Faster, page 34
Rudi suffered three tire failures: Cernuschi, Nuvolari, p. 116; Caracciola, A Racing Car Driver’s World,pp. 107–18.
“Kaiser Wilhelm’s army of 1914”: Speed, August 1937.
When a Mercedes driver needed: Lang, Grand Prix Driver, pp. 41–42.
“No. 1 gets the left rear wheel ready”: Neubauer, Speed Was My Life, p. 156.
“the secret of victory”: Caracciola, Rennen, p. 83.
With five laps remaining: Ibid.; Motor, May 21, 1935; L’Auto, May 12, 1935; see the 1935 Tripoli entry at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3502.htm#6.
“There was the sun”: Caracciola, A Racing Car Driver’s World, p. 118.
“absolute superiority”: “Mercedes-Benz Press Informationsdienst, Tripoli 1935,” MB 128/1031, DBA.
A month later, in mid-June: Neubauer, Speed Was My Life, pp. 70–71; Motorsport, July 1935; see the 1935 Eifelrennen entry at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3504.htm#19.
As was expected of him: Day, Silberpfeil und Hakenkreuz, p. 85.
“Well done, my dear boy”: Rao, Rudolf Caracciola, p. 210.
He was more vainglorious: Hilton, Hitler’s Grands Prix in England, p. 74.
At the time, one journalist: Ibid.
Throughout the summer of 1935: Road and Track, October 1983; Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 55.
After the race: See the 1935 Monaco entry at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3501.htm#3.
Afterward, a newspaper cartoon: Undated newspaper cartoon, French Grand Prix 1935, Race files (1037), DBA.
“the great misery”: La Vie Automobile, July 10, 1935.
“When will it be understood”: L’Intransigent, June 25, 1935.
The ACF took the coward’s path: Paris and Mearns, Jean-Pierre Wimille, p. 67.
At the Belgian Grand Prix: Motorsport, August 1935.
René spent so much time: L’Auto, August 1, 1935. The effect of the WW fuel prompted a big debate, and Mercedes-Benz even called a press conference to refute the claims.
Thirty-seven years old: Yates, Ferrari, pp. x–xi.
While Nuvolari was all emotion: Ferrari, p. 63.
The two could not stand: “1935 Season Lineup,” The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3501.htm#SL.
“You sir”: Cernuschi, Corse per Il Mondo, p. 297.
Away from races: Road and Track, September 1980.
Five feet, five inches tall: Motor, June 22, 1937.
“He drove like a madman”: Purdy, The Kings of the Road, pp. 43–49.
Wearing his trademark lemon-yellow, sleeveless jersey: Cholmondeley-Tapper, Amateur Racing Driver, p. 93.
“Corri! [Come on!]”: Carter, Nuvolari and Alfa Romeo, n.p.
After the first lap: Cernuschi, Nuvolari, p. 123.
Round and round: L’Auto, August 1, 1935; Autocar, August 2, 1935; Motor, July 30, 1935; Canestrini, Uomini E Motori, pp. 188–91; Motorsport, September 1935; see the 1935 German Grand Prix entry at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3507.htm#31.
“inspired, fearless, untouchable”: Cernuschi, Nuvolari, p. 126.
“remorseless dance of death”: Ibid., p. 128.
“Brauchitsch is being closely followed”: Hilton, Nuvolari, p. 154.
“bad luck”: Herzog, Unter dem Mercedes-Stern, pp. 52–53.
“once again that the man”: Cernuschi, Nuvolari, p. 130.
Situated eighteen miles southeast of Paris: Gautier and Altounian, Memoire en Images Brunoy, pp. 7–126.
But the two-seater convertible roadster: Mays, Split Seconds, p. 242. For the sake of clarity, the author has decided to refer to the Delahaye 135 Special (the sports-car version produced for Lucy) as simply “the 135,” since this is the only version profiled in the book.
At 3.5 liters: Marc-Antoine, Delahaye 135, pp. 26–28; Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 147.
Before François finished building the 135: L’Auto, December 17, 1935; L’Auto, October 9, 1935.
“There you are”: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 151.
Every detail: La Rairie, Credit Agricoles Papers, Archives de Brunoy.
As well as preparing: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, pp. 150–51.
“Put Nuvolari in the car”: Zagari, Tazio Nuvolari, p. 9.
His countrymen: Motorsport, October 1935; see the 1935 Italian Grand Prix entry at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3509.htm#39.
The Italian crowd: L’Auto, September 9–10, 1935.
Worse were the sneers: Ribet, interview with the author.
Signs posted outside restaurants: Wolff, The Shrinking Circle, p. 12.
At Nuremberg: Burden, The Nuremberg Rallies, pp. 108–10.
“Politics are normally”: Motorsport, December 1935.
With several wins: See “AIACR European Championship 1935,” The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/cha5.htm; Road and Track, October 1983; Road and Track, August 1976.
“continual agitation”: Motorsport, May 1935.
The annual shuffle of drivers: Automobile Quarterly, 2nd quarter 1979.
“Your name is Dreyfus”: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 120. Although said by a Vichy judge during the war, the sentiment was no doubt the same expressed earlier by such racist ideologues.
apart from Nuvolari: Ribet, interview with the author; Motorsport, January 1936; Stevenson, Driving Forces, pp. 138–50; Tragatsch, Die Grossen Renn-jahre 1919–1939, pp. 259–60; Yates, Ferrari, pp. 108–9.
Adolf Rosenberger: Don Sherman, “Porsche’s Silent Partner,” Hagerty, August 9, 2018, https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2018/08/09/the-story-of-adolf-rosenberger.
“They will decide”: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 87.
“splendid”: ACF Bulletin Officiel, October 1935.
With a jubilant shout: La Vie Automobile, February 25, 1936; Delahaye Club Bulletin, March 2002; Symons, Monte Carlo Rally, pp. 208–9.
The warm weather: Horizons, March 1936; L’Automobile sur la Côte d’Azur, February 1936.
Their Delahaye: Motorsport, August 1936.
“The whole machine”: Autocar, September 1936.
When the Schells: Horizons, March 1936; L’Automobile sur la Côte d’Azur, February 1936.
That year: La Vie Automobile, February 25, 1936; Motorsport, February 1936.
The next month: L’Auto, March 7–12, 1936.
Lucy suffered a further poor performance: L’Auto, April 1936; La Vie Automobile, May 10, 1936; Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, pp. 177–83.
On February 15: Motorsport, March 1936; Nixon, Racing the Silver Arrows, p. 108.
“no longer be automobiles”: L’Auto, February 15, 1936.
After the debacle: September 1937, Archives de Brunoy; La Vie Automobile, November 10, 1934; La Vie Automobile, May 10, 1935; L’Auto, December 17, 1935; Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 153.
“France wants peace”: Weber, The Hollow Years, pp. 145–46.
“Hitler has got away with it!”: Shirer, Berlin Diary, pp. 55–56.
In the wake: René Dreyfus, interview with Jean Paul Caron, 1973, PPRA; Paris Soir, May 1, 1938.
“What now, Madame Schell?”: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 175; Dreyfus, interview with Caron, 1973.
7. A Very Good Story
As a young man in his twenties: Mays, Split Seconds, p. 24; Legion of Honor records, Paris, France.
“the marque better known”: Delahaye Club Bulletin, Winter 2014.
Most of all: Le Figaro, October 13, 1937; Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 70.
They both knew: L’Auto, February 15, 1936.
Weiffenbach added that: Dorizon, Peigney, and Dauliac, Delahaye, pp. 50–52.
Over the next few days: Venables, French Racing Blue, pp. 128–29; Strother MacMinn, “Delahaye Type 145 Coupe,” PPRA.
In the spring of 1936: Abeillon, Talbot-Lago de Course, p. 7.
“We still have a lot to do”: L’Intransigent, December 18, 1935.
Lago was a garrulous, handsome Italian: Larsen, Talbot-Lago Grand Sport, pp. 17–20.
Formed in 1903: Ibid., pp. 19–21; Automobile Quarterly, Spring/Summer 1965; Automobile Quarterly, 4th quarter 1985.
“in the very near future”: L’Auto, February 7, 1935.
This would include: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 149.
On May 24: Automobile Quarterly, 4th quarter 1985.
“Just go as fast as you can”: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 64.
René followed the orders: L’Auto, May 25, 1936.
Two days after the race: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, pp. 192–93; Weber, The Hollow Years, pp. 150–53.
No corner of France: Larsen, Talbot-Lago Grand Sport, pp. 20–24.
“I’ve nothing to worry about”: Bugatti, The Bugatti Story, p. 82.
Wider and longer: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, pp. 197–201.
“Your job will be”: Automobile Quarterly, Spring/Summer 1965.
At ten o’clock: Motorsport, August 1936; L’Auto, June 25–30, 1936.
At the Marne race: L’Auto, July 6, 1936.
“Why, yes, I believe so”: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 223.
Ever since they shared: Dreyfus, interview with Louche, PPML.
“Women”: Original interviews between Dreyfus and Kimes, PPBK; Automobile Quarterly, 4th quarter 1978.
The son of a famous and well-heeled: Paris and Mearns, Jean-Pierre Wimille, pp. 13–30.
On August 9: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, pp. 67–68.
On May 10, 1936: Motorsport, June 1936; see the 1936 Tripoli Grand Prix entry at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3603.htm#8.
Watching with Governor-General Italo Balbo: Reuss, Hitler’s Motor Racing Battles, p. 262.
“bloody swine”: Neubauer, Speed Was My Life, pp. 76–77; Reuss, Hitler’s Motor Racing Battles, pp. 262–68. In his history, Reuss provides fairly clear documentation that the race was a setup from the start.
She was always full of energy: Caracciola, A Racing Car Driver’s World, p. 120.
“If I could find a girl like you”: Car and Driver, November 1985.
“chalk-white Moorish façades”: Neubauer, Speed Was My Life, pp. 77–78.
“A toast to the victor”: Reuss, Hitler’s Motor Racing Battles, p. 266.
He remained ambiguous: Brauchitsch, Ohne Kampf Kein Siege, pp. 118–19.
“swift as greyhounds”: Day, Silberpfeil und Hakenkreuz, p. 137.
A blanket of fog settled: Nixon, Kings of Nürburgring, p. 88; see the 1936 Eifelrennen entry at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3605.htm#15.
“It must be a drive”: Autocar, July 1936.
“thunderbolt known as Rosemeyer”: Motor, June 1936.
Bernd had been watching: Motorsport, September 1935.
“Just as a bird”: Rosemeyer and Nixon, Rosemeyer!, p. 27.
“Like a high-speed camel”: Ibid., p. 36.
“the fastest couple”: Cancellieri, Auto Union, p. 83.
“If [he] had not existed”: Pritchard, Silver Arrows in Camera, p. 161.
While he was racing motorcycles: Frilling, Elly Beinhorn und Bernd Rosemeyer, pp. 40–41; Hilton, How Hitler Hijacked World Sport, p. 42.
“the radiant boy”: Day, Silberpfeil und Hakenkreuz, pp. 172–75.
“Beautiful blond Bernd”: Ibid.
“Unforgettable, dazzling Bernd”: Ibid.
“German heroine”: Ibid., pp. 175–83; Frilling, Elly Beinhorn und Bernd Rosemeyer, p. 67.
Thirteen days after Bernd and Elly’s marriage: Autocar, July 31, 1936.
On August 1: L’Auto, August 2, 1936; François-Poncet, The Fateful Years, pp. 203–6; Kershaw, Hitler, p. 6.
“Champagne flowed like water”: Keys, Globalizing Sport, p. 152.
“Face contorted”: François-Poncet, The Fateful Years, p. 205.
“truly difficult to endure”: Keys, Globalizing Sport, p. 153.
JEWS AND ANIMALS NOT ALLOWED: Ibid., pp. 134–42.
“witnessing the revival”: Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness, p. 180.
“warriors for Germany”: Keys, Globalizing Sport, p. 129.
“great lesson”: L’Auto, August 1, 1936.
“A car is not a thing”: Setright, The Designers, p. 13.
“any more cylinders”: Ludvigsen, The V12 Engine, p. 13.
Although complex: Classic and Sportscar, August 1992.
“a peculiar pulse”: Ludvigsen, The V12 Engine, p. 9.
Using the proven method: Le Fanatique de L’Automobile, April 1978; Dorizon, Peigney, and Dauliac, Delahaye, pp. 56–58; Strother MacMinn, “Delahaye Type 145,” PPRA; Mays, Split Seconds, pp. 264–66; Ludvigsen, The V12 Engine, pp. 211–12.
regardless of how well built and tuned: Jolly, Delahaye: Sport et Prestige, p. 130.
In its design: Ibid.; Le Fanatique de L’Automobile, April 1978.
“No wild innovations here”: Strother MacMinn, “Delahaye Type 145,” PPRA.
That September: Autocar, September 11, 1936.
Since spinning out of control: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 183.
After returning to France: Ibid., p. 271.
“finesse and intelligence”: L’Auto, July 16, 1933, and May 10, 1936.
“calm, measured of movement”: Moteurs Courses, 3rd quarter 1956.
Lucy liked to conduct her business: Auto Retro, September 1981.
“It is to be professional”: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 69; Dreyfus, interview with Caron, 1973.
“who talked a very good story”: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 70.
8. Rally
“Sheep in wolves’ clothing”: Miniature Auto, August 1966.
“A Jewish slave”: Hochstetter, Motorisierung und “Volksgemeinshaft,” p. 295; Car and Driver, November 1985.
In the run-up: Motor, September 22, 1936.
In the first two laps: L’Auto, August 24, 1936; Neubauer, Speed Was My Life, p. 75; see the 1936 entry for the Swiss Grand Prix at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3609.htm#30.
“Well, young man”: Rosemeyer and Nixon, Rosemeyer!, p. 85.
“a remarkable driver”: L’Auto, September 15, 1936.
He wanted Baby: Automobile Quarterly, Summer 1968; Caracciola, A Racing Car Driver’s World, pp. 119–20.
He read how: Rosemeyer and Nixon, Rosemeyer!,pp. 110–18.
“What are my plans”: L’Intransigent, October 15, 1936.
“season of rumors”: Motorsport, December 1936.
“most beautiful of the beauties”: Tissot, Figoni Delahaye, p. 55.
“I thought, ambitious”: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 69.
As the weeks passed: Ibid., pp. 70–71.
Jean-Pierre Wimille: L’Auto, October 20, 1936.
On December 10, 1936: L’Intransigent, December 11, 1936.
“The story of racing”: L’Auto, December 11, 1936.
“Million Franc Race”: L’Auto, January 1, 1937.
“I will try my luck”: L’Auto, January 6–15, 1937.
“It was to catch the imagination”: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 289.
in mid-January 1937: L’Auto, February 3, 1937.
Initially René was reluctant: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 70.
In Hamburg, René took the wheel: La Vie Automobile, February 25, 1937; Autocar, February 5, 1937; Motor, February 2, 1937; Motorsport, February 1937.
“Which way do you want to turn”: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 71.
“Bet that today”: L’Intransigent, January 24–31, 1937.
René agreed: L’Auto, January 24–February 3, 1937; La Vie Automobile, February 25, 1937.
Lucy was well versed: Lucy Schell, letter to Maurice Phillipe, May 8, 1938, Maurice Phillipe Papers, REVS.
the chaine maudite (the damned chain): Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 71.
In February 1937: Car and Driver, November 1985.
In only six months: Nixon, Racing the Silver Arrows,pp. 178–81. In his fine history of the Silver Arrows, Nixon includes a wonderful interview with Uhlenhaut.
To begin with: Ibid.; Scheller and Pollak, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, pp. 46–53; Ludvigsen, Mercedes-Benz Racing Cars, p. 112.
For several weeks: “Programm fur die Proben mit den neuen Rennwagenmodel 1937,” February 19, 1937, Mercedes-Benz documents, Personal Papers of Karl Ludvigsen, REVS; Jenkinson, The Grand Prix Mercedes-Benz,pp. 16–18.
He reached 88 mph: Undated Motortext press release, Personal Papers of Karl Ludvigsen, REVS.
While Rudi was trialing: L’Auto, April 6, 1937.
The team was headed: Motorsport, March 1937.
Next, René competed: L’Auto, April 7, 1937; Autocar, April 9, 1937.
“past great efforts”: L’Auto, March 28, 1937.
When reporters: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 306.
On April 12: L’Auto, August 28, 1937.
“Bravo, Jean-Pierre”: L’Auto, April 13, 1937.
Throughout April: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 316.
9. The Winged Beetle
In May, René found himself: L’Auto, May 10, 1937.
On weekends: L’Auto, March 16, 1937.
It was over 100 degrees: Moretti, Grand Prix Tripoli, pp. 129–33, 145; see the 1937 entry for the Tripoli Grand Prix at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp371.htm#9.
“champagne all around”: Motorsport, February 2006.
Jean François kept tinkering: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, pp. 316, 351.
“I’m leaving Louis”: Car and Driver, November 1985.
Further, although René did not believe: Motorsport, March 2005. This Nigel Roebuck interview with Dreyfus offers some of the most revealing insights into the driver’s views of his fellow competitors, particularly those from Germany. For instance: “Nuvolari was utterly supreme. He could do things with a car no one else could—you were aware of that when you followed him. Often you went into a corner behind him, and just knew that he wasn’t going to make it—but he did. [Rudi] Caracciola perhaps believed himself the best, and he was indeed a great driver: smooth and, without doubt, the best in the rain. But he was not Nuvolari.”
“Kaiser Wilhelm’s army of 1914”: Speed, August 1937.
When a Mercedes driver needed: Lang, Grand Prix Driver, pp. 41–42.
“No. 1 gets the left rear wheel ready”: Neubauer, Speed Was My Life, p. 156.
“the secret of victory”: Caracciola, Rennen, p. 83.
With five laps remaining: Ibid.; Motor, May 21, 1935; L’Auto, May 12, 1935; see the 1935 Tripoli entry at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3502.htm#6.
“There was the sun”: Caracciola, A Racing Car Driver’s World, p. 118.
“absolute superiority”: “Mercedes-Benz Press Informationsdienst, Tripoli 1935,” MB 128/1031, DBA.
A month later, in mid-June: Neubauer, Speed Was My Life, pp. 70–71; Motorsport, July 1935; see the 1935 Eifelrennen entry at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3504.htm#19.
As was expected of him: Day, Silberpfeil und Hakenkreuz, p. 85.
“Well done, my dear boy”: Rao, Rudolf Caracciola, p. 210.
He was more vainglorious: Hilton, Hitler’s Grands Prix in England, p. 74.
At the time, one journalist: Ibid.
Throughout the summer of 1935: Road and Track, October 1983; Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 55.
After the race: See the 1935 Monaco entry at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3501.htm#3.
Afterward, a newspaper cartoon: Undated newspaper cartoon, French Grand Prix 1935, Race files (1037), DBA.
“the great misery”: La Vie Automobile, July 10, 1935.
“When will it be understood”: L’Intransigent, June 25, 1935.
The ACF took the coward’s path: Paris and Mearns, Jean-Pierre Wimille, p. 67.
At the Belgian Grand Prix: Motorsport, August 1935.
René spent so much time: L’Auto, August 1, 1935. The effect of the WW fuel prompted a big debate, and Mercedes-Benz even called a press conference to refute the claims.
Thirty-seven years old: Yates, Ferrari, pp. x–xi.
While Nuvolari was all emotion: Ferrari, p. 63.
The two could not stand: “1935 Season Lineup,” The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3501.htm#SL.
“You sir”: Cernuschi, Corse per Il Mondo, p. 297.
Away from races: Road and Track, September 1980.
Five feet, five inches tall: Motor, June 22, 1937.
“He drove like a madman”: Purdy, The Kings of the Road, pp. 43–49.
Wearing his trademark lemon-yellow, sleeveless jersey: Cholmondeley-Tapper, Amateur Racing Driver, p. 93.
“Corri! [Come on!]”: Carter, Nuvolari and Alfa Romeo, n.p.
After the first lap: Cernuschi, Nuvolari, p. 123.
Round and round: L’Auto, August 1, 1935; Autocar, August 2, 1935; Motor, July 30, 1935; Canestrini, Uomini E Motori, pp. 188–91; Motorsport, September 1935; see the 1935 German Grand Prix entry at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3507.htm#31.
“inspired, fearless, untouchable”: Cernuschi, Nuvolari, p. 126.
“remorseless dance of death”: Ibid., p. 128.
“Brauchitsch is being closely followed”: Hilton, Nuvolari, p. 154.
“bad luck”: Herzog, Unter dem Mercedes-Stern, pp. 52–53.
“once again that the man”: Cernuschi, Nuvolari, p. 130.
Situated eighteen miles southeast of Paris: Gautier and Altounian, Memoire en Images Brunoy, pp. 7–126.
But the two-seater convertible roadster: Mays, Split Seconds, p. 242. For the sake of clarity, the author has decided to refer to the Delahaye 135 Special (the sports-car version produced for Lucy) as simply “the 135,” since this is the only version profiled in the book.
At 3.5 liters: Marc-Antoine, Delahaye 135, pp. 26–28; Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 147.
Before François finished building the 135: L’Auto, December 17, 1935; L’Auto, October 9, 1935.
“There you are”: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 151.
Every detail: La Rairie, Credit Agricoles Papers, Archives de Brunoy.
As well as preparing: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, pp. 150–51.
“Put Nuvolari in the car”: Zagari, Tazio Nuvolari, p. 9.
His countrymen: Motorsport, October 1935; see the 1935 Italian Grand Prix entry at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3509.htm#39.
The Italian crowd: L’Auto, September 9–10, 1935.
Worse were the sneers: Ribet, interview with the author.
Signs posted outside restaurants: Wolff, The Shrinking Circle, p. 12.
At Nuremberg: Burden, The Nuremberg Rallies, pp. 108–10.
“Politics are normally”: Motorsport, December 1935.
With several wins: See “AIACR European Championship 1935,” The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/cha5.htm; Road and Track, October 1983; Road and Track, August 1976.
“continual agitation”: Motorsport, May 1935.
The annual shuffle of drivers: Automobile Quarterly, 2nd quarter 1979.
“Your name is Dreyfus”: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 120. Although said by a Vichy judge during the war, the sentiment was no doubt the same expressed earlier by such racist ideologues.
apart from Nuvolari: Ribet, interview with the author; Motorsport, January 1936; Stevenson, Driving Forces, pp. 138–50; Tragatsch, Die Grossen Renn-jahre 1919–1939, pp. 259–60; Yates, Ferrari, pp. 108–9.
Adolf Rosenberger: Don Sherman, “Porsche’s Silent Partner,” Hagerty, August 9, 2018, https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2018/08/09/the-story-of-adolf-rosenberger.
“They will decide”: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 87.
“splendid”: ACF Bulletin Officiel, October 1935.
With a jubilant shout: La Vie Automobile, February 25, 1936; Delahaye Club Bulletin, March 2002; Symons, Monte Carlo Rally, pp. 208–9.
The warm weather: Horizons, March 1936; L’Automobile sur la Côte d’Azur, February 1936.
Their Delahaye: Motorsport, August 1936.
“The whole machine”: Autocar, September 1936.
When the Schells: Horizons, March 1936; L’Automobile sur la Côte d’Azur, February 1936.
That year: La Vie Automobile, February 25, 1936; Motorsport, February 1936.
The next month: L’Auto, March 7–12, 1936.
Lucy suffered a further poor performance: L’Auto, April 1936; La Vie Automobile, May 10, 1936; Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, pp. 177–83.
On February 15: Motorsport, March 1936; Nixon, Racing the Silver Arrows, p. 108.
“no longer be automobiles”: L’Auto, February 15, 1936.
After the debacle: September 1937, Archives de Brunoy; La Vie Automobile, November 10, 1934; La Vie Automobile, May 10, 1935; L’Auto, December 17, 1935; Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 153.
“France wants peace”: Weber, The Hollow Years, pp. 145–46.
“Hitler has got away with it!”: Shirer, Berlin Diary, pp. 55–56.
In the wake: René Dreyfus, interview with Jean Paul Caron, 1973, PPRA; Paris Soir, May 1, 1938.
“What now, Madame Schell?”: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 175; Dreyfus, interview with Caron, 1973.
7. A Very Good Story
As a young man in his twenties: Mays, Split Seconds, p. 24; Legion of Honor records, Paris, France.
“the marque better known”: Delahaye Club Bulletin, Winter 2014.
Most of all: Le Figaro, October 13, 1937; Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 70.
They both knew: L’Auto, February 15, 1936.
Weiffenbach added that: Dorizon, Peigney, and Dauliac, Delahaye, pp. 50–52.
Over the next few days: Venables, French Racing Blue, pp. 128–29; Strother MacMinn, “Delahaye Type 145 Coupe,” PPRA.
In the spring of 1936: Abeillon, Talbot-Lago de Course, p. 7.
“We still have a lot to do”: L’Intransigent, December 18, 1935.
Lago was a garrulous, handsome Italian: Larsen, Talbot-Lago Grand Sport, pp. 17–20.
Formed in 1903: Ibid., pp. 19–21; Automobile Quarterly, Spring/Summer 1965; Automobile Quarterly, 4th quarter 1985.
“in the very near future”: L’Auto, February 7, 1935.
This would include: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 149.
On May 24: Automobile Quarterly, 4th quarter 1985.
“Just go as fast as you can”: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 64.
René followed the orders: L’Auto, May 25, 1936.
Two days after the race: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, pp. 192–93; Weber, The Hollow Years, pp. 150–53.
No corner of France: Larsen, Talbot-Lago Grand Sport, pp. 20–24.
“I’ve nothing to worry about”: Bugatti, The Bugatti Story, p. 82.
Wider and longer: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, pp. 197–201.
“Your job will be”: Automobile Quarterly, Spring/Summer 1965.
At ten o’clock: Motorsport, August 1936; L’Auto, June 25–30, 1936.
At the Marne race: L’Auto, July 6, 1936.
“Why, yes, I believe so”: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 223.
Ever since they shared: Dreyfus, interview with Louche, PPML.
“Women”: Original interviews between Dreyfus and Kimes, PPBK; Automobile Quarterly, 4th quarter 1978.
The son of a famous and well-heeled: Paris and Mearns, Jean-Pierre Wimille, pp. 13–30.
On August 9: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, pp. 67–68.
On May 10, 1936: Motorsport, June 1936; see the 1936 Tripoli Grand Prix entry at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3603.htm#8.
Watching with Governor-General Italo Balbo: Reuss, Hitler’s Motor Racing Battles, p. 262.
“bloody swine”: Neubauer, Speed Was My Life, pp. 76–77; Reuss, Hitler’s Motor Racing Battles, pp. 262–68. In his history, Reuss provides fairly clear documentation that the race was a setup from the start.
She was always full of energy: Caracciola, A Racing Car Driver’s World, p. 120.
“If I could find a girl like you”: Car and Driver, November 1985.
“chalk-white Moorish façades”: Neubauer, Speed Was My Life, pp. 77–78.
“A toast to the victor”: Reuss, Hitler’s Motor Racing Battles, p. 266.
He remained ambiguous: Brauchitsch, Ohne Kampf Kein Siege, pp. 118–19.
“swift as greyhounds”: Day, Silberpfeil und Hakenkreuz, p. 137.
A blanket of fog settled: Nixon, Kings of Nürburgring, p. 88; see the 1936 Eifelrennen entry at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3605.htm#15.
“It must be a drive”: Autocar, July 1936.
“thunderbolt known as Rosemeyer”: Motor, June 1936.
Bernd had been watching: Motorsport, September 1935.
“Just as a bird”: Rosemeyer and Nixon, Rosemeyer!, p. 27.
“Like a high-speed camel”: Ibid., p. 36.
“the fastest couple”: Cancellieri, Auto Union, p. 83.
“If [he] had not existed”: Pritchard, Silver Arrows in Camera, p. 161.
While he was racing motorcycles: Frilling, Elly Beinhorn und Bernd Rosemeyer, pp. 40–41; Hilton, How Hitler Hijacked World Sport, p. 42.
“the radiant boy”: Day, Silberpfeil und Hakenkreuz, pp. 172–75.
“Beautiful blond Bernd”: Ibid.
“Unforgettable, dazzling Bernd”: Ibid.
“German heroine”: Ibid., pp. 175–83; Frilling, Elly Beinhorn und Bernd Rosemeyer, p. 67.
Thirteen days after Bernd and Elly’s marriage: Autocar, July 31, 1936.
On August 1: L’Auto, August 2, 1936; François-Poncet, The Fateful Years, pp. 203–6; Kershaw, Hitler, p. 6.
“Champagne flowed like water”: Keys, Globalizing Sport, p. 152.
“Face contorted”: François-Poncet, The Fateful Years, p. 205.
“truly difficult to endure”: Keys, Globalizing Sport, p. 153.
JEWS AND ANIMALS NOT ALLOWED: Ibid., pp. 134–42.
“witnessing the revival”: Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness, p. 180.
“warriors for Germany”: Keys, Globalizing Sport, p. 129.
“great lesson”: L’Auto, August 1, 1936.
“A car is not a thing”: Setright, The Designers, p. 13.
“any more cylinders”: Ludvigsen, The V12 Engine, p. 13.
Although complex: Classic and Sportscar, August 1992.
“a peculiar pulse”: Ludvigsen, The V12 Engine, p. 9.
Using the proven method: Le Fanatique de L’Automobile, April 1978; Dorizon, Peigney, and Dauliac, Delahaye, pp. 56–58; Strother MacMinn, “Delahaye Type 145,” PPRA; Mays, Split Seconds, pp. 264–66; Ludvigsen, The V12 Engine, pp. 211–12.
regardless of how well built and tuned: Jolly, Delahaye: Sport et Prestige, p. 130.
In its design: Ibid.; Le Fanatique de L’Automobile, April 1978.
“No wild innovations here”: Strother MacMinn, “Delahaye Type 145,” PPRA.
That September: Autocar, September 11, 1936.
Since spinning out of control: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 183.
After returning to France: Ibid., p. 271.
“finesse and intelligence”: L’Auto, July 16, 1933, and May 10, 1936.
“calm, measured of movement”: Moteurs Courses, 3rd quarter 1956.
Lucy liked to conduct her business: Auto Retro, September 1981.
“It is to be professional”: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 69; Dreyfus, interview with Caron, 1973.
“who talked a very good story”: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 70.
8. Rally
“Sheep in wolves’ clothing”: Miniature Auto, August 1966.
“A Jewish slave”: Hochstetter, Motorisierung und “Volksgemeinshaft,” p. 295; Car and Driver, November 1985.
In the run-up: Motor, September 22, 1936.
In the first two laps: L’Auto, August 24, 1936; Neubauer, Speed Was My Life, p. 75; see the 1936 entry for the Swiss Grand Prix at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3609.htm#30.
“Well, young man”: Rosemeyer and Nixon, Rosemeyer!, p. 85.
“a remarkable driver”: L’Auto, September 15, 1936.
He wanted Baby: Automobile Quarterly, Summer 1968; Caracciola, A Racing Car Driver’s World, pp. 119–20.
He read how: Rosemeyer and Nixon, Rosemeyer!,pp. 110–18.
“What are my plans”: L’Intransigent, October 15, 1936.
“season of rumors”: Motorsport, December 1936.
“most beautiful of the beauties”: Tissot, Figoni Delahaye, p. 55.
“I thought, ambitious”: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 69.
As the weeks passed: Ibid., pp. 70–71.
Jean-Pierre Wimille: L’Auto, October 20, 1936.
On December 10, 1936: L’Intransigent, December 11, 1936.
“The story of racing”: L’Auto, December 11, 1936.
“Million Franc Race”: L’Auto, January 1, 1937.
“I will try my luck”: L’Auto, January 6–15, 1937.
“It was to catch the imagination”: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 289.
in mid-January 1937: L’Auto, February 3, 1937.
Initially René was reluctant: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 70.
In Hamburg, René took the wheel: La Vie Automobile, February 25, 1937; Autocar, February 5, 1937; Motor, February 2, 1937; Motorsport, February 1937.
“Which way do you want to turn”: Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 71.
“Bet that today”: L’Intransigent, January 24–31, 1937.
René agreed: L’Auto, January 24–February 3, 1937; La Vie Automobile, February 25, 1937.
Lucy was well versed: Lucy Schell, letter to Maurice Phillipe, May 8, 1938, Maurice Phillipe Papers, REVS.
the chaine maudite (the damned chain): Dreyfus and Kimes, My Two Lives, p. 71.
In February 1937: Car and Driver, November 1985.
In only six months: Nixon, Racing the Silver Arrows,pp. 178–81. In his fine history of the Silver Arrows, Nixon includes a wonderful interview with Uhlenhaut.
To begin with: Ibid.; Scheller and Pollak, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, pp. 46–53; Ludvigsen, Mercedes-Benz Racing Cars, p. 112.
For several weeks: “Programm fur die Proben mit den neuen Rennwagenmodel 1937,” February 19, 1937, Mercedes-Benz documents, Personal Papers of Karl Ludvigsen, REVS; Jenkinson, The Grand Prix Mercedes-Benz,pp. 16–18.
He reached 88 mph: Undated Motortext press release, Personal Papers of Karl Ludvigsen, REVS.
While Rudi was trialing: L’Auto, April 6, 1937.
The team was headed: Motorsport, March 1937.
Next, René competed: L’Auto, April 7, 1937; Autocar, April 9, 1937.
“past great efforts”: L’Auto, March 28, 1937.
When reporters: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 306.
On April 12: L’Auto, August 28, 1937.
“Bravo, Jean-Pierre”: L’Auto, April 13, 1937.
Throughout April: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, p. 316.
9. The Winged Beetle
In May, René found himself: L’Auto, May 10, 1937.
On weekends: L’Auto, March 16, 1937.
It was over 100 degrees: Moretti, Grand Prix Tripoli, pp. 129–33, 145; see the 1937 entry for the Tripoli Grand Prix at The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing (website), http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp371.htm#9.
“champagne all around”: Motorsport, February 2006.
Jean François kept tinkering: Blight, The French Sports Car Revolution, pp. 316, 351.
“I’m leaving Louis”: Car and Driver, November 1985.
Further, although René did not believe: Motorsport, March 2005. This Nigel Roebuck interview with Dreyfus offers some of the most revealing insights into the driver’s views of his fellow competitors, particularly those from Germany. For instance: “Nuvolari was utterly supreme. He could do things with a car no one else could—you were aware of that when you followed him. Often you went into a corner behind him, and just knew that he wasn’t going to make it—but he did. [Rudi] Caracciola perhaps believed himself the best, and he was indeed a great driver: smooth and, without doubt, the best in the rain. But he was not Nuvolari.”
