Mercedes-Benz T80 "Blackbird" - The Reich's Land Speed Record Challenger
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 เม.ย. 2022
- The story of the Mercedes-Benz T80 "Blackbird", the car with which Nazi Germany took aim at the World Land Speed Record.
FURTHER READING
I buy a lot of books! Here are a selection of books that have inspired me or have been useful in my research.
Disclaimer: I get a commission every time you purchase a product through my affiliate links below.
Thrust: The Remarkable Story of One Man's Quest for Speed by Richard Noble
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Railton: Man Of Speed by Karl Ludvigsen
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Goldenrod: The Resurrection of America's Speed King by John Baechtel
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Speed Duel by Samuel Hawley
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The History Of Speed by Martin Roach
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Donald Campbell: The Man Behind The Mask by David Tremayne
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Bluebird and the Dead Lake: The Classic Account of how Donald Campbell broke the World Land Speed Record by John Pearson
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Leap into Legend: Donald Campbell and the Complete Story of the World Speed Records by Steve Holter
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Bluebird CN7: The Inside Story of Donald Campbell's Last Land Speed Record Car by Donald Stevens
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Parry Thomas: The First Driver to be Killed in Pursuit of the Land Speed Record by Hugh Tours
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Quest For Speed: The Epic Saga of Record-Breaking On Land by Barry John
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The Fast Set: Three Extraordinary Men and Their Race for the Land Speed Record by Charles Jennings
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Man Against the Salt by Harvey Shapiro
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Ultimate Speed: The Fast Life and Extreme Cars of Racing Legend Craig Breedlove by Samuel Hawley
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Infinity Over Zero: Meditations on Maximum Velocity by Cole Coonce
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Speedquest: Inside the Blue Flame by Richard Keller
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Crusader: John Cobb's ill-fated quest for speed on water by Steve Holter
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Archive: Pathe, AP, Mercedes-Benz Classic Archives, Wikipedia & Unknown Sources, used under Fair Use / Fair Deal. Copyright acknowledged in all material. - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
In the 2020 BBC documentary, their calculations are grossly incorrect. They forgot to include the weight of the drivers gigantic balls, with those figures included the Blackbird would have easily stayed on the ground
LMAOOOO so true
What was the doc called?
Mercedes built the streamlined car with which Rudolf Caracciola set his 1938 record of 432.7 km/h/268.9mph over the flying kilometre, on a public road. That car was much lighter and based on a nimble, less stable F1 chassis.
Even though there were quite strong winds that day, nothing happened to the Merc. Leave it to the British to downplay German excellence
@@DolleHengst Big difference between 268 and 466mph especially as aerodynamic forces increase with the square of the velocity so that speed increase would result in almost 4x the force on vehicle. The car also has massive rear diffuser, but no downforce generating elements forward of the center of mass (the wings are directly inline with the centre of mass) so the car would have become very rear heavy and unbalanced at high speeds.
@@DolleHengstEngland slander so I must kill myself
They didn't just build a new car... they built a new road for the car. Part of me wishes they could have made the attempt, it's an amazing looking car and the engineering was incredible.
Little.known fact that Hands Stuck invented superglue !
Having never heard of this car, I had to go and check in the book "Professor Porsche's Wars" on the shelf just behind me. No entry for the T80 in the index. So naturally I had to flip through the book a bit. It is incredible the genius of the man, involved in so many projects over his lifetime. The anti slip system for the drive wheels just fits into his pattern of coming up with ideas before anyone else. So it was just by chance that I was browsing in the section on the Maus (that impossibly huge tank that never entered service) and there was mention that the engine used in the Maus was the vehicle version of the DB 603 aero V-12, which was going to be the power source for the Type 80.
I have seen the T80 at the DB Museum--massive car! Enjoyed this video very much and would suggest more on the German streamliners from DB and Auto Union.
A lot of German engineers and scientists went to America after the war and got busy on the sr71.
I have been watching this channel for over 3 years its so good to see this channel getting the high views it deserves one of the best channels on TH-cam
Views are nothing if they don't subscribe
@@NewLifeFromTheWayofTruth so what it was a compliment to finally his hard work is being seen you need the views to get the subs
What an amazing video! Mercedes-Benz where well ahead of the game but I must confess the T80 was new to me.
Thanks Ken! Glad you enjoyed it…
Your work is outstanding. Thank you for your contribution to preserving the world's motorsports heritage. Cheers from Canada.
Thank you kindly - glad you’re enjoying the channel!
It would be mental if Mercedes takes this car out of the museum and test its top speed. It would also be the best advertisement ever for the brand.
You mean advertise a car built to glorify Nazi Germany, meant to be replete with swastikas? The deep association of the German car industry, with Porsche, Audi, Mercedes and BMW with Nazi ideology is not something to be proud of. Preserve it as a piece of history, but not something to advertise the merits of your company.
My grandfather built a whole car from that book in 1948.
Wow. I have never heard of this vehicle before and it blows my mind how similar the T80 looks to today’s modern prototypes in LeMans.
porches that won le mans... with the same straight 12 aka 2 porches engines stick together.....
Wait... So in the 21st century with cars like the Bugatti Veyron and Chiron they had to create special tires for such high speed, while in those days they did all that on garbage rubber tires (compared to current tire technology). Big balls they had.
You wouldn't want to sell a life insurance to a driver of that time.
There is nothing new under the sun
Im also amazed by the new sonic speed cars, they also have thin tires and made over 900kmh
As always, excellent storytelling, graphics and production! Thanks S&G, you've done it again with this one (and your films repay repeated viewings too).
Glad you enjoyed it!
Yes I watched that documentary as well. Amazing to think that aerodynamics were so developed in the 30s but not considered really until the very late 60s in Grand Prix racing . Great video 👍
That's what I saw too, there's downforce on those cars. Decades before the first, frankly rubbish, wings they slapped on late 60s F1 cars
This channel is so severely under subscribed. It's a crime really.
Thanks for posting i love these land speed record stories
Thanks for covering this one. I'd not heard that the aerodynamics were flawed in that way. When you described what could have happened the first thing that popped into my mind was Donald Campbell's last water speed run. The second is a piece of historical trivia, in the 1930s the BBC introduced a television service. Of course Germany had to have one as well (Like the T80 record attempt this was aborted by WWII.), and the plan was to have 'Reich-TV' covering the record attempt live-on-air, along with the more traditional newsreel services. If you cover Bernd Rosemeyer, I've heard that aerodynamic mistakes by Auto-Union (Audi after WWII) may have played a role in his death.
Indeed they did. The Audi had air exiting under the car, so lifting it.
Alfred Neubauer who was there on the day maintains that Rosemeyer was advised by the project leader and his mechanic not to run as a dangerous cross wind had built up and one short section of the course was fully exposed to it due to a break in the trees. That indeed is where he crashed.
Thank you for another great documentary!
Another stellar effort, S&G - thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
From purely automotive and technology side of history, this would be a true masterpiece of engineering if it were even driven.
You say that like it wouldn’t be a masterpiece from any other perspective
These cars just take my breath away. The engineering complexity and beauty of them considering their age are incredible.
What a impressive shape and the mechanical engineering is jaw dropping for its time .
This same years ahead technology was featured in Germany's WW2 fighter aircraft like the stunning looking ME 163 and 262 .
Don't forget the HO 229!
@@d-phoenix2198 Lovely looking aircraft
Yes, I wonder where the Americans got their flying wing designs from🤔🤔😉
Mad to think it's never been fully tested to this day. The things that went on before the second World War was crazy.
Excellent production and presentation as usual on your channel. thank you
Another outstanding instalment.....these videos aren't good THEY ARE THE BEST !
This car has alway fascinated me, to think it was designed, built and never run is amazing. Another fantastic video, thanks for the in depth look in to this inspiring automobile.
Fantastic video as always keep it up, it's superb 👏
I'm glad the attempt was never made, so the brave test driver didn't die when the car would have inevitably lifted off and flipped.
Always look forward to your videos. 👍👏
These guys were mad. This was the era where seatbelts were considered dangerous, helmets were made of leather, and the safety briefing consisted of telling the driver to not hit anything.
Balls of solid brass.
Finally a video about the T80, its incredible how forgotten it is even tho its so remarkable
To be fair it's largely forgotten because it did nothing,,if it had actually attempted the record I'm sure it would be famous.
Awesome channel thank you!😁👍🏻🇺🇸
I agree S&G, top notch videos!
As a car guy I would have loved to have seen this car run, even if it was something from the Third Reich. Just from a car guy point of view is all I mean. It looked like an interesting contender, and I think that Jerry would have figured out the instability at the low speed test run stage. It would have been interesting to have had 3 competitors!
I agree they would have solved the front lift problems . Auto unions tragic Record car that killed their star driver , was also using side skirts again sort of stumbling into what would later be the ground effect . I am sure those side wings could have been a way to keep the car on the ground with some tweaks .
I'm pretty sure they would have too👍👍
Would be interesting, if the car would be completed, what speed it could reach. 🤔🤔🤔
Fantastic channel and videos 👍🏻🏴
Superb video, as usual.
This channel is wonderful, fascinating and informative. I was 6 years old when Gary Gabelich took the LSR at, if I remember right, 621 mph in the Blue Flame. I've been interested in LSR attempts, and the Bonneville/El Mirage scene, ever since. I hope you will do future episodes on Ab Jenkins and the Mormon Meteor, the Summers Bros and Goldenrod, Mickey Thompson's Challenger, Al Teague and his Speed-O-Motive Special, the fatal attempt by Athol Graham circa 1965, and the modern day Speed Demon of George Poteet. I'd also like to know more about Jessie Combs, and the car that killed her in Oregon a few years ago.
Hi, thanks for your kind comment and I'm glad you're enjoying the content. I have plans for videos about many of the subjects you mention (Goldenrod, Mickey Thompson, Blue Flame etc), although I'm not sure when or in what order I'll get them done! It partly depends on what materials (photos / videos etc) I can get hold of for the videos... hope you stay tuned!
The creme de la creme was Andy Green in ThrustSSC which broke the speed of sound (ground level) of approx 761mph.
The sonic boom and its visual effects were mind blowing!!
I have photos stood next to the car and it is humungously huge!!
Great channel, about my favourite thing ever - speed 🤩
Might have, could have, should have... we will never know. Great video!!
Thank you!
357mph in 1938 was I think faster than any fighter planes could fly at sea level in 1938. Wow
Edit: Sorry I didnt read the 1938 thing!
The german DO-335 Pfeil could travel with a speed more than 700 km/h. Im sure at water level this is still more then 500km/h. And dont forget the Messerschmidt ME-163, it cold go over 1000 km/h!
@@Simon_r2600 1938 1938 1938 1938 do I have to keep typing it or have you figured out why you’re annoying yet?🙄
@@cmbaileytstc ok, you are right ok, you are right ok, you are right ok, you are right ok, you are right ok, you are right ok, you are right
Edit: according to wikipedia there was a seaplane in 1928 which flew over 500 km/h, so you are not right
In 1934 someone flew over 700 km/h
@@Simon_r2600 The D0-335 didn't fly until 1943, and the flying coffin that was the Me-1363 had its first flight in 1941. The Do-335 could reach 360mph at sea level, and by that time there were quite a few allied aircraft that could beat 357mph at sea level. The later versions of the Hawker Tempest reached 390 mph at sea level, the Spitfire Mk 21 could manage 378mph. Several fighters were used to intercept V1s, which could fly at 400mph at the end of WW II, including Mosquitos, Tempests, Gloster Meteors and Spitfire Mk XIV (albeit sometimes with the aid of a shallow dive). However, none of these are at all relevant to the position in 1938.
Until next time...until next time what? It always feels like you're leaving us hanging, it sounds like you are about to say something else but it never happens, lol. My old man would have loved these videos, he was born in 1931 and was a life long petrol head. He passed last May after a long battle with Alzheimer's. We played George Formby, Riding in the TT Races at the end of the funeral, lol.
Excellent work love to hear about these land speed racing cars and the people responsible for them
Love this channel.
Excellent, thanks.
Excellent video, thank you for your research into such an interesting car 👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
Just a note from pedantry corner, the speed record for wheel driven cars was only broken a few years back. The jets cars although admirable don't have the same technical challenges, as they approach what can be described as low level flying. One of the men in the shadows, Don Vesco managed to raise the record to 458 mph in 2001 in Turbinator. Many of the wheel driven records have taken the streamliner route following on from the work by the Summers brothers and Goldenrod. Later to follow was the Minnesota project a smaller helicopter GT engine in a long narrow body. So the behemoths finishing with the beautiful Bluebird CN7 a superb lesson in design packaging was to be the last. There was an interest in rocket cars with the Blue Flame, the Budweiser Rocket and the Lionheart which was a British design that never came to fruition. Down under we have Rosco McGlashan with his latest version of Aussie Invader a new rocket car! For me the LSR never appealed until I saw Thrust 2 charging into view across the desert gaining speed all the time to remain forever impressed. The same as Concorde which always looked gangly until the four afterburners were brought into play. Always a moment for me and similar to Art Arfons describing the Thrust SSC "When I first saw it I thought it was ugly, but the faster it went the more beautiful it became!"
The piston-engine land speed record has been raised to 470 mph by the Speed Demon.
The wheel driven speed record was increased in 2018 by the Turbinator to 482 mph.
Great work. Thanks
You're very welcome.
Very interesting piece, thx.
Nicely done video mate.
Glad you enjoyed it
Excellent video
Good video, excellent narration.
Thanks for your kind words!
Good work on the clip
That final bluebird.
That looks like somebody engineered it for downforce, some sort of front splitter channeling air over the top and down past the rear, er, rudder?
The BMW & Mercedes fastback 4wd are my stolen design work from when i did the tweel & Celica.
The new land cruiser 4wd is my design chassis was with the celica.
Meant to be a sliding 2 door double hatch. Fastback.
Great insight- thanks
Cracking video.
If you're down in Acuña and you ain't up to being alone .....
Amazing documentary
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it
Amazing channel.
Thank you!
Amazing cars and history! That’s one of the reasons I always love German car’s! They always seem ahead of the competition! And those silver arrows were just simply the best beast’s to do the job.👌😎👍
the wings worked as inverted airplane wings to generate downforce over the center of gravity (the massive engine). maybe it wouldnt have been enough to keep it from killing its driver but it was more than just a flat piece of bodywork so it shouldve had some affect as the speed went up.
Why can't this happen? Make an exact duplicate of the car using the original tech, fix the aero problems and then find out exactly how fast it could have gone.
Very interesting
To think that they missed the record attempt only by days... must have been frustrating.
Had the run the car at speed it would have flipped and flown way before LSR speed. By not running the engineers and cars reputations were preserved.
Great video
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fascinating video.
Mars & moon will only ever be arctic outposts with 6 month stay.
Greetings from South Africa. Great channel! Was wondering if anyone had any positive news regarding the Bloodhound project? Last I read they were looking for a new backer/buyer to rescue the project and take it forward once again....Like the blackbird featured in this video it seems the Bloodhound is in serious danger of being scrapped which would be a huge shame as the car has shown such enormous potential so far. I really hope the project is rescued and I get to see the LSR being broken in my own back yard in the Kalahari South Africa.
Thanks for your comment. As far as I know, the project is still seeking a buyer / backer. The car is currently on show at Coventry Transport Museum - I was lucky enough to see it there last week. It would be a great shame if Bloodhound was never allowed to fully explore its potential.
@@ScarfAndGoggles Thanks for the feedback...hold thumbs for a positive development for Bloodhound. I Look forward to your next video.👍
It would be nice if some extremely wealthy person like Jeff Bezos would buy and finish the project and then advertise Amazon Shipping on the side of it. Anything to get the car down the track would be great. Even Elon Musk, he’s into cars and Rockets, just some pocket change from any of these people would get the car fired up and breaking records
@@K-Effect I was thinking exactly the same thing...specifically Elon Musk as he is originally a fellow South African and to set the record as was originally intended in South Africa would be a wet dream of note😄 ....but that being said I know and respect that Bloodhound was originally conceived as a patriotic British effort and should in my opinion be backed by British sponsors or owner. Land speed record breaking has historically always been a very patriotic endeavor. Perhaps someone should give Richard Branson a nudge?😁
It seems like it could’ve used an air dam on the front.
I'll just be happy if Mercedes Benz will start making parts again for my 2008 Mercedes Benz !!!
hey @Scarf And Goggles , hope you'll be able to be present tomorrow @ Brooklands for the centennial of the 350hp Sunbeam celebrations !
That was the plan, unfortunately I'm now unable to be there. Disappointed, but the weather looks fine and I'm sure it'll be a great day.
@@ScarfAndGoggles Sorry to hear that, I was fortunate to be there, even though for a short while. I've got the chance to see, hear and smell it :) Posted a short video on my channel. Cheers, George
Could you tell us which British documentary covers the T80 aero analysis?
It was “Hitler’s Supercars”, shown on Channel 4 in the uk, July 2020 I think.
That was an amazing video,,
Glad you enjoyed it!
Interesting comment about the rear "diffuser" that had been accidentally incorporated into the T80's design. Take a look at the rear of the conteporary Auto Union record breaker that Bernd Rosemeyer died in when attempting to break records on the autobahn around that time. Yes, the same "diffuser" like venturi profile tunnel was present, forming the underside of that car. Could the oversight, of no balancing low pressure area at the front of the car, have resulted in the fatal crash that took Bernd's life ?
Good point! I hope to revisit the Auto Union record breaker in a video at some point, it will be interesting to see what my research turns up.
I'm seeing clr inspiration
The winglets would have probably prevented that.
all the normal people see something that is illegal to question and say to themselves "okay, okay, i won't question it"
How do the calculated speed of other record-breakers compare to their actual performance?
Here is an engineer explaining how it's done on the example of a modern sport car /watch?v=LJIFgG-dTKQ
Using advanced CFD on a CAD model of the car would help determine if there is merit to the instability theory...if so WW 2 would have at least helped save the life of one driver.
Surely that was why the aerodynamic team fitted the inverted small aero wings on the body?
I am certain they would have thoroughly tested it in their ultra modern wind tunnels.
What a glorious vehicle.
They don’t make’em like this anymore
Cool name Hans!!
The next black silver arrow would be so for a very different reason
How does the anti wheel slip system work?
Likely used some sort of spinning governor that could control rate of acceleration on the wheels.
According to the technical report, there were speedo-type cables from the front and rear axles which connected to the fuel injection pump. A difference in the rotation speeds of the two cables reduced the flow rate of the fuel, dropping the engine power until the speeds matched. Clever...
Comment for the algorithm. More viewers required.
Vaya bestia para tener casi un siglo.
Great research as usual by Scarf And Goggles.
So they determined that the T80 would backflip at speed.... Guess there was precedent for the CLK-GTR then!
Just ask Johnny Dumfries.
I'm very surprised that this car was fitted with with spoked wheels, but perhaps this was was the mock up and disk wheels would have been used for the record runs?
I was wondering about that also. They would have to go to a looney bin to find a driver willing to attempt 400 mph on wire wheels.
Maybe this car’s look is what is kinda the inspiration for the SR-71 blackbird’s name
As a podcast this is fine but as a TH-cam upload it would help to have more video. This was painful to "watch" yet at 4:30 it says to see its TH-cam channel for clarification.... But where I am?
A Mercedes flipping at high speed... haven't seen that before.
Wow wouldn't it be awsome to put that motor back in and hear it run
Such a great looking car. It was good to know it didn;t actually run and flip. I doubt the driver would have survived in that body at those speeds.
I've always wanted blindspots ahead of me in a car.
I seriously doubt, that this car was dubbed „blackbird“ by anyone, let alone A. Hitler.
Well, a blackbird (which translates to „Amsel“ in German) is a clumsy, chubby looking bird that is not even able to cling onto fatballs in wintertime as tits or great spotted woodpeckers do.
Maybe someone called it a „black bird“ because it was allegedly black & with it‘s speed it was a bloody fast bird (or it was doomed to become airborne due to it‘s strange aerodynamics..,).
If someone thinks of very fast & powerful & maybe even dangerous birds, he would think of birds of prey like falcons, eagles, hawks etc. (see „Hayabusa“ for Suzuki‘s 300 kph bike, which means, as far as I remember, a very, very fast species of a falcon) but NEVER a clumsy, little blackbird.
Fun fact:
In the 1960‘s there was a Lockheed SR (strategic reconaissance) 71 „blackbird“ airplane that reached up to Mach 3.36 & therefore was really a fast „bird“ but it was maybe named „blackbird“ just to „cloud“ it‘s real possibilties - namely outrun all Soviet interceptors.
Black bird or blackbird makes a difference here. It could have been named Black Bird as reference to the eagle on the German coat of arms (a black bird, not a blackbird). It could have been named Black Bird for plans on being painted black so the emblems they wanted to put on it would pop out more. It could have been named Black Bird because an other record car was named Blue Bird.
@@helmydemeester6304 :
As I mentioned in my original post, the german translation of „blackbird“ is „Amsel“ & btw, a „bluebird“ would be a „Hüttensänger“ (a sub-species of starlings) in German.
The translation of „black bird“ would be „schwarzer Vogel“ but I also doubt, that any German of the 1930‘s or‘40s would have said „schau an, ein schwarzer Vogel“ („lo and behold, a black bird“) when seeing a huge black race car like that.
The only car that looks more Menacing than the Batmobile!
shame that they didn't throw a body on that displayframe for a couple "low speed" runs. Just to see something like that hit 180 (which i presume would be under it's aero limitations) would be cool as all get out.
I have sat in the original t80 chassis.... it was not built for a tall American. back when I was a lowly practicant at the classic centre I was doing something in one of the warehouses and saw it collecting dust. what an amazing machine. it seems delicate in person compared to what pictures suggest. it is also way lower than you'd imagine it feels like you're in stretched go cart.
Was this before the 262?
Yes.
really sad it never had been used in a landspeed attempt
2:38 WOW! That looks like something from the: Redline anime movie.
Or a Batmobile. Hehe. Everything looks like a batmobile. Just color it black and you have it.
More reliable too.