Land Speed Art And The Bad Guys

There is something very organic and natural about land speed racing. It’s the driver and the car – nothing comes between man, machine, and speed. It’s this setting that captures automotive art better than any other. Like placing a Picasso on a white wall, the art just speaks.

My favorite genre of this art comes from Pre-WWII Germany. While America was suffering through the depression, designers and engineers (mainly from Auto Union and Mercedes) were setting the standard for slippery design, high horsepower, and top speeds. Although not often recognized, it’s these very cars that became the inspiration for the great American streamliners that roared down the B-ville stripe after WWII.

It’s always amazed and intrigued me how these early German efforts have been largely ignored by the hot rodding community even as our pioneers admit to thier influence. I’m certain that the source is a big reason for the lapse in history. Who wants to have a foundation in Nazi Germany? Who wants fore founders that were also responsible for engineering and building some of the same war machines that fought our heroes?

A tough story to tell. A tough story to sell.