Hans Herrmann – The Chicane

German carmakers sure have an unfair advantage when it comes to testing a racing prototype. Who needs a test track when you have easy access to the Nürburgring? And why box it up and ship it when you can just take the Autobahn there?
Here’s the Porsche development team testing out at 550 Spyder on the Autobahn in the weeks before the 1954 Mille Miglia. How amazing is that VW “Barn Door” Transporter? Looks to be the same one they used as the support vehicle for the Mille itself.

I have a slot car of that #351 Hermann/Linge Spyder, I’ve always loved that car and the legends that surround it.

via Gmund Brokerage, which is jam-packed with fantastic VW & Porsche info. More on #351 at Type 550.

More on the Bravery of Hans Herrmann

Following up on yesterday’s legend of the Mille Miglia train crossing post, and building upon last year’s post about the incident, I’ve recently stumbled upon more photos of Hans crashing his BRM at the end of one of the long straights at AVUS. The crash at the 1959 German Grand Prix is well known, but while searching for images for yesterday’s post I found these that I’ve not seen before. I didn’t know that the crash was captured at other angles. I’ve seen the photo of Hans crouched beneath the tumbling BRM many times, but these other angles give an even greater impression of how truly close—and how truly lucky—Hans was.

It is not these photos that are the great testament to his bravery, but that he ever got in a racing car again.