Just a year before WWII, a 28 year old German driver named Bernd Rosemeyer crashed while driving over 260 miles per hour on a public road, killing him instantly. Just a few years earlier, Rosemeyer had been a humble mechanic, working at his dad’s garage. But now, he was part of a Hitler-funded racing program-- a violent effort to make Nazis the fastest drivers in the world. Today on Past Gas, the dark origins of Mercedes’ and Audi’s racing programs. How did these teams get started? What was their link to the Nazis? And why were some of the drivers not even Germans?
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Past Gas #236: The Rowdiest Family in F1 History
Past Gas #235: Datsun, Pt 2: Why Datsun Had To Die
Past Gas #234: Datsun, Pt 1: Why Nissan Created Datsun
Past Gas #233: Bathurst 1000: Australia’s Most Brutal Endurance Race
Past Gas #232: What Happened with SAAB? Pt 2
Past Gas #231: What Happened with SAAB? Pt 1
The Big Three #4: This Car Show is Banning Dodge Chargers
Past Gas #230: The Bugatti Queen: Sex, Drugs, & Racing in the Roaring 20s
The Big Three #3: Is Nissan Killing The GTR?
Past Gas #229: Mazda Pt 4: Mazda Pt 4: The First Japanese Car to Win Le Mans + 787B sounds
The Big Three #2: Dodge's Charger EV Video is Unhinged
Past Gas #228: Mazda Pt 3: The RX-7 & Mazdaspeed
The Big Three #1: Unpacking Tesla's Empty Promises
Past Gas #227: Mazda Pt 2: The Birth of the Rotary Engine
Past Gas #226: Mazda Pt 1: Mazda Used to be a Cork Factory
Past Gas #225: Macau GP - “Asia’s Monaco” is a Notoriously Dangerous Street Circuit
Past Gas #224: F1's Greatest Rivalries: Hamilton vs Rosberg (aka “The Silver War”)
Past Gas #223: The Mustang That Took Down Porsche
Past Gas #222: Cosworth Pt 2: WRC Rally & the Ford Escort RS Cosworth
Past Gas #221: Cosworth Pt 1: The Most Successful Engine Maker in F1 History
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