Can we *PLEASE* get more classic racing stories like this? They are amazing and have gotten me interested in racing history, something I never cared about before
Yeah man! I literally just sent this video to someone and said the same exact thing. Was never interested in automotive history until this guy came along.
@@zillatowntv honestly those guys with Donut kinda bug me.
4 ปีที่แล้ว +7
Everybody would love the story of the last pre-war Grand Prix, in Belgrade in 1939. Nuvolari won for Auto Union, but the real story is how Germany invaded Poland during qualifying, and WWII started on race day....
Yea! But it should be correct and not a made-up fairytale that a "little Italian" rebel beat the German Nazis. Italians have been under the Nazi/Fascistic Government of Mussolini at that time and so all the story around the race is absolutely made up. 11:10 you can see in the Foto that Nuvolari is even doing the fascist salutation with the right arm up. The story about the race is true and it happened like that. Rest not so much ...
If you like this story, you should have Joe Saward on, telling the story of W. Williams, the first winner of the Monaco GP in 1929, joining the British army, becoming a secret agent & running a sabotage network in Paris in WW 2. Robert Benoist, Bugatti's, it's just a cool story. See "The Grand Prix Saboteurs" for the full story
I can't belive this story arrived to VinWiki. I am from Mantua, and precisely only a few kilometres from Tazio Nuvolari's village, and actually my grandfather used to see him going so fast on his motorbike on the back then unpaved country roads. In italy he is well known, but in Mantova he's a legend, we have the museum dedicated to him, and we have a classic car racing event every year that is called Trofeo Tazio Nuvolari.
This should have 100k likes; the story is arguably better than the Cobra-Ferrari wars of the early 1960s. Drivers like Tazio and Fangio were EPIC legends driving their hearts out with ZERO mechanical or computer aids and ZERO safety equipment, besides a rudimentary helmet and goggles. Just pure sports and passion.
From a fellow Italian fan who already knew Nuvolari I LOVED how Ficarra told this story. Now that one time where Nuvolari won the Mille Miglia by turning off his lights!
@@jamesn5625 Nope, you just start appreciating history more as you age. When you're young you don't understand the point and it just bores you because you have no idea how it relates to life experiences. The older you get the more you understand how important those lessons can be. Well, I guess dumb people who don't think much beyond what's right in front of them never care much for history but everyone with a brain that I know has always said they enjoy history more as they get older. I know I'll probably get some hate for this comment but that's what happens when someone tells the truth.
@@JSchaffer214 Eh. For me, History's always been my favorite subject. In school it was a misery though. Probably because I prefer to learn about events of geopolitical significance and things that have shaped the world as we know it today. Instead, a lot of it was focused on obscure documents that have no significance to the rest of the world, and only a minor significance domestically, usually in the form of some law that eventually got repealed. Or some figure who was exclusively relevant to domestic politics, and even then, not majorly so. I'd rather learn about things like the rise of Sun Yat Sen and how he shaped modern China, or Queen Victoria and how her reign defined an entire era for all of Europe (if not the world)... Rather than being made to learn how some chief justice from hundreds of years ago, named Samuel Chase, was also known as "Old Bacon Face," and eventually got impeached for being too impartial. Victoria's reign and impact was maybe covered in a single day, the impact of steam power on the industrial revolution also only in a single day (at most). With over a week being spent learning about the cotton gin and spinning jenny, which is entirely backwards to me. Sun Yat-sen wasn't even covered at all.
This video gave me the inspiration I needed to write a story for my creative writing class. “Write a story about a painting”, so of course after I saw this I knew what I needed to do. The story gave me an A in this class, thanks John!
Last time I heard a good car story (Ford VS Ferrari) there was a movie about it. I know John has the Hollywood connections. I am now looking forward for "Tazio takes on The Nazis" movie.
John Ficarra, you always have some of the greatest stories to tell. I love the racing stories, I bet I’ve listened to the Ford GT story 20 times and I’ll probably listen to this one as much too.
I originally wasn't going to click on the story, but as I kept scrolling I started to wonder who it was telling the story. Definitely glad I came back clicked the video.
What an incredible story! One of the best of 2020, without a doubt. Ficarra certainly has some good ones, and I think this one just went to first place on his list. Followed closely, of course, by the infamous "This could be red" story.
I read the story of this race 45 years ago and Tazio has been a hero of mine ever since. Pulling out the recording of the Italian national anthem when the German say they don't have it....priceless.
I know every facet of the 1992 Hooters 500 which is widely considered to be the greatest NASCAR Cup race in history. That said, I want to hear John tell the story in his way if he’s a fan of that kind of thing. It would be amazing. His elegance in historical storytelling is among the best I’ve ever seen.
The King's last race, Jeff Gordon's first. Alan Kulwicki wins the championship in the "Underbird" as an independent owner/driver. So many pages turned as a result of the race. Some triumph, some tragedy in 92.
This is up there with my favorite VINwiki video - John’s telling of the story of the ‘65 Le Mans race. All of his stories are great, but the classic racing ones are another level of awesomeness! I know we’ve had a few recently, but fingers crossed that he filmed at least a few more during his last trip to see Ed. 🤞
I've always loved Nuvolari for various other exploits (finishing with no steering wheel is my favorite) but this is a stone cold classic, and told SO well. Thanks chaps!
Thank you sir. For explaining a race in great detail that most people would not have ever known about. This would make a great movie... Kind of like Ford VS Ferrari but it would be Italy VS Germany and the world...
I thought John was going to tell the story of Rene Dreyfus winning the 1938 Pau Grand Prix in a Delahaye 145 owned by American ex-pat Lucy O'Reily Schell who lived in Paris. Dreyfus beat the Nazi funded Mercedes W154 driven by Caracciola and Lang. Dreyfus was a French Jew which makes their victory all that much sweeter! Side note, Schell was the mother of 50's era Grand Prix driver Harry Schell. There is a good book about this amazing victory: Faster: How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler’s Best by Neil Bascomb. I highly recommend it, especially if you like stories of Nazi's getting their asses kicked and who doesn't like that? Great story John, I am a fan of any and all motorsports history and this is one I didn't know much about.
That's Tazio Nuvolari for you! The race account says that the track corner workers recalled that Nuvolari's "driving with a vengeance" after the ruined half-distance pit stop. The Alfa is sliding all over the place, yet he kept everything under his control, and still kept gaining to von Brauchistch in the leading Mercedes. The account's report of how he basically destroyed von Brauchitsch's lead gap is stunning, he gained 42.4 seconds in just five laps! Some more clearer facts about the cars. The Alfa Romeo P3's 3.2 litre twin-supercharged engine only makes 265bhp, but with a very impressive torque, with top speed of, around 170mph. The Auto Union Type B had a 5 litre supercharged V16 engine, which produced around 375bhp, and even more impressive torque, top speed is around 185mph, possibly more. The Mercedes, meanwhile, is the most powerful in the grid, they had upgraded engines, the main drivers (including von Brauchitsch) used a 4 litre engine producing 445bhp, top speed of around 190mph, possibly more. Also, by this time, the Alfa Romeo P3 had an Achilles' heel. The gearbox and drivetrain is at its limit transmitting the power and, more importantly, torque, of the 3.2 litre, 265bhp engine, having been made originally to transmit the power of a 2.6 litre, 215bhp engine. And in that race, Nuvolari's teammates, Antonio Brivio, and Louis Chiron, retired with broken final drives, with Brivio retiring on lap 2 and Chiron on lap 6. It really is incredible, therefore, that Nuvolari managed to make his car last the whole race distance and win against far superior opposition, by dint of his pure driving skills and "never give up" attitude. Nuvolari managed to continuously give the German drivers and cars a really hard time in 1936. He managed to beat them four times that season, using the Tipo C Alfa Romeo, in both its straight-8 and V12 versions.
You are quite right about 1936 - in my opinion Nuvolari's greatest year. He defeated Caracciola in a straight fight at Barcelona, Rosemeyer at the Hungarian GP, and Varzi at Milan. He might have won at Monaco if his brakes hadn't faded, and he lost the Eifelrennen to Rosemeyer because of the latter's uncanny ability to see through the fog!
@@stephenlee1756 Yeah, for me, Caracciola's "rainmaster" title is in serious doubt that race, because Nuvolari had been giving him a big run for money. The harbour chicane is badly blocked by crashed cars during the race, but Nuvolari negotiates the narrow gap left faster than anyone else! You can argue that the 1936 Mercedes Benz W25K had ill handling, but so does the 8C-35 Alfa of Nuvolari. In fact, Caracciola gained the upper hand late in the race since his car still had more fuel in its tank, which helped gain traction in the rear wheels in the wet, while Nuvolari's Alfa had much less fuel left, leaving him struggling for grip, apart from the aforementioned brake problems.
@@jcgabriel1569 Very good to find someone with an intelligent grasp of historical motor races! This TH-cam description of the 1935 Gereman GP is wrong in so many ways, following the usual pattern of trying to make Nuvolari's victory some sort of miracle. In fact the slippery conditions at the start gave the Alfas a chance - Nuvolari was second behind Caracciola on the first lap, but then had an off-course excursion (!) on the second and Chiron got in among the German cars until his retirement. Nuvolari drove with his head as well as his huge talent, and took his time picking up places before the mid-race fuel stop which lost him so much time. Mercedes then made a huge mistake in not ordering Brauchitsch in for another tyre stop before the end. His speed on the first 2 laps after mid-race was very obviously going to ruin his tyres especially as he had a reputation for this. Tazio eased into the second half of the race and was therefore able to maintain his pace to the end (Lewis Hamilton does something similar nowadays). Brauchitsch was not unlucky - just impetuous. But perhaps Nuvolari was lucky in that Caracciola had a huge tapeworm giving him a lot of discomfort, Stuck lost at least a minute when he stalled at the start, Rosemeyer was still very inexperienced and damaged his car against a bank, and Varzi's mind was "elsewhere". None of which detracts from Nuvolari's excellence.
@@stephenlee1756 The thing is, I always think that Nuvolari's pace during the second half of the race is the main event. Always very fast, but relatively consistent, so much so that von Brauchitsch, while acknowledging that his tyres are ruined thanks to his pace, tried a gamble which didn't work. And you're right, whatever happened during the race never took anything from Nuvolari's win. In the end, at that time, it's always the driver and his car that could change everything. For example, some might argue that if Stuck didn't stall at the start and wasn't held up by Lang and Geier in their Mercedes, he could've won, but then, if he's a better wet driver, he could've found a way past earlier. Or, Rosemeyer could've won the race if he didn't made a mistake and bent a wheel and caused the throttle to stick, but he did, in the heat of he battle with Caracciola. That's the point of racing, if you do it fast and do it right, you'll win, and of all the drivers in the race, Nuvolari did that, better than anyone else.
@@jcgabriel1569 You're right about the second half. If you look at the laptimes it's obvious that Brauchitsch did slow, fast, slow, fast laps as he basically panicked, with Neubauer making dramatic "slow down" gestures and the pit boards telling him that Nuvolari could take 10 or 20 seconds out of his lead every lap. I also suspect that Mercedes were wrong-footed by the fact that Brauchitsch's tyres lasted the first half of the race, and that his new set could therefore cope with the second half - overlooking the fact that the roads had dried. Although Brauchitsch could apparently see the breaker strip before the last lap it was too late to make a pit stop. Even so, Nuvolari had to drive those last 10 laps "in the genius zone".
Magnificent! I'm in the midst of a research expedition for a period novel. What a story. To be sure, the weather helped but it was much more the man and not the machine in those days. I'll echo my many predecessors int he comments: More please.
I've been lucky enough to work on a Scuderia Ferrari Alfa, strangely enough in Joe Ricciardo's workshop where a young Daniel was preparing his Go Kart. I love any stories of Nuvolari and this one is so beautifully told. A few years ago I went to his museum in Mantua. I've seen many a P3 and Monza's a few 8C-35's but you are correct. The holy grail of any GP car is the 1935 German GP winner at the hands of the flying Mantuan. VinWiki you now have a new subscriber, I've enjoyed many of your videos but to tell this tale one so close to my heart has made me click that button. Keep them coming pease.
Great choice of car. Your story has brought tears to my eyes. When I was a child, I read a story about Nuvolari in a boy's 'wonder book'. Decades ago, when I lived in Italy, I visited the Nuvolari museum in Mantua. Alas, it was a public holiday and it was closed. So I stood and at the window reflecting on what I knew of him. Bravo Nuvolari!
Legend has it that Nuvolari would go out in practice and put up his best lap (which was often the best of anybody). Then he would have the mechanics remove half the brake shoes from the car and go even faster. Best pure driver ever.
Jesus Chris, he was the Jesse Owens of race car drivers. I liked this video 2 minutes into it. Great story by a awesome storyteller. I’m not going to butcher his name, but wow; that driver won that race for humanity. WOW!!! Thanks for sharing this piece of history. Seriously!!!
This is such an amazing Story. I really love how John tells it. I already knew it but this guy tells the story with such a passion. Really nice! With this kind of backstory my car pick looks boring. I would take the Gemera. The Agera RS is my absolute favorite but the Gemera has just everything.
Years ago in high school, I read a book about the worlds greatest drivers, now this book would be probably 70 years old today and the number one driver was Tazio...loved to hear this.
One of the best recent videos on here, bravo! From a 911, BMW and Alfa (love the car) owner , the Italians have a way of making a fun car. Yes it's been too the dealer, far too many times
I found this on the Continental Tire website about this time period: “Between 1935 and 1940, Mercedes and Auto-Union (known as Audi today) cars fitted with Continental racing tires have a formidable streak of racing triumphs. Four consecutive victories in the German Grand Prix, four wins in the North African Tripoli race, three in Italy, plus numerous speed records help racing drivers like Rudolf Caracciola, Berndt von Rosemeyer and Hans Stuck achieve international fame.”
Nazis: The winner of this race will be a silver car
Some asthmatic Italian: This can be red
Love the reference
ahaha this had me dying with laughter
Underrated comment
hahah oh man sucks i can only like it once
Amazing!
Can we *PLEASE* get more classic racing stories like this? They are amazing and have gotten me interested in racing history, something I never cared about before
Check out Donut Podcasts if you like racing history stories. They do a great job with some comedy thrown in as well.
Yeah man! I literally just sent this video to someone and said the same exact thing. Was never interested in automotive history until this guy came along.
@@zillatowntv honestly those guys with Donut kinda bug me.
Everybody would love the story of the last pre-war Grand Prix, in Belgrade in 1939. Nuvolari won for Auto Union, but the real story is how Germany invaded Poland during qualifying, and WWII started on race day....
Yea! But it should be correct and not a made-up fairytale that a "little Italian" rebel beat the German Nazis. Italians have been under the Nazi/Fascistic Government of Mussolini at that time and so all the story around the race is absolutely made up. 11:10 you can see in the Foto that Nuvolari is even doing the fascist salutation with the right arm up. The story about the race is true and it happened like that. Rest not so much ...
"Its a bit of a circus in ferraris pits" Glad to see things havent changed much after all these years
Mercedes also tried something last weekend
😂😂😂😂 Thank god, I finished my drink... I would have spit that shit everywhere if I read your Comment while I had it 😂
All part of the Ferrari Master Plan (TM)
This is nooo cirrcusss! This is italian tradition!
@@silv3rArrow out was an impressive fuck up Hey!
We always love a good racing story from John Ficarra!
Ficarra should definitely get a "10 best stories" compilation.
If you like this story, you should have Joe Saward on, telling the story of W. Williams, the first winner of the Monaco GP in 1929, joining the British army, becoming a secret agent & running a sabotage network in Paris in WW 2. Robert Benoist, Bugatti's, it's just a cool story. See "The Grand Prix Saboteurs" for the full story
@@nknasi No! Just NO. Ten stories is way to few.
He's the best
As soon as I saw this was one of John's stories, I stopped everything to watch.
Ficarra allways tell the best old racing stories, order 10 more!
I agree! I didn't know much if anything about that era of racing, but now I want to learn more.
I can't belive this story arrived to VinWiki. I am from Mantua, and precisely only a few kilometres from Tazio Nuvolari's village, and actually my grandfather used to see him going so fast on his motorbike on the back then unpaved country roads. In italy he is well known, but in Mantova he's a legend, we have the museum dedicated to him, and we have a classic car racing event every year that is called Trofeo Tazio Nuvolari.
Tazio Nuvolari...per sempre!
And he died in his own bed! 1954?
I read about Nuvolari and Fangio as a 13yr old (1962) kid in small town Indiana. Heroes.
Named my surf-rock band "The Ferraris".
This should have 100k likes; the story is arguably better than the Cobra-Ferrari wars of the early 1960s. Drivers like Tazio and Fangio were EPIC legends driving their hearts out with ZERO mechanical or computer aids and ZERO safety equipment, besides a rudimentary helmet and goggles. Just pure sports and passion.
One of the best VINwiki stories ever? He had me on the edge of my seat!
Same! It was like a movie playing out in my head. Great story teller.
I’m binge watching this channel and this one’s in the top 3, no doubt.
Tomorrow I will share the story I have been most excited to tell for 2020. It is also about my all-time favorite car.
The notification bell is ON!
Did you get to drive the McLaren F1?
The Dacia Sandero?!?
@@siliconinsect Oh, that would be GREAT NEWS!
Honestly, so far AND BY FAR, the best story yet
From a fellow Italian fan who already knew Nuvolari I LOVED how Ficarra told this story. Now that one time where Nuvolari won the Mille Miglia by turning off his lights!
that sounds like another great story
HOLY SHIT HE'S ACTUALLY THE PREWAR TAKUMI
@@thestarlightalchemist7333 RIGHT?! I THOUGHT THE SAME
@@jplslo8213 He also raced without the steering wheel
@@metalgarageit And also raced with a broken leg.
Hated history class back in school.
Love these stories.
your teacher did it wrong my friend!
@@jd-py5nm or maybe it was the subject matter
@@jamesn5625 true it's not everyones cup of tea
@@jamesn5625 Nope, you just start appreciating history more as you age. When you're young you don't understand the point and it just bores you because you have no idea how it relates to life experiences. The older you get the more you understand how important those lessons can be. Well, I guess dumb people who don't think much beyond what's right in front of them never care much for history but everyone with a brain that I know has always said they enjoy history more as they get older. I know I'll probably get some hate for this comment but that's what happens when someone tells the truth.
@@JSchaffer214 Eh. For me, History's always been my favorite subject. In school it was a misery though.
Probably because I prefer to learn about events of geopolitical significance and things that have shaped the world as we know it today.
Instead, a lot of it was focused on obscure documents that have no significance to the rest of the world, and only a minor significance domestically, usually in the form of some law that eventually got repealed. Or some figure who was exclusively relevant to domestic politics, and even then, not majorly so.
I'd rather learn about things like the rise of Sun Yat Sen and how he shaped modern China, or Queen Victoria and how her reign defined an entire era for all of Europe (if not the world)... Rather than being made to learn how some chief justice from hundreds of years ago, named Samuel Chase, was also known as "Old Bacon Face," and eventually got impeached for being too impartial.
Victoria's reign and impact was maybe covered in a single day, the impact of steam power on the industrial revolution also only in a single day (at most). With over a week being spent learning about the cotton gin and spinning jenny, which is entirely backwards to me. Sun Yat-sen wasn't even covered at all.
This video gave me the inspiration I needed to write a story for my creative writing class.
“Write a story about a painting”, so of course after I saw this I knew what I needed to do. The story gave me an A in this class, thanks John!
Solid story teller.
Imagine all the eurobeat montages if there was footage of this
"I came up from the bottom and into the top"
There is footage of this, albeit very short
@@Jasonsminiadventure "For the first time, I feel Ali-i-ive!"
GAS GAS GAS!!!!!
But make it period-correct Eurobeat, though...so use samples from 30's big band jazz tracks for the beats.
Wow Just wow. No offense to Ed but John is my most favorite story teller ...
1935 German GP Podium: This can be red
This is a criminally under-rated comment. Well played, Nelson.
upvoted...
He defines what a story tell does. He embraces the story and pulls the listener along for a tremendous venture.
Last time I heard a good car story (Ford VS Ferrari) there was a movie about it. I know John has the Hollywood connections.
I am now looking forward for "Tazio takes on The Nazis" movie.
In all likelihood, Tazio was probably a Nazi sympathizer himself. Sometimes fact isn't so romantic.
John clearly had exposure to the cinematic world -- he sure knows how to tell a good story.
Never heard that story. What a great story
Yeah unfortunately it was not exactly how he told it, well unfortunately!
The Greatest racing driver of all time! Tazio Nuvolari.
John Ficarra, you always have some of the greatest stories to tell. I love the racing stories, I bet I’ve listened to the Ford GT story 20 times and I’ll probably listen to this one as much too.
One of the best stories ever posted here
plz tell the story of the 1957 german gp with fangio's swansong
Can do! Thanks for the great suggestion.
Ficarra needs a podcast just for Racing History
I originally wasn't going to click on the story, but as I kept scrolling I started to wonder who it was telling the story. Definitely glad I came back clicked the video.
You had me sitting at the edge of my chair, did not want to miss a heartbeat....what a story.
This man is why I love the channel. Just the most awesome history you would never know or think to seek out on your own.
HOW IS THIS NOT A MOVIE YET?? EPIC!!
Well, considering how Hollywood butchered the 1966 Le Mans, I'd rather not see a movie based on this...
What an incredible story! One of the best of 2020, without a doubt. Ficarra certainly has some good ones, and I think this one just went to first place on his list. Followed closely, of course, by the infamous "This could be red" story.
I read the story of this race 45 years ago and Tazio has been a hero of mine ever since.
Pulling out the recording of the Italian national anthem when the German say they don't have it....priceless.
I think tazio nuvolari is the goat of motorsport, not only he invented the drift but he also pulled off the biggest upset in History
WE NEED A JOHN FICARRA AMA!! Love how he can tell a story that doesn’t even involve him!
We need more people like John to keep these stories alive. I love racing and I didn't even know this one
I know every facet of the 1992 Hooters 500 which is widely considered to be the greatest NASCAR Cup race in history. That said, I want to hear John tell the story in his way if he’s a fan of that kind of thing. It would be amazing. His elegance in historical storytelling is among the best I’ve ever seen.
The King's last race, Jeff Gordon's first. Alan Kulwicki wins the championship in the "Underbird" as an independent owner/driver. So many pages turned as a result of the race. Some triumph, some tragedy in 92.
It's always great listening to Ficarra talk about racing history. You can tell how passionate he is about it. Great story!
When I see there's another video with John I literally drop anything I do and go watch it
What a story. What a man. What a car
This is def top 10 stories of all time for this channel for me, Thanks John!
You guys do a fantastic job finding people who are great story tellers!!!
That was one of the BEST car stories I've ever heard. Period! Love it!
John Ficarra has a lot of great car stories. Many thanks to Ed and VinWiki.
This is up there with my favorite VINwiki video - John’s telling of the story of the ‘65 Le Mans race. All of his stories are great, but the classic racing ones are another level of awesomeness! I know we’ve had a few recently, but fingers crossed that he filmed at least a few more during his last trip to see Ed. 🤞
Mr. John Ficarra and Mr. Ed Bolian are masters at story telling! Please give us more stories like this one, cheers!
Dude this needs be to a movie it's as good a story as Ford v Ferrari
7:20
Ferrari messing up pit stops seems to be a tradition they are unwilling to let go of.
Absolutely....😅
"... Four wheel drift"
My brain: *deja vu*
I've always loved Nuvolari for various other exploits (finishing with no steering wheel is my favorite) but this is a stone cold classic, and told SO well. Thanks chaps!
The no steering wheel anecdote is just too cool to be true, if it wasn’t confirmed by more than one source i wouldn’t believe it happened
Thank you sir. For explaining a race in great detail that most people would not have ever known about. This would make a great movie... Kind of like Ford VS Ferrari but it would be Italy VS Germany and the world...
No
No, remember it was Italy AND Germany against the world. Until Japan decided they wanted to join in
I thought John was going to tell the story of Rene Dreyfus winning the 1938 Pau Grand Prix in a Delahaye 145 owned by American ex-pat Lucy O'Reily Schell who lived in Paris. Dreyfus beat the Nazi funded Mercedes W154 driven by Caracciola and Lang. Dreyfus was a French Jew which makes their victory all that much sweeter! Side note, Schell was the mother of 50's era Grand Prix driver Harry Schell. There is a good book about this amazing victory: Faster: How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler’s Best by Neil Bascomb. I highly recommend it, especially if you like stories of Nazi's getting their asses kicked and who doesn't like that? Great story John, I am a fan of any and all motorsports history and this is one I didn't know much about.
Handing over his record of his national anthem must have been the cherry on top of the cake of that victory.
That's Tazio Nuvolari for you! The race account says that the track corner workers recalled that Nuvolari's "driving with a vengeance" after the ruined half-distance pit stop. The Alfa is sliding all over the place, yet he kept everything under his control, and still kept gaining to von Brauchistch in the leading Mercedes. The account's report of how he basically destroyed von Brauchitsch's lead gap is stunning, he gained 42.4 seconds in just five laps!
Some more clearer facts about the cars. The Alfa Romeo P3's 3.2 litre twin-supercharged engine only makes 265bhp, but with a very impressive torque, with top speed of, around 170mph. The Auto Union Type B had a 5 litre supercharged V16 engine, which produced around 375bhp, and even more impressive torque, top speed is around 185mph, possibly more. The Mercedes, meanwhile, is the most powerful in the grid, they had upgraded engines, the main drivers (including von Brauchitsch) used a 4 litre engine producing 445bhp, top speed of around 190mph, possibly more.
Also, by this time, the Alfa Romeo P3 had an Achilles' heel. The gearbox and drivetrain is at its limit transmitting the power and, more importantly, torque, of the 3.2 litre, 265bhp engine, having been made originally to transmit the power of a 2.6 litre, 215bhp engine. And in that race, Nuvolari's teammates, Antonio Brivio, and Louis Chiron, retired with broken final drives, with Brivio retiring on lap 2 and Chiron on lap 6. It really is incredible, therefore, that Nuvolari managed to make his car last the whole race distance and win against far superior opposition, by dint of his pure driving skills and "never give up" attitude.
Nuvolari managed to continuously give the German drivers and cars a really hard time in 1936. He managed to beat them four times that season, using the Tipo C Alfa Romeo, in both its straight-8 and V12 versions.
You are quite right about 1936 - in my opinion Nuvolari's greatest year. He defeated Caracciola in a straight fight at Barcelona, Rosemeyer at the Hungarian GP, and Varzi at Milan. He might have won at Monaco if his brakes hadn't faded, and he lost the Eifelrennen to Rosemeyer because of the latter's uncanny ability to see through the fog!
@@stephenlee1756 Yeah, for me, Caracciola's "rainmaster" title is in serious doubt that race, because Nuvolari had been giving him a big run for money. The harbour chicane is badly blocked by crashed cars during the race, but Nuvolari negotiates the narrow gap left faster than anyone else!
You can argue that the 1936 Mercedes Benz W25K had ill handling, but so does the 8C-35 Alfa of Nuvolari. In fact, Caracciola gained the upper hand late in the race since his car still had more fuel in its tank, which helped gain traction in the rear wheels in the wet, while Nuvolari's Alfa had much less fuel left, leaving him struggling for grip, apart from the aforementioned brake problems.
@@jcgabriel1569 Very good to find someone with an intelligent grasp of historical motor races! This TH-cam description of the 1935 Gereman GP is wrong in so many ways, following the usual pattern of trying to make Nuvolari's victory some sort of miracle. In fact the slippery conditions at the start gave the Alfas a chance - Nuvolari was second behind Caracciola on the first lap, but then had an off-course excursion (!) on the second and Chiron got in among the German cars until his retirement. Nuvolari drove with his head as well as his huge talent, and took his time picking up places before the mid-race fuel stop which lost him so much time. Mercedes then made a huge mistake in not ordering Brauchitsch in for another tyre stop before the end. His speed on the first 2 laps after mid-race was very obviously going to ruin his tyres especially as he had a reputation for this. Tazio eased into the second half of the race and was therefore able to maintain his pace to the end (Lewis Hamilton does something similar nowadays). Brauchitsch was not unlucky - just impetuous. But perhaps Nuvolari was lucky in that Caracciola had a huge tapeworm giving him a lot of discomfort, Stuck lost at least a minute when he stalled at the start, Rosemeyer was still very inexperienced and damaged his car against a bank, and Varzi's mind was "elsewhere". None of which detracts from Nuvolari's excellence.
@@stephenlee1756 The thing is, I always think that Nuvolari's pace during the second half of the race is the main event. Always very fast, but relatively consistent, so much so that von Brauchitsch, while acknowledging that his tyres are ruined thanks to his pace, tried a gamble which didn't work.
And you're right, whatever happened during the race never took anything from Nuvolari's win. In the end, at that time, it's always the driver and his car that could change everything.
For example, some might argue that if Stuck didn't stall at the start and wasn't held up by Lang and Geier in their Mercedes, he could've won, but then, if he's a better wet driver, he could've found a way past earlier. Or, Rosemeyer could've won the race if he didn't made a mistake and bent a wheel and caused the throttle to stick, but he did, in the heat of he battle with Caracciola. That's the point of racing, if you do it fast and do it right, you'll win, and of all the drivers in the race, Nuvolari did that, better than anyone else.
@@jcgabriel1569 You're right about the second half. If you look at the laptimes it's obvious that Brauchitsch did slow, fast, slow, fast laps as he basically panicked, with Neubauer making dramatic "slow down" gestures and the pit boards telling him that Nuvolari could take 10 or 20 seconds out of his lead every lap. I also suspect that Mercedes were wrong-footed by the fact that Brauchitsch's tyres lasted the first half of the race, and that his new set could therefore cope with the second half - overlooking the fact that the roads had dried. Although Brauchitsch could apparently see the breaker strip before the last lap it was too late to make a pit stop. Even so, Nuvolari had to drive those last 10 laps "in the genius zone".
One of the best story tellers yet
These are my favorite stories. John’s the best!
Saw the title, said, "Ficarra's back, effin' awesome!"
I would listen to this man and Ed Bolian telling stories about the patterns that form in drying paint.
Love your stories, keep the history alive brother..... Thanks KMFNB
Always love John Ficarra's stories. Can we have more?
Amazing story teller. Had me on the edge of my seat the whole time
Love this guys engineering stories.
The way he tells this story
Had my fullest attention
Pretty good storyteller
Morebof this guy please
The way he tells the story you’d think John was there watching. Lol
That's a wild story, id never heard about that race before. What an incredible win.
Storytelling skills are absolutely on point. Hooked on every word, had goosebumps on some parts. Absolutely wild, I love these old stories of Ficarra
this was a great story!
Magnificent! I'm in the midst of a research expedition for a period novel. What a story. To be sure, the weather helped but it was much more the man and not the machine in those days. I'll echo my many predecessors int he comments: More please.
Two videos and a subscription. These are so awesome! I'm going to start going to bed with John's dulcet tones in the background.
this was the best video I ever saw here! cheers lads
I love underdog stories just like this
This has always been my favorite racing story. If you want another great one, Fangio getting kidnapped in Cuba is a good one.
Fangio's '57 Nürburgring drive? The greatest drive in history in mine, and many others' opinions.
I've been lucky enough to work on a Scuderia Ferrari Alfa, strangely enough in Joe Ricciardo's workshop where a young Daniel was preparing his Go Kart. I love any stories of Nuvolari and this one is so beautifully told. A few years ago I went to his museum in Mantua. I've seen many a P3 and Monza's a few 8C-35's but you are correct. The holy grail of any GP car is the 1935 German GP winner at the hands of the flying Mantuan. VinWiki you now have a new subscriber, I've enjoyed many of your videos but to tell this tale one so close to my heart has made me click that button. Keep them coming pease.
More john ficcara videos! Number 1 vinwiki storyteller! We need a car-nerd president and i think we found our guy!
Best car story I've heard on this channel to date!!!! So glad you shared it thank you!
Seriously, top 3 best story tellers on this entire channel. PLEASE let this guy do more stories!
Great choice of car. Your story has brought tears to my eyes. When I was a child, I read a story about Nuvolari in a boy's 'wonder book'. Decades ago, when I lived in Italy, I visited the Nuvolari museum in Mantua. Alas, it was a public holiday and it was closed. So I stood and at the window reflecting on what I knew of him. Bravo Nuvolari!
I am but a simple man. I see John Ficarra, I upvote.
WHAT A STORY AND WHAT A STORYTELLER!
The best Car story teller on the internet... I salute you.....
Legend has it that Nuvolari would go out in practice and put up his best lap (which was often the best of anybody). Then he would have the mechanics remove half the brake shoes from the car and go even faster.
Best pure driver ever.
Now that's a great story teller if I ever heard one.
Jesus Chris, he was the Jesse Owens of race car drivers. I liked this video 2 minutes into it. Great story by a awesome storyteller. I’m not going to butcher his name, but wow; that driver won that race for humanity. WOW!!! Thanks for sharing this piece of history. Seriously!!!
This is such an amazing Story. I really love how John tells it. I already knew it but this guy tells the story with such a passion. Really nice!
With this kind of backstory my car pick looks boring. I would take the Gemera. The Agera RS is my absolute favorite but the Gemera has just everything.
John is by far my favorite guy on vinwiki now
+ 1 for Tazio being a legend and prewar drivers being superhuman. Thanks for telling the story.
John Ficarra has got to be the greatest automotive storyteller of all time. The way he tells them is so engaging and entertaining. What a legend 👍🏻
One of your best videos!!!
Dudes, I’m here for the classic racing stories. For real, that’s some solid content.
Best VinWiki car story, period
Funny how he mentions a 2min pit stop would completely f*ck up your race right after what happened to Mercedes this weekend.
This was honestly one of my FAVORITE stories!
Fantastic recap from John!
Fantastic story. Tazio is also my favorite driver, then Sterling Moss. Thanks.
Years ago in high school, I read a book about the worlds greatest drivers, now this book would be probably 70 years old today and the number one driver was Tazio...loved to hear this.
I listened to this twice in a row. Great.
More more more racing stories from John!!!!!!
*sees the title*
me: I hope it's John Ficarra
*opens video*
It is John Ficarra.
This is a good day.
Tazio is one of my heroes too. Great recounting of a spectacular driving performance!
One of the best recent videos on here, bravo! From a 911, BMW and Alfa (love the car) owner , the Italians have a way of making a fun car. Yes it's been too the dealer, far too many times
Damn okay these classic racing stories are awesome
I found this on the Continental Tire website about this time period: “Between 1935 and 1940, Mercedes and Auto-Union (known as Audi today) cars fitted with Continental racing tires have a formidable streak of racing triumphs. Four consecutive victories in the German Grand Prix, four wins in the North African Tripoli race, three in Italy, plus numerous speed records help racing drivers like Rudolf Caracciola, Berndt von Rosemeyer and Hans Stuck achieve international fame.”
Best Ficarra tale thus far