[GAME] Race Car Design Evolution (Open Wheel)

1947 Baum-BMW

1947/48 AFM Intertyp, here in sportscar disguise, but the fenders could be removed

The war was over, the infrastructure largely destroyed, supply chains for the most basic things in life did no longer work, some people literally starved themselves to death to help other members of their family and common method of heating was stealing coal or chopping down anything that burned somehow, but as soon as the streets were cleared of the rubble, the wheels turned again in anger, in any occupation zone, and sometimes, the occupants even supported it. The initial Norisring race was encouraged to give people some distraction and as a measure to reinterpret the Nuremberg Nazi party rally grounds.

And while everything was scarce and fuel used to be the wildest mixtures of any liquid that burned somehow, there was one thing in abundance: surplus military vehicles. Some of the first racecars where various prewar cars, carefully hidden away or as racecars not confiscated for military use, often BMW 327 and 328, but there were piles of useless aircrafts made from lightweight Duraluminium and seamless tubes, staple for dozens of homemade specials. Parts could be sourced from prewar BMWs, like the examples above, but VW Schwimm- and Kübelwagen, DKW and BMW sidecar motorcycles and the likes were common bases, too. AFM, Veritas, Greifzu, Polensky/Monopol, Brütsch, Krakau, Holbein, Mall, Niedermeyer, Reif, Klodwig, Baum, ARO, EMW/AWE/Rennkollektiv, just to drop a few names of guys and marques. Ideas were plentiful, but often the skills both in building and driving didn't keep up with the spirit. Races took place anywhere, if there was a section of Autobahn, it was prefered, but improvised street and road circuits were more common, and unfortunately, there was a lot of bloodshed among drivers and spectators, which led to most of these early post war races disappearing from public roads (in the western zones/FGR, there was never a permanent road course in the sovet zone/GDR) by the early 50s. And while things quickly went downhill on the political side and Germany was divided into two states, it was well into the 1950s that drivers from the west hauled their cars to events in the east and vice versa. Rudolf Krause entered the first German GP on the Nürburgring back in 1953 in a Greifzu-BMW, under F2 rules back then, and on shorter distances, the EMW R3/55 was able to keep up with the more famous Porsche 550. But a year later, the GDR stopped the support for racing activities, Alexander von Falkenhausen would soon go back to BMW and lead their racing activities, and most of the early private activities had already ceased for various reasons.

Sorry for hijacking the game thread for a slightly longer article, but immediate post war racing in Germany is a matter of the heart to me Wouldn't that be something for a ISO-exclusive mod?

1956 Gordini T32

1966 Eagle-Weslake

The last entries were a little eurocentric, and we're gettin' closer to the era where you could present a few technical tidbits for each year. After all, it was right in the middle of the space age, thus some stuff trickled down to some more earthly activities. But even in these times, this one seemed to be from another planet: the Lotus 56!