In 1979, American actor James Brolin entered the famous 24 Hours of Nurburgring race with a team that included legendary female driver, Lyn St. James. Being a famous actor (the Patrick Dempsey of his day, if you will) a short documentary was made of his experience of the race, and it makes for a pretty interesting snapshot of one of the worlds most famous races with some good onboard footage and action from the race.
That isn’t the really cool thing about this video though – for that, you have to skip to 1:45. The Nordschleife is one of the world’s toughest and most daunting race tracks, and learning it isn’t the work of an afternoon. You need a local instructor to show you the ropes, so Brolin and his crew found one. Enter Heinz.
Heinz was a German tank commander in the Second World War, during which he lost his left arm. As he rags a BMW 3-series around the ‘Ring, he uses his one remaining arm to steer, change gear and make instructional hand gestures whilst his knees assist with the steering, all at speeds approaching (and exceeding) 100mph. Incredible stuff.