The deadliest accident in motorsport history
The History Guy remembers the 1955 Le Mans Disaster in France, the deadliest accident in motorsport history.
The History Guy uses images that are in the Public Domain. As photos of actual events are sometimes not available, I will often use photographs of similar events and objects for illustration.
The episode discusses a fatal accident, the story may be disturbing to some viewers. No graphic photographs of the accident are shown.
Facebook: / thehistoryguyyt
Patreon: / thehistoryguy
The History Guy: Five Minutes of History is the place to find short snippets of forgotten history from five to fifteen minutes long. If you like history too, this is the channel for you.
Subscribe for more forgotten history: / @thehistoryguychannel .
Awesome The History Guy merchandise is available at:
teespring.com/stores/the-hist...
The episode is intended for educational purposes. All events are presented within historical context.
#history #thehistoryguy #LeMans
I am an American. I humbly apologize if all my European pronunciations are not correct.
Never apologize for being American!! 😋
Have done a story on the little know Peshtigo fire that occurred at the same time as the great Chicago fire? As a retired firefighter a little know fact from the great Chicago Fire when help from other cities arrived to help with the Chicago fire none of the assisting fire dept. Could cooperate with the other departments because of the different threads on the fire hoses, the great Chicago fire brought about a National Standard thread for all fire departments
Arlie Austin kzhead.info/sun/dpiwmZudmYF_iqs/bejne.html
We saved their asses a few times last century. Let them change their languages.
The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered you did very well,
this video brings back a flood of memories. My father was in the military and our family was living in Wiesbaden Germany in the mid-fifties. My father had taken my brother and me to the 1954 Le Mans race and we were back in the stands for the 1955 race. We were sitting directly above the pit area but further up in the stands. I can still close my eyes and see the fire, smoke and bodies and hear the cries and screams of people all around us. We never attended another race at LeMans although we visited the track two years later. It was a very sad day indeed.
wow, unbelievable. how old were you at the time?
Nah.
@@CatchiestWorm12 For them to remember if they were actually there, at the very very youngest six. That would put them basically in their mid 70's now.
Also worth remembering are the improvements in road safety designed by John Fitch, Levegh's co-driver. Fitch Barriers (basically plastic bins filled with sand), as seen on many US highways, are credited with saving at least 17,000 lives since their introduction in the late 60's...
Fitch Barriers, aka BFBs ("Big Fricken Barrels") and its brother, the FUMS, work by ATTENUATING impact, over a very short distance and span of time, rather than being an immovable barrier. The sand, ash, salt pr water in the bins absorb energy as the BFB contents are being slammed into motion..
Imagine how many more unaccounted
Sad to see no mention of how this affected the MB codriver, John Fitch’s life. He went on after this to be an advocate for motorsport racing. He directly had a hand in designing in safety to Limerock in CT, and also designed those cute yellow “Fitch Barriers” full of sand or water at dangerous places to absorb speed. These barriers are usually placed at offramps. Jack Ryan’s wife crashed jnto these with her 911 in Patriot Games. Great video.
Thank you for sharing this!
It's a 10 minute lesson, not a PhD dissertation.
@@kennethcurtis1856 ok
there are other videos about the crash of '55, the first video to introduce me to this event was the animated short.
These days there is endless content to be enjoyed. But the thrill of your good story telling skills keeps me coming back as one of my favorite youtube channels. Thank you History Guy for traditional good stories.
His description brought tears to my eyes even this many years on and the fact I wasn't born for another 10 years. I do think it's unfair to blame Mike Hawthorn; it wasn't his fault he was called in and nor his fault the car behind didn't have disk brakes as he did. Racing was dangerous back then; and even in the 70's and early 80's I don't think a year went by without a driver or drivers being killed at Le Mans. But each accident no matter how sad had made the sport and the cars we drive today that much safer. So their sacrifice is not in vane.
Later ,Juan Manuel Fangio said about Pierre Levegh rasing his hand to warn him; "It was like he was waving goodbye"
Levegh was a very experience, and incredibly intelligent, racing driver. Like a number of other great drivers he had the innate ability to read what was happening ahead of him and therefore avoid being involved in someone else's problem. There's little doubt that he knew, but for a miracle, he was going to die but his primary instinct was to warn the vehicles behind to avoid the inevitable crash being worse, which, with other vehicles, mostly lapped traffic, close behind him was a huge risk. This could easily have resulted in multiple vehicles going into the crowd so, as bad as this was, Pierre undoubtedly saved far more lives than this crash ended...
@@gosportjamie very well put
UScarsinSweden, I heard this story also.
if you do a search,the disaster was caught on film.
@@Mercmad Here: kzhead.info/sun/pLRteriQeZufhGw/bejne.html
You remind me of my eighth grade history teacher from forty years ago. He used to lecture with he same kind of energy that you have. He made history both interesting and exciting just like you do.
A R I totally agree! 👍 He reminds me of a History Professor I had in College
A R history isn’t boring, it’s all in presentation and what events you choose
I have heard tell that mostly history is made boring due to "controversy". I like it warts and all.
Mr Anthony in high school 35 years ago. He liked to be call “Mad Anthony” lol He’s probably long past by now. Rest in piece my favourite teacher ever
I had the great pleasure of being taught in the 70's by a teacher by name of Mr Jackson who made history lessons both exiting and interesting. On one occasion, he entered the classroom. With his usual phrase, "be seated scholars," perched himself upon the front of his desk, lit his pipe,(as usual,) threw the match in the waste bin and 'WHOOSH a surge if flame. A class of shocked students then had a masterclass of theatre when he pointed his pipe at us and commenced; "The great fire of London started....... " whilst the bin burned away merrily." He regularly staged battles with pupils fighting with wooden rulers as swords and we once raided the adjacent classroom on a viking raid, pillaging as we went. At age 11 this was fun. He is the man who fired my interest in history. He taught with a passion for his subject, the same as I sense in you sir.
Being a huge racing fan I’ve known of this tragedy and you did a fine job telling it. Thank you for keeping stories alive with your concise and factual episodes.
He's so much better than most KZheadrs, who go way too long and state a lot of incorrect information. I saw a video about the history of Porsche the other day that had more wrong information in it than correct information!
You did an excellent job of conveying the drama without depending upon a moment of newsreel footage of the carnage.
The carnage was horrific, it takes a strong stomach to view it.
While living in Germany in the late 50's and early 60's I actually saw one of the Mercedes 300SLR vehicles, and instantly and eternally fell in love with it. To this day I still feel it is the car I would most dearly love to own.
Yes, especially the one with the race number 722-the car driven by the late Sir Sterling Moss to win the 1955 Mille Miglia race. Although having the street version driven by Mercedes race team manager Rudolph Uhlenhaut for his personal use would be nice, too.
It was one of the most truly beautiful automobiles of all time. I very much understand.
@@PaulZink - I am fortunate to own both of those fine cars - in 1:18 scale diecast made by CMC Models of Germany. If you are not familiar with the brand, they are high end, extremely detailed pre painted and built from more than 1,500 individual parts! I had Stirling sign #722 for me as well as a re print of the 1955 Mille Miglia poster, "Overwhelming Victory of Mercedes Benz." I had John Fitch sign the poster also, as he won the Standard Sports Class in a 300 SL, and Stirling of course won the Sports Racing Class in the 300 SLR. The poster and the car are two of my most prized motor racing artifacts, particularly since both men have passed on. They are gone, but my memories are vivid about conversations with both of these men at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut. RIP John and Stirling.
Mercedes sold one of them (an SLR) recently to the public, making it the most expensive car publicly sold thus far (over $125 million)... the money will go to charity.
@@rsr789 - It sold for $143 million and the proceeds went to a scholarship foundation for engineers. The buyer remained anonymous.
Frenchmen here, history degree too, my father is a big fan of F1 and Le Mans is mythical in motorsport, but i never even heard about this accident. Thanks for all your work, i love the whole channel. So many out of mainstream history topic, its so refreshing.
Love the way you tell history, it's so energizing and pulls you in, my mind was in a total "dreamscape" listening to you tell of this unfortunate event.
This channel deserves more subs!
Lol, actually... I'm one of your subs.
It's an awesome channel just not that many history hounds
*Bow ties are cool!* - Doctor Who.
They need to keep putting it in the "suggested for you" feed... that's how I found it yesterday. Let's face it, KZhead can really contribute greatly to the success of a channel by putting it in the suggested for you category. We need more intelligent channels like this instead of the drivel, pablum , morons , narcissists, garbage , and insanity that's out there .
He got another sub, Interesting and well put together, a rare thing on You Tube.
a person complained to Gaston Chevrolet(ca. 1910)about the quality of automobile braking systems,,,,,,,,,,, Gaston's response was,,,,,, "I make them go, I do not make them stop".
jeffrey mcfadden Enzo Ferrari quoted him when jaguar brought disc brakes le mans
I'm fairly certain that the quote belongs to Gaston's older brother Louis, who was the engineer behind the Frontenac and Monroe racing cars and the original Chevrolet street car...which was NOT part of GM. GM was the brainchild of Bill Durant, who bought out David Buick and Ransom Olds' names and companies and then pretty much forced Louis out, leaving his name behind too. Gaston was killed at the Beverly Hills board track not long after he won the Indy 500 in 1920; Louis began manufacturing racing parts, including the famous Fronty (Frontenac) DOHC head that bolted onto a Model T engine and almost doubled its horsepower. But don't accuse the Chevrolet brothers of any involvement in GM, Branon; that happened after they were gone. The original Chevrolet road car was a fabulous machine, I think the first production car with a V-8 engine; it only became a mass-produced car meant to challenge Ford after Durant took it over.
"Good brakes encourage bad driving"
And bad brakes encourage DEAD driving!
And GM cars just shut off when a bump is hit in the road.
The concept of your show Being 15 minutes long or shorter is sheer genious.Enough time to build interest yet short enough to not lose interest.
Thank you again for an interesting video. Thanks also for not showing the horrific pictures of the crash. I like that you use metric units too make it understandable to the rest of the world.
You guys never cease to pique my interest! Your love of history and writing abilities are both above par! Salute to you and condolences to all the souls who perished that day.
Mercedes retired from motor racing after this tragedy. They didn't participate again until 1989.
When they won again, in the 1989 Le Mans. I was there as a teenager to watch them, although I was cheering on the Jaguars.
I used to live in Le Mans and go to the 24h. It's really an incredible race, so very interesting to watch, and to race for the pilots. When you go there, you immediately see that this isn't a regular track. The accident is not forgotten there. There is a monument in memory of the dead and everything is very secured now.
Well spoken, articulated and told. You do history the justice it deserves, sir.
The accident is something that myself a racing fan has been aware of since my youth. You did an admirable job of describing it.
Thanks for a great description of this tragic moment. I’ve heard the story before, and seen the film (ugh!), and you did great job of summarizing it all.👍
I love how absolutely in depth you go on your subjects. If I were to do the same thing, I would have simply explained the incident and investigation, but you went back to the start of the Le Mans tradition, and explaining everything about the cars yet still staying on track. Extremely impressed with your love for the work.
I love how eclectic your bits of history are. From LeMans to airships, warships to individuals. Kudos sir.
I wish my father was still alive. He would enjoy watching your channel with me. You are one my favorites. Top 5 for sure.
Really glad to see your channel taking off. You're doing a service to the Internet. Thanks much!
83 dead and 120 injured? Jesus how have I never heard of this? That’s insane.
Snap
As a avid watcher of your video’s who also happens to be a professional race car fabricator for the past 40+ years you finally brought my two loves together in one video, unfortunately it’s about the one disaster that not many know about and in all honesty should have and could have been avoided but that’s what happens when ego gets in the way of reality!
I appreciate how these episodes share a developed backstory. Another excellent episode.
You were absolutely correct. This accident was not known by me nor any of my many racing- fan friends. Well done.
That you for covering this forgotten terrible accident. I cannot even imagine being in the crowd witnessing something like this, and just how many people died later from their injuries given that era's patient care.
History is interesting, but the way you tell it makes it fun and entertaining......thank you, keep up the great work.
Brilliant work sir, I remember researching this many years ago and was truly surprised by the impact it had on racing. Great job telling a very challenging story. Matching safety with the speeds these cars achieve has, and always will be, a deicate balance.
The chain reaction was caused when Hawthorn pulled in front of the Healey then slowed down to pit. Everything else was a result of this action. Sadly
Hi I really like your videos, the up beat balanced and respectful way you cover interesting but obscure events cheers me up.
The first of your videos that I've watched, instant sub! The production quality is very high but what really hooked me was your enthusiasm. Going to go binge more of these treasures, thank you very much.
Thank you for doing an episode on this racing accident. You are right not many people remember this bit of history. I myself only read about it when I was in my 20's. It is history that should be remebered as is all history. Love the channel and keep up the great work.
Excellent presentation...indeed , tragedies such as the one at the 1955 Lemans need to be remembered...spectators at racing events need to know the potential dangers.
Excellent coverage of this most famous endurance race ! The tragedy is ingrained on my memory, even though I wasn't born until 2 years later, The reason being , this motor race was often mentioned during conversations at home, and history lessons at school, Being from a sporting family, Motor racing was never far from the dinner table.
Thank you very much for what you do! I have only come across your videos very recently, while being stuck home from work with a bad cold. I CANNOT wait to see what gets covered next! Not only have I gained knowledge I didn't have before, but I've even learned new things about subjects I already considered myself well-versed in! You're able to mix the entertainment and the educational materials so beautifully, you'd almost not know you were learning something! Well done, sir! PLEASE continue your amazing work!
The lava lamp is awesome , peace, love dove ,I truly do appreciate all of your studio collectables, there is so much history behind us that truly deserves to be remembered ,thank you and the history lady for all of your sharing of knowledge!
"do not crash my cars" Enzo Ferrari, in relation to how deadly his cars were when asked if he had improved safety of his racing cars
Ferrari never gave a damn about the drivers, one got killed he would just bring in another, and a lot of his drivers were killed
@@jerrypeacock2234 not completely true. When Antonio Ascari was killed, he was heartbroken, and immediately stopped racing. He was fully aware of both how dangerous it was to race, and what it felt like to lose someone to the gods of speed. What he DID do, was set up an atmosphere of competition between his drivers, play mind games, make one think the other was given special treatment by engineers, or the other think the former was his favourite etc etc. BUT he did this because he often got drivers who would either cruise comfortably, relying on the superiority of their new Ferrari cars, OR wind up with say three or four out of six or so drivers, who were friends, and would make gentleman's agreements to back up each other if one was in witj a chance, block for them, interrupt strategies of other drivers, etc, and the winner would give them a cut..... .....they'd do this against even OTHER Ferrari drivers. So Enzo came to the conclusion that to make them give 100%, he had to make them feel like they had something no only to gain, but lose, and they had to give it their all, because he liked X more than Y, or make Y think he was going to get dropped and replaced with Z. He was a cocky bossy dictatorial boss, but he wasn't heartless. He just expected his drivers give their all, irrespective of if they had cars, and teammates, that meant they didn't have to.
I mean. I think Bugatti’s early customers complained about the brakes not working if it was to cold. Along with not being able to start well. He replied if you can afford my car you can afford to keep it warm.
Enzo is a notorious prick .
If true, he sounds like a real "Richard ", but jmo.
Thank you for another great video.
I have watched many of your videos and have enjoyed them all. Having been an avid sports car racing fan my whole life I was already very familiar with this particular accident. That being said you did this subject justice, I will forgive you the few small things that could have been mentioned for the vast amount that you did say and get completely 100% accurate. Thank you for shedding light on this often obscured piece of history and for giving it the treatment it deserves. You now have a new subscriber.
I appreciate the variety of historical topics you post about
Keep up more of the amazing vids!
Great video! As a huge Motorsport fan I was thrilled to see this video. I'd love to see a video about motorcycles or motorcycle racing. Might I recommend doing a video on the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy (aka TT)? BMW Motorrad has some fascinating history too
Thank you for creating this channel. This has become my favorite channel. I enjoy listening to your excellent narration and for keeping history alive. Once again, Thank You for what you do!
Thank you for covering this, and so many other little known bits of history. The MB 300 SLR photo frequently shown in the video is of the Fangio/Kling driven team car (#19)...the car following Levegh's #20. Thank you again!
I worked EMS at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for 10 years and something like Lemans was always in the back of my mind.
Negative Nancy
Thanks for looking out for the racers and fans. I thought the IRL came close to a Le Mans type accident a few times. Those sleds were airborne too often.
I volunteered at MidOhio every summer. At the bigger races I had similar thoughts. I tried my best to station myself so that wreck debris had no chance to get there. With current safety barriers I was in a greater risk of injury from a drunk fan than from the cars.
I grew up in West Lafayette, so while I never saw the 500 like you did, it was very much a part of my life, too.
Wow! Your diversity in content is amazing! Bravo! (I coulda/shoulda been a history guy!!). Love it!
Thank you for an EXCELLENT recounting of this small slice of history. I am eagerly learning a great deal of history I did not know.
Sir, thank you for your example here, and also for your episodes in general. Most informative.
Seeing those cars now, with the driver's heads totally exposed like that, makes me shudder. It's hard to believe we once didn't think at all about safety.
There’s a quote from Jackie Stewart, 3 time Formula One World Champion who raced in the 60’s and 70’s. He said, “When I was in F1, sex was safe and motor racing was dangerous.” Tells you a lot I think.
I remember a saying I picked up in the USN. It stated that maritime law was written in blood. I guess racing regulations are written in blood as well.
Aviation has a similar saying as well.
That was the very phrase I was going to use. NASCAR requires full face helmets and the HANS device due to Dale Earnharts death.
Wolfshead009. The one I heard is, "The FAA regulates by body count".
Stated in another way: Every regulation has dead people behind it. Be it safety regulations of mines, railroads, dams, aircraft, medical devices, medications, electricity, buildings, steam boilers, fires, automobiles, motorcycles and many many others.
Railroad rule books are also written in blood.
Thank you for sharing this video! Definitely a spot in racing history that as you mentioned many people today are unaware. Thank you The History Guy!
I love your channel. When I was in school as a child I hated history class, now I can't get enough. I look forward to the end of a long work day when I can kick back and learn something new. Keep up the good work! 👍
You are the maestro of history sir.
I love this channel sooooo much
Thank you so much sir for your much needed perspective and valuable video contributions. History is in my opinion the most important subject there is and your passion and expertise cannot help but improve society as a whole. Just awesome!
Good stuff ! I was a F1 fan from when I was 10 (1960 ) forward . I love all those old cars . Thanks for replaying it .
I just wacthed a short animated film about it. It's titles "le mans 1955: Deadly Competition"
KZhead's algorithm did a good!? (Same)
DOICES me too
Yes for once KZhead algorithm served us well.
Me too
same here :)
Did the "5 minute" part of your name cause peoples' heads explode because your videos were longer? Great video!
Bloody hell, and there is TAOFLEDERMOUSE of exotic and obscure shotgun projectile fame If the internet is vast, KZhead is a small world after all
Nightdare right, could have guessed he's into history. Alot of us gun freaks are.
@@whiskeyx-ray4483 how about modern history? Today a cop died and four were injured. But don't dared knock your 2nd Amendment and your well organized mulitia.
shit does vsauce watch this guy too,?
Carol Bates next time somebody is shooting someone, you guys be sure to riot, block traffic, yell and call them horrible names. That should solve the problem.
Thanks for sharing. Your research is exceptional and your story telling is captivating to listen to.
Can't get enough of your videos! Very well done sir!
A tragedy, yet we learned so much from it and saved so many lives with new measures of safety, not only in motor sports but automobiles in general.
Excellent. Love motorsports. Perhaps you can touch the subject of Reno air race catastrophes. I was present when Miss Ashley 2 crashed. Sad day.
I moved to Reno in 2010, so that was my 1st year. I was out there in 2011, the day BEFORE the 'Galloping Ghost' crash. The USAF Thunderbirds were only scheduled to perform on that 1 day, if I'm remember correctly. I didn't want to miss it. I heard that they lost 3 pilots during the 2007 races. Was that the year 'Miss Ashley 2' crashed?
Javier 86 did you see the Gray Ghost, P 51 Mustang crash, I met him 1 day before it happened
I'm surprised I haven't found your channel sooner! I watched a few of your videos and I like what I saw! on the subject of the video, its amazing how far safety in racing has come since this horrible disaster, not just in auto racing, but in other sports as well, such as drag racing, F1 powerboat racing, offshore powerboat racing, etc race cars nowadays have, depending on the type of vehicle being driven, roll cages, on board fire extinguishers, and other safety features as well as racers of all stripes having to wear protective suits, a HANS device, and helmets.
As a fan of motorsport, I must thank you for this excellent video on a very tragic and important moment in our sport.
I like, I wish you did include how the magnesium construction of the Mercedes 300 SLR actually was a major factor on how many were killed or injured. Because as the safety crews arrived and not being trained in the dangers of a magnesium fire they started dousing the flames with water. Along with how this accident actually caused Mercedes Benz completely pull out of motorsports and wouldn't have another factory racing team until 2010
Michael Loeffler Yes, the gas tank fire ignited the magnesium.
Not entirely true - they re-entered sportscar racing in, I think, 1988 when they re-badged Peter Sauber's C9 as a Mercedes
It was backed by Mercedes but it wasn't a factory racing team. In the late 1970's they actually developed the 450SLC 5.0 mercedes with the goal to use it for rally racing but pulled out of having a factory team because during development Audi released the Quattro cars which outdated all the RWD cars quickly. Though some teams still ran the 450SLC 5.0. And AMG were building and racing cars off of Mercedes since the early 70's with Mercedes support, but still weren't a factory sponsored team.
@@spoonified52 what about the clk super touring ?
Bee Mail they were Mercedes backed and supported teams but not on factory Mercedes teams
Oh, sorry! I didn't realize this was a black tie event. Love your channel. I agree you bring these lectures to life, much like my old history instructor in college, "Bloody Mary Engelbright."
How is it that when I miss a day of your videos I feel the intense need to get back asap! I don't know either but you are a terrific story-teller! Simply enjoy this channel!!!!
Great video...I enjoy your presentation and maybe because it's rather short in length and packed with interesting facts! Hope you keep making them....THANKS!
I too love history. While I know most of the stories told on you channel, I love the way you concisely tell the stories yet include much of the important details. My experience is that most historians, like myself, get caught up in the details and loose their audience early on. I love your videos, keep up the good work.
Thanks love it!!!
I never fail to learn from you, Professor of history. Peace&Love!
I really enjoy these snippets of history - things I never knew and the backstories of those I did. Keep on making your videos.
Wow, I've never even heard of this before. Certainly taught me something.
I’ve seen the black and white footage countless times and yes it was horrific. I believe the next big push for safety came in the sixties and that would make another good history video.
I am so glad to find this channel! I love history, thanks for your research and great presentation. Rivals big brother, History channel.
This caught my full attention immediately since the catastrophe has been widely referenced in many publications but a comprehensive breakdown of the event has not been forthcoming. Thank you for helping illuminate this event so we can hopefully continue to improve safety at these events and at lesser ones which also need good sense to reduce risks.
Wonderful content as usual sir. I appreciate your excitement and fervor without being sensationalist. May I suggest the saga of the Rainbow Warrior bombing for a future episode. Spies and saboteurs from a supposedly friendly nation running up and down the country with rubber boats, then some political expediency to wipe it all away - could make for an interesting 10 minutes.
it's hard to thumbs up a video about 83 people dying.... good vid, though.
I've read it was actually closer to 100 than 83. Some of the walking wounded suffered collapsed lungs and other injuries associated with an explosion and died at the hospital a day or two later. Still nobody knows the exact figure.
Well Spoiler Alert! Stay away from the Titanic videos and any starting with “WW...”.
@@gkess7106 ?
It means you like the content, not liking the fact people died. Most normal people don't like that.
@@leoortiiiz The pass is given by a black person, I'm just selling it....means exactly what to you?
What a terrific take on this event. Thanks for your work!
Great videos, when I have a few moments and need to unwind, I watch a few. Keep up the good work.
Great stuff! Could you pls make a video of the Ramstein (Germany) air show disaster on 28th August 1988?
Haven't watched the video yet, just wanted to chime in here and say that I really like the new name. It definitely suits the channel these days, certainly better than the old one. It's a great tagline and an even better channel name!
ProgHead777 what was the old one?
Wow, this is the most excited I've heard you become on an episode. Great delivery
I will be dedicating time to watch ALL of you videos, so well done.
The 1955 footage of the Mercedes flying into the crowd is out there if anyone wants to see it. It actually incredible how unbelievable it must have been to watch an engine block literally tear through these poor French spectators crammed in there.
Yes it is a shocking sight knowing how many died.
It is not in the public domain but it is on YT. It is rather disturbing.
Here I am watching this in Le Mans.
Just found it, its horrible. Right up there with the Twilight Zone helicopter decapitation. kzhead.info/sun/d9aNor6Zf4WiZIE/bejne.html
I still remember the Mclaren F1 at Le Mans literally flew in the air for running too fast in the straights due to lack of downforce.
For those interested there is video of the disaster, But its not for the faint of heart.
TpzBla FACT
I like this History Guy, he picks some very interesting subjects that deserve to be remembered.
Your facts and presentation and script are where it is at. Thanks for the history.
There is film footage of the mercedes engine careening though the crowd. What a horror.
5:58 OMG I am in love with that car it is beyond beautiful
Thank you sir for sharing an important part of racing heritage and future that followed.
You are a great presenter 'History Guy'. I appreciate your work. Thank You.
My mother and father were at the race. They went to get a beer. The accident happened where they had been standing moments before. My father was on Montgomery's staff at NATO at the time. He retired a few years later as a 2 star general (air force). I was in school in Switzerland at the moment.
That was worse than the similar disaster at Farnborough air show in 1952 that killed 31.
I have become a dedicated fan of The History Guy! I consider these episodes mini masterpieces of instruction. This teacher invites us to construct meaning and significance from the events of the past that "deserve to be remembered". I applaud the scholarship and enjoy the style. Bravo!
one of the best channels that i follow. Keep up the good work! Thank you very much good sir