari driving an outdated Alfa Romeo P3. Fully 200 + HP down on power from the Germans, Nuvolari's exceptional driving skills made up the difference and he came from behind to win the race. Not a bright day for the German team but they still dominated the mid to late thirties.
you sure about the 200mph ?
@Thibaud Prevot - I don't believe they raced at 200 mph but the power to weight ratio of these machines made them capable of that speed, that is before the tires blew out!
Tire technology was the big limitation back then. The engineering wizards had not yet been born that would advance carcass design and engineering along with the black art of rubber compound formulation that would allow for the ridiculous mechanical grip of today's race cars.
The other limitations were braking, aerodynamics and air flow management.
These four advancements would allow a reasonably talented driver to drive circles around those 600+hp car with a modern day 200+hp normally aspirated car even with Ascari or Fangio at the wheel.
This is not to take anything away from those old guys from that era. The drivers of today are athletes to a man no doubt, but they do not possess the stones to drive a W125, or a Auto Union at full song like the old masters did.
To illustrate the point, when Schumacher got to F1 and the rules were changed banning traction and launch control, he killed the field in the rain except for Karl Wendlinger who was the other driver from the Mercedes Group C program. Karl did not possess Schume's talents and capacity.
Those group C endurance cars did not have traction control. THAT was all down to the software connections between your brain, your ass and your right foot...and of course, a pair of adequately sized gonads. 😂
The other F1 pilots who were so dependent on traction control found that they had to relearn how to manage a 200hp car in the wet while Schumacher and Senna sailed off into the spray.
Loulovesspeed yeh funded by the nazis!!!
646hp is a serious wad of power by todays standards, so in the 1930s, this must have just been absolutely biblical. No question.Beautiful machine.
Saul Nunez and only a single one at that, Rosemeyer beinv the only one to be able to properly drive it... Nuvolaris Alfa came quite close too actually, only his though, far surperior driving to Lang, Caracciola and co.
just imagine this car on AVUS! In 1938, I believe that was with W154s, they set a track speed record of 380 km/h! Even today F1 cars don't go that fast and yet they did before WW2! This was utter madness
Rosemeyer drover for Auto-Union - and was faced with another set of conundra - mid-engine, and an unbalanced car. He alone was able not just to tame the car, but to dominate the 1936 season. Tragically, he lost his life in an LSR attempt in early 1938.
@@plazasta agree !!! i have AVUS and "Silberpfeil" on simracing and I'm freaking out in virtual reality !!
I read somewhere that in 1958, Mercedes Benz sent a W125 and a W154 to Oulton park circuit in the UK in a historic race there to be demonstrated by then F1 drivers Peter Collins (who would die later that year after crashing at the Nurburgring) and Tony Brooks.
After a few laps in the W125, Brooks pulled to the pits to report a vibration in the car. But the Mercedes mechanics just sent him back, telling him that there's nothing wrong with it and the vibration is caused by the rear wheels spinning even while the car's at speed.
Peter Collins, on the other hand, who had some experience driving a very powerful car since he drove the fearsome BRM V16 car, liked driving the W125, saying it was "much easier to drive than the BRM".
Thank God the driver remembered to wear his cloth helmet... imagine what would happen if he crashed without that crucial piece of protective gear on?
@Tom Smith And WW11
One of the most famous drivers of the 30s (the time that car's raced), a Frenchman named Philippe Etancelin, races wearing a cap worn backwards. British driver Peter Whitehead raced in the 30s without ANY headgear most of the time!
when those lads raced, a crash was certain death, helmet or not.
@@jcgabriel1569 The leather flying cap persisted into the 50s. Mike Hawthore would race in a cap and always a bow tie early on. Sterling Moss wore a horse riding helmet, although he didn't want to but his father made him promise to wear it. By the time Moss retired that style of helmet was commonplace.
Sarcasm, word of Sheldon Cooper
Fabulous watching Lang all the way around and the commentary by Graham Hill is sensational. What a great video!
Absolutely stunning - We can see here the original Nürburgring before the modification in the year 1970, when they eliminate most of the bumps and rough surface. Only the "Flugplatz" and "Pflanzgarten" survived as the true challenges....On this track, the by far greatest driver ever - JIM CLARK - drove incredible 8:04 min. in the Qualifiying of the 1967 German GP, which was 9 seconds faster than the second one on the grid....to hear Graham Hill explaining the lap is just amazing, a true legend like Lang and the "Silberpfeil". This film is a milestone here on youtube. No doubt.
Notice the positive camber on the skinny front tires.
pretty hard not to notice...
I'm guessing to lighten the steering but, could be due to a crown on public highways as some of thode old race tracks doubled as roads.
@@richardrichard5409 Must lighten steering but also increase understeer to allow nice four wheel drifts and pleasant handling without excessive apparent oversteer. I think I'd soon die driving this car
I got nothing but respect for those who drove these cars at the nurb!
600+ horsepower, drum brakes all around, zero power assist on anything... Betcha that thing's a bit of a handful.
Check out the diameter of the steering wheel!
This little documentary is an historical gem.
For those who dont realise, these 1930s car where considered the fastest grand prix car ever until the late 1970s, early 1980s when turbo came in.
Some of the Mercedes/auto union had record top speed run that would beat modern F1. Im talking about more than 400km/h (432.7km/h) for the streamline version on long straight.
Alfred Neubauer at the end? Bloddy amazing.
WoW!
Thank you so much for sharing this.
Respect to Hermam Lang and the Silver Arrows, but Graham Hill is my personal hero. A true racer and a gentleman. It is wonderful to hear his voice describing how he would drive some of a lap of the greatest race circuit.
I still miss him.
@YukiNekoPrincess
Also the 1937 cars were the last using the 750kg formula, which didn't include the 200 liters of fuel, water and oil (which added another 200kg) and the driver himself adding at least 70kg. That was a 1 ton car on skinny tires and bad brakes(compared to the 1962 standard).The 1962 F1 cars only weighed 450kg, which meant they accelerated very fast even with 190hp.Power to weight ratio accounts for a lot too. Light cars are faster than heavy cars in tight corners.Simple physics
Arthur: The Mercedes W one... two... five!
Knight: Three, sir!
Arthur: Three!
+Borsófőzelék Piskótakockával Excellent!
Just "driving" this circuit in a video game blew my mind. How anyone could master it in real life is beyond me. It's so long with some many turns, it had to be physically draining as well.
Great video! Great to see these old Nürburgring footage. And no armco, an exit meant a long journey into the meadows or the woods. For todays standard unbelievable :)
Oh hello, surprised to meet you here :) anyway, I showed this to my father and he couldn't believe this was 1962... very high quality video
Hecke auf - Hecke zu. :-)
Hermann just celebrated his 80ies this weekend!
Very nice man!
Yes , Drift was always a high speed Motor racing term when a car was sliding on 4 wheels , sliding with understeer and oversteer therefore all four wheels sliding at high speed about 150 Plus mph high speed
, unlike the Latest Sport of powersliding with rear wheel drive at low speed and fun .
I was there at the German Grand Prix in 1962, and watched Hermann Lang do his lap.
Really; amazing. Incredible how those guys worked in the 30s. Another era of the tecnology, of the races. Amazing.
The front wheels are set at a positive camber to put the tyre contact patch directly under a line which leads through the steering kingpin of the suspension. This allows the steering to be easier to operate so less strength needed over the very long races they had then. Same reason for the large steering wheel - no power steering then alas.
This was common in early cars, hence the reason for the "positive camber" convention. Every road and racing car these days uses "negative camber" but it's too late to change it!
The GREAT DAYS! Skinny tyres, clothe overalls and flying helmets, but above all those mighty engines. Remember Nuvolai beating the Mercs at the 'Ring driving his outdated Alfa in the rain. He slapped the side of his car shouting "Corre! Corre!" to make it go faster. Legendary drivers, cars and circuits. A true "Golden Age."
+Clive Davies Well, not remember, read about and wonder about such a pioneering driver like Tazio would have been like for the spectators, if not his fellow competitors. From a part of a story line about Enzo Ferrari and his racing days, he was trying to emulate Tazios style and cornering ability, realising what it would take to do at the same consistency as Tazio, it left no doubt he would focus on managing the makings of racing cars and the pilots that drove them.
Tazio has been my hero since l bought some Giulietta Spiders back in the 70s (long rusted away). He was one of the very greatest of all times - "Brakes only slow you down!" At the time it was said "lf Nuvolari's car is 10mph slower than the others he will win, if 20 mph slower he will probably win, if 30mph slower he may win!" A slight exaggeration perhaps, but what a man!
lts sad we only have a few flickering images of him driving that Auto Union at Donnington, the smell, the engine howl, the squealing tyres, the speed....
l've heard it said Ferrari spent the rest of his life trying to find a driver to match Tazio for his cars - the nearest he came was Gilles Villeneuve, RIP Great Men. All the Best to you Justin
Thank you Clive..
Well, best sums up my admiration of all drivers and sportsman alike of all time, when I gave my gave my son .,,, Tazio as one of his two middle names.
+justinhunold Hi Justin, the reverse is also true, Jarno Trulli was named after the road racing Finn Jarno Saarinian, killed in a shocking and wholly avoidable accident at Monza in the early 1970s.
But sadly, it was all black and white back then. Quite depressing world
To race these (and later) grand prix cars at this place you had to be crazy. Its no wonder Jackie Stewart waved goodbye to his house every time he left to go racing at the Ring. He never knew if he was coming back.
The length of Hill's accident in 62 was astonishing. Consider that he's out of control only feet from tree's at around 130mph.
Race drivers definitely had balls way back when.....
All the people complaining about how slow he is driving don't understand that when this was filmed parts of the north loop were still a public road. Considering the pedestrians and bicycle I'd say they were filming this on a non race weekend. Hence he was taking it easy not trying to destroy a vintage auto or any passers by.
It never a public road The Nürburgring was only build for testing racecars!
Touch the hedge with your wheel. Your not going to hear that from a current GP driver lol.
Stuck said that you were too slow when you came back with your mirrors still mounted :-D
@@vanomaden I have an old Motor Sport magazine with an iconic picture on the cover, Stuck jr in a BMW 3 litre csl, he must be about a metre off the ground at the Ring.
Amazing historic footage, so beautiful. And the legendary Graham Hill narrating.
Unmistakeable voice - that's Graham. Absolutely no doubt about it.
Gorgeous sound of the straight 8
Legendary car, legendary driver, legendary circuit. PERIOD !
Words can not describe how beautiful this is!
Just the best thing I've ever seen on CZcams or anywhere else. Amazing - many thanks. Got any more like this? Jim Clark talking us round Spa while Fangio does a lap in a 250F?
nice video even if there´s missing a part of the track. its awsome to see how the track looked in the past.
This is a terrific video . So glad the film was made and preserved.
What a wonderful find this is, great upload!
Great video, amazing seeing how different the track looked 50 years ago. Shame it skips in places really. What with the completely different look of the circuit it can be hard enough trying to work out which section you're looking at.
Wonderful, a lost era of motor racing
The helmet is to protect against wasps and bugs. In any crash, death would not be prevented by even a modern helmet with hans etc. a slight increase in protection if seat belt is not used to get the driver far away fom any burining vehicle.
No mention in the blurb though of the running commentary by the great British driver Graham Hill. It's worth viewing just to listen to that.
Graham Hill was one of the true greats, may he rest in peace. Timothy Brise was a school friend of mine who's brother was also killed in the plane with Graham when it crashed, a young racing promise called Tony Brise
Fantastic video of an historical lap around the Nurburgring. Great color also.
Jesus, that track is scary.
Much respect to the men who raced, won, and died there.
What viewers need to realise is that to get the film from the car the rear bodywork was removed, a chair was strapped over the oil tank and then Bill Mason (father of Pink Floyd drummer Nick) was then strapped to this with a large and heavy film camera! Pretty brave!
What a fabulous imagery ... Mr. Lang taming the growling beast in cloth helmet his own nose in the wind like a charging dragon .. glad to see he eventually slipped on his gloves along the way . being accompanied by who I consider the nucleus of his era Graham Hill 🌹
Superb...It's interesting to see the differences when compared to the 'ring nowadays.
W_125 ,; Maybe the Greatest Race Car Mercedes Ever Built .I ve been in love with it since ,I saw article in ,",Automobile Quarterly "in ,1968? ,Which was a good Era ,Itself !
Incredible race car! Mercedes Benz and Auto Union Silver Arrows were amazing
Uhlenhaut's first great design at the age of 31! The tires were racing Continentals and you have to remember that the first doughnut tires did not appear until Dunlop's 1964 low profile design, new technology allowed them to reduce the height of the sidewall and widen the tread with no loss of durability, heat / tread separation was the great danger of racing tires in the 30s to the 50s.
Not many cars can truly be descibed as awe inspiring, but this does.
Again, a very awesome ride around. That car is amazing. You sure could get white knuckles with it. True driving& with out them damn computers. Outstanding guys-thank you so very much!
Not only white knuckles, bloody red palms as well
Thanks for posting, that was awesome!
I couldn't believe how close Lang was brushing some of the hedges in that, what a cool video. Good to see the old drivers that are still good drivers.
The camera equipment for onboard must have been quite unwieldly and who knows if they could even review the film on the spot. Otherwise I'll bet there would have been more in car footage. Looked like the camera got shaken up pretty bad at first, but by the end of the lap was pretty decent.
I'm a big fan of the era.
It's awesome to hear that the old Mercedes W125 from 1937 does sound a lot like its indirect precessor, the Mercedes SLS AMG.
Perfect race line by the driver.
Awesome vid and amazing footage!
excellent!!!!!!
thanks for posting this piece of history
Awesome footage, how different the track looks then and now.
The "narrator" was one of the greatest racing drivers of all time, Graham Hill. The many dangers inherent in motor racing, up until Jackie Stewart insisted on safety measures, illustrates what a truly legendary driver Sir Stirling Moss was. After Ferrari made the costly mistake of not using Stirling, when he had travelled to Italy for talks, Mercedes soon hired him.
Graham Hill's quite character. My favourite quote from him actually sums up my view of what motor racing is and also of what should be everyone's attitude about motor racing;
"While I had been a racing driver I had often said to audiences during speeches and talks: 'You know the risks, you accept them. If a man can't look at danger and still go on, man has stopped living. If the worst ever happens - then it means simply that I've been asked to pay the bill for the happiness of my life - without a moment's regret.'"
I read somewhere that the onboard footage was taken using a W125 with the tail section removed. In its place, they bolted on a sort of box-shaped fuel tank, above it they mounted a platform with another seat for the cameraman!
Galaxy mechanical historical machine, tks for post Lars
oh man this videos is just awesome look that onboard camera, and the cicuit nurburgring :) is one of the best, one day i will be there
Epic, - great to see.... WHAT a car too....!!!!
Commentary by Graham Hill I think.
Very nice video!! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for Sharing
It's fun to note how the 1962 pole time on Nurburgring was 8:47.2 for Dan Gurney's Porsche, compared to the 1937 pole time, 9:46,2 for Rosemeyer's Auto Union.
Especially since the Porsche had a 1,5 litre engine compared to the 6,0 litre supercharged Auto Union V16. The Porsche 904 had 190hp compared to the 520hp of the Auto Union.
That is 25 years of rapid development people. The "quarter of the displacement" Grand Prix cars of 1962 would have made easy work of the 1937 monsters.
Thank Colin C for that - the greatest genius in the history of grand prix engineering...
The Ferrary didn't existed at that time!
It's astonishing the power of this mechanical jewel: 645 cv at the 30'!!!
Great engineers and crazy pilots, driving with those cars and roads!
@Bloodgod40 I guess if they had the technology, they would have made wider tires. Thin tires were the rule at that time. It may not have occurred to designers that wider tires were an option. There might have been a general opinion that wide tires would generate too much friction and drag at speed. Thinner tires were definitely an advantage at high speeds, but not when cornering. Note that most high speed cars at Bonneville have thin tires, especially on the front wheels.
I love how the narrator calmly states "The car will leave the ground here".....WTH? Nowadays if your F1 car "Leaves the ground" it's a wreck in progress and you're on your way to the hospital. These cars "left the ground" twice...Each lap...For the duration of the race. Driver looks to be wearing some type of cloth "helmet", overalls, work gloves and no seat belt that I can see....Human beings were far, far crazier back then.
Max Speedster
Well the speeds were lower then. Especially cornering speeds... Like 100 km/h slower. But yeah, these guys could really drive a car. Nowadays it's a little more like trying to get a human to control electricity by opening and closing a switch just as the current is "flowing" (potential for flow is at it's highest point) into the switch. Cornering just isn't really approached the same way with the new downforce cars.
Is it graham hill narrating?
lol what about when he talks about the holes in the hedges from cars leaving the circuit...lmaoo...hes super calm about that too
Actually a couple of years later cars left the ground 13 times each lap lol
Yes, it is.
Wonderful to see that narrow straight! It's so wide now.
Insane that they raced here. And very cool.!
A good video in all, would have liked to hear more full throttle engine noise, but it's still good. Interesting voice over from Hill. And I was really amused to the great Alfred Neaubaur, the large man in the overcoat and hat, Mercedes Benz racing team manager from 1926 to 1955 to show up in a cameo at the end to pretend to berate Lang about his lap time.
I watched this and enjoyed it, but not knowing much about the W125. I then went on to watch many races and videos from this era and recognised Alfred Neaubaur in the videos. Coming back to this and seeing him exasperated at the lap time is charming and great humour. Thank you for completing the story with your comment, it's a delightful detail.
Remarkable footage.
Amazing footage!
Richtig abgefahren!
Fantastic, first time I've seen this
Amazing, thanks for uploading. I love that track and know the corners a little bit. Going around in such a car at these speeds is unbelievable. What I find astonishing is that they were even able to stop the car with the breaking systems they had at hand. Also interesting to hear all the places they were airborne.
If Lang had been able to know what that car would be worth 45 years later, he would have been terrified of running the risk of piling it up!
As part of History, I hope this video will forever stay available :) Thx to wippermann ;)
thanks to rise this excellent documental.
Great vid, if you enjoy looking at the nose of the car and the asphalt for 10 feet in front of it. He could be driving in the street on front of my house, for all I can tell. Would have liked to see more shots where you can actually see the track ahead. Commentary is stellar, however!
Bravery is not enough of a description....
How they can drive soo fast on track like commercial road? I´m bowing down for their courage!!!
simply GREAT!!
skipped the bergwerks - my favorite kurve !
I love your culture Germany, don't ever loose it.
i love Germany to
Sadly most Germans today don't even know what German culture is or they just don't appreciate it at all. They will definitely miss it when it's gone for good. But at least we will always have these videos that remind us of these very different times
where can i see more videos like this...its incredible
You'll know that the driver really is an "old world" racing driver as I would like to call them, at 7:11 look how close those wheels are to the hedgerows, just for the sake of getting the perfect racing line. In period, Legends like Nuvolari would whittle away bales, sandbags, and hedges using the car's wheels during the race!
It is noted that in the long final stretch Lang got tired of posing for the cameras and stepped on the accelerator fully; the image (that is, the camera) shakes with the maximum power
Think about the fact that this power was mounted on what was basically a coach. Rubber, Wheelsize, Suspension and brakes were a joke compared to that power unit on board. And on top of that there was no crumpling zone basically ANY safety feature. All in all, in case of a crash you were most likely better off getting thrown out of the seat. Complete Insanity. Fascinating pioneers, but still insane.
What a sound!!!
very interesting and exciting video! Otherwise, the classic F1 was a lot better than now, I think..
Interesting to hear the term "drift" being used at 6:21. People have obviously been sliding cars around for a long time but I didnt realize the terminology went all the way back to the 60's.
Way before the 60's
The 4 wheel drift was developed over the years by drivers who had to contend with flexing chassis, flexing wheels, cart suspensions - leaf springs, friction dampers, - and narrow tyres. A drift would allow them to line up the cars without having to use the brakes. This style of cornering was in use in GP racing in 1959. Watch old footage of the Maserati 250F anvd its contemporaries.Sir Jack Brabham, who raced on dirt tracks, before going to Europe, where the drift is a good technique, used to drift his Cooper GP car in 1959. He won his first World Championship in 1959 so the technique had its uses. Better suspensions in the 60s meant that it became a wasteful way to drive. 50 years ago I had access to the books written by the protagonists of those times. I wish I had them now for there was an excitement in thr writing that one doesn't get now.
Juan Manuel Fangio was also very good at drifting the cars around the corner. He learnt the technique dirt racing in South America, wonderful driver.
The book on the racing life of Fangio makes for interesting reading.
AMAZING!!
Too bad footage was lost between Adenau and the Caroussell. My local library had a pictue book of european racing that I read when I was 12... about 30 years ago... the pictures of the green hell left a huge impression on me. ..like a fairy tail of racing
Tolle Onboard Aufnahmen ;)
How can you not like this?
No roll bars, no seat belt or schoulder belts and running on really narrow skinny tires. No retaining walls and very narrow! You need more nerve than sense! Wow, how great was that?!
Nürburgring Herman Lang German 15 year ago, 30 Mar,2007 9:43 and Norway in 2004..
the Nururgring looks like the back roads near my town.
At 9:20, Alfred can be seen mumbling "nein , nein, nein,,,,,, too slow,,,,, vo isht mein Italian driver???"
there is a big part missing beetween exmühle and the karussel
excellent footage, can anybody explain to me, why are the front wheels set to a positive camber?
bad, they did not film onboard for an entire lap :(
8:44 Is that a bycicle at the right, he just sad it's a very very tricky corner 👍🏻
+Arex yes it is. If you freeze the video at the right time you can see it. Well noted, I didn't noticed it.