Category: Film

A nation thriving for speed

Though this video came out last year, I only found out about it a few days ago. Unfortunately however, YouTube (or the authors?) will not allow to embed it, so you need to click HERE or on the pic above to see it. In a nutshell, it’s a 47-minutes long documentary on the Silberpfeile. Well, though the authors do a fantastic job on explaining the origins of the cars, they almost exclusively focus on the land speed record attempts of both Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union. Grand Prix racing, in theory the primary reason for Germany’s National Socialist Party funding the two companies, is barely cited. Furthermore, they pay special emphasis to Bernd Rosemeyer’s accident, and basically cite en passant the previous record attempts. Nonetheless, the research is fantastic and the historic footage is awesome.

So, though it could be seen as maybe incomplete, with no mention to GP racing and barely nothing on other LSR attempts by the Silberpfeile, it’s still a fantastic way to spend 47 minutes 😎.

Safari Rally Kenya 2025

While at the gym this morning, resting in-between exercise series (one of those moments when you’re uncertain if you want to die or just go home?), I looked up to the big screen TV. Normally I don’t even know what’s showing on the TV, since I just want to get the torture over as soon as possible. Yet, today I looked up and to my astonishment they were showing a recap of the 2025 Kenya Rally, that ended this Sunday 23rd. Well, I than had to watch it, and boy, as always, the Kenya Rally was wild! And once again, DirtFish produced a great video on the race, so if you have 8 minutes to spare, it’s a nice watch.

And before someone asks, I’m not at liberty to confirm or deny the rumor that today’s gym session was not 100% optimal…

The 959 at the Paris Dakar Rally

A few days ago, the great John Ficarra, through VINwiki, released an AWESOME video about the Porsche 959 at the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally. As always, John Ficarra’s ability to spin a delightful tale is just outstanding. If you have 15 minutes and have at least a minor interest in the 959, I urge you to watch it. Absolutely fantastic! 😎😎😎

F1 in the 60s

Since I’m not a parade aficionado, I’m not the greatest fan of F1 😂. God, those races are boring – there’s more excitement off the track than during the race. Yet, it wasn’t always like this. Up to the 70s (80s?), things were way more thrilling. For instance, look at the current Grand Master Parade, the Monaco GP. Thrilling as paint drying nowadays, in the 60s it was awesome. Up above you can see this, and in 4K. The only issue is that the video is dubbed, with car sounds added in post-production (the original movie was like this). And due to the remasterization, some parts of the shot are shaky. Even so, a delightful 10 minutes, proving that F1 is not always bad. Or better saying, was once cool 😕.

Donohue & Penske Documentary

Written by Brock Yates, I think “Four Hands on The Wheel” came out in 1970. The film is a 47 minutes look into the partnership between Mark Donohue and Roger Penske. Fantastic to see Penske’s blue and yellow Sunoco cars of the late 60s, from Camaros to Lolas. In other words, a must see for gearheads fans of vintage racing.

Le Mans 1968

Found this one yesterday. All in all, 33 minutes of very nice footage of the 1968 race. As a bonus, it has an English voice-over narration (the original film is in French). And best of all, this time there isn’t that typical gut-wrenching seizure-inducing awfully terrible elevator music that you hear a lot in many of the 60s and 70s documentaries.

PS: This is the third nice film I found about the 1968 race. While from some years you can’t find zilch, for some reason 1968 was prolific.

Golden Age of Grand Prix Racing

Though this has been on YouTube for many years, I first saw it last night. The original documentary is pretty old (80s, perhaps?), so the video quality is far from what we expect today. Even so, it’s a delightful 49 minutes about the Golden Era of Grand Prix racing. The last third part of the film is almost solely about the Silberpfeile, which of course was the best part in my opinion. In fact, this was the first time I saw color footage on the Silver Arrows. All in all, a very nice documentary about the Silberpfeile and something on their predecessors.

Daytona 1970: the 917’s finest hour?

As most have surmised by now, I’m a Le Mans nut (duh). Yes, the 24 Heures du Mans is THE greatest car race of this mud ball we call Earth. No questions asked. PERIOD. However, some times, very rarely in fact, some races come very close to that title. And one such race was the 1970 24 Hours of Daytona. John Ficarra of VINwiki tells the story of how the Porsche 917 came to fame at Daytona in 1970. The video is about 16 minutes of pure joy. Watch. Now.

PS: I absolutely need to get that 917 #2 winner 🧐.