Auto-Union 1937!
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3h89rc7HJ0&NR=1

Check out the rear diffuser on the record car...circa 1937!

There were a lot of neat streamlined cars developed in Germany in the late 1930's as a result of the construction of the Autobahn system. Having a road system that could handle much higher speeds than the typical car of the day could produce led to a lot of innovations in drag reduction.

Indeed! Wunibald Kamm did most of his road testing on the Autobahn as did the good folks from the Porsche outfit. I have to tip my hat to Bernd Rosemeyer though,
Bernd Rosemeyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
who crashed fatally at 270mph...there is a memorial to him alongside the Autobahn. Contrary to most people's perception, the Autobahn is not even as wide as the average interstate, only two lanes per side. I have only driven it in "affordable" rental cars of small displacement. 270mph boggles my mind. The "Silver Arrows" were beautiful and decades ahead of their time.

I saw a show on the autobahn, I think it was Modern Marvels, and that dude that went 270. Thats wicked fast.

The autobahn actually has lower fatal crashes than US roads, mostly because the cars are built to crash on it, and they use double railing, refinish the road frequently, and drive totally differntly than here in the US of A.

Of course, I'm only taking this from the top of my head of what I could remember. I saw it like, 2-3 years ago. :D

The autobahn is more gently curved and sloped to make it much easier to go fast IMHO. I've often been passed by smart cars like I was standing still over there. Back in the early eightees our tour bus was passed by a Lamborghini Countach so fast that all I heard was a giant sucking sound. We were going about 70mph in the bus.

Montana's fatality rate was on average lower before they reinstated a speed limit...

So speed limits primary use is to conserve fuel (very uneffective) and generate revenue (very effective)

crash
 

Alex Tremulis(Tucker Torpedo,Styling Chief-Ford Motor,Subaru 100-mpg X-100),did a piece on the crash many years ago.The aluminum sheetmetal used to form the car's body was a thinner wall section than was specified by Jaray.It is believed that the sheetmetal actually deformed under aerodynamic loading,causing asymetrical yawing moments that Rosemeyer could not overcome,leading to the fatal crash.------------ When I was at Bonneville,oil got onto the headers of Ed Tradeup's"Danny Boy" streamliner when he was in 300-mph territory.Ed couldn't see because of smoke in the cockpit,he veered right,hit a timing light which took out some of the right side of the car's body.The asymetric pressure caused yawing,then when the car got completely sideways,it lifted off.Ed couldn't see what was happening and couldn't get the parachutes out fast enough to keep the car straight and on the ground.Ed walked away okay,car was pretty trashed.Those speeds are serious.

Just got one of these to use as inspiration while building AeroMetro.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...recordcar-.jpg

What a beautiful inspiration! Aerodynamic vehicles age well...especially those from the "Silver Arrows" era.