Heads up!

It's definitely worth restoring. It has some beautiful lines.

best camera man ever.. pans away from the actual crash to follow the flying engine into the grandstands. i woulda done the same thing

"Tell you'll what; we'll have James May race it against the Stig driving a mini-Cooper that's on fire along with Hammond on a Ducati Desmosedici RR with half the bolts taken off each tire."

I will buy it and call it Christine.

TwistedIvory: Yeah, Mercedes has a history of that. . .

Bravo. Webber likes to do backflips.

There's a good show that BBC did on the '55 Le Mans race called "The Deadliest Crash." Worthwhile finding.

Shanna, they bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say, let 'em crash.

Does it still have blood a charred human tissue on it?

If it doesn't it's worth a lot less.

Makes you wonder what happened to the Mercedes that did the actual slaughter.

This video has several different shots, slowed down so you can really see what happens. It looks like the chassis of the Mercedes barrel rolled over the crowd. Pretty horrifying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEk85gKJN6kk

Satanic_Hamster: "Tell you'll what; we'll have James May race it against the Stig driving a mini-Cooper that's on fire along with Hammond on a Ducati Desmosedici RR with half the bolts taken off each tire."

I'd watch that.

I remember reading about that crash when I was a kid. The Mercedes had an engine made of magnesium that detonated like a bomb in the crowd. One line in that book is burned into my memory "little kids that had been decapitated but still holding their ice-cream cones"

They finished the race after that? Very different times.

moike:
I'd say that Rally has to hold the crown when it comes to spectator deaths. I have yet to be flying around a roadcourse and see fans standing on the candy stripes when I'm going for an apex.

That's part of why I prefer touring cars to rally racing. I just can't watch people standing in the racing line while the car comes barreling towards them at 80 mph. on gravel.



They finished the Italian Grand Prix after Senna died, and finished the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix after a fatal crash on the start line. They started the races after Ratzenberger and Villeneuve died in qualifying. 1960 Belgian Grand Prix claimed 2 drivers during the race, and one accident during qualifying was still touch and go for the driver, and it was finished. There have been very few top-tier races that were stopped because of a deadly crash. True, 1955 Le Mans involved more than just drivers or officials, but that's happened a few times after 1955 as well.

downstairs Ok, I didn't know that. None too recently though? I've only been following since 2005... but I do enjoy reading about its history. Guess that part escaped me.

Meh, read up on the vintage board track racing-back then AAA was the governing body, pure bloodbaths-the first Indy 500 was a Roman Chariot race now

ROBO-Jesus: This video has several different shots, slowed down so you can really see what happens. It looks like the chassis of the Mercedes barrel rolled over the crowd. Pretty horrifying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEk85gKJN6kk

The head on shot ending with a melted frame is especially chilling.

Pumpernickel bread: They finished the race after that? Very different times.

Mercedes pulled it's other cars out of the race and subsequently withdrew from racing for the next 25 years.

pete1729: Pumpernickel bread: They finished the race after that? Very different times.

Mercedes pulled it's other cars out of the race and subsequently withdrew from racing for the next 25 years.

As did Jaguar.

Mishno: pete1729: Pumpernickel bread: They finished the race after that? Very different times.

Mercedes pulled it's other cars out of the race and subsequently withdrew from racing for the next 25 years.

As did Jaguar.

Admittedly, the Jaguar was leaking oil and withdrew because it needed maintenance.

You can see the driver fly through the air and land on the wall, then flop to the roadway and bounce. Check the 1:10 mark around the "VE" in "VEEDOL" sign on the wall.

The co-driver of the Mercedes, John Fitch ,is still kicking at 94. He went on to invent many safety devices still used in racing, like the crash walls at Nascar races, I believe. I have a Corvair he built back in 1965. I guess I better get on the ball if I want to send him a pic. of it to sign..

/not mine, but just like it

In situations like this there is a very good reason to keep the race going. If you stop the race all the remaining spectators leave. The resulting traffic makes it very difficult to get the wounded out.

Ya know i wonder if it's haunted

Pumpernickel bread: They finished the race after that? Very different times.

No, they'd finish the race today as well.

The main reason is that they don't want the 500.000 spectators to leave, clogging up the roads when there's a need for ambulances.