Motorheads - Legends of Automotive History Episode Rating Graph

This man is a pioneer of the automotive industry. Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche, known as Ferry. He created an icon of automotive engineering: The Porsche 356, a legendary vehicle built shortly after the Second World War. It is the progenitor of a sports car family that has become synonymous worldwide with sporty driving and outstanding German craftsmanship. And that made the name Porsche famous all over the world.

Anyone who can seemingly defy gravity and push the boundaries of physics must be a very special person. Astronauts in space, acrobats in the circus, and, last but not least, rally drivers belong to this unusual breed of people. They achieve things that are absolutely incomprehensible to mere mortals. One of these unusual people is Walter Röhrl.

Ferrari. Only perfect in the color of blood. Never before has a road-going Ferrari been so powerful and fast. And never so red. The Enzo Ferrari is the only Formula 1 car for road use. The Ferrari legend. In no other automobile company is the proximity to the racetrack so tangible. Enthusiasts will pay any price to have this legend in their garage. The Enzo cost around 700,000 euros. You might call it addiction, passion, or simply love.

Hans Joachim Stuck, known as Striezel, won his first 24-hour race at the age of just 19. In 2011, the racing legend bids farewell to active racing and has therefore chosen the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring for his farewell performance. Together with the Reiter Engineering team, he will be competing in a Lamborghini Gallardo.

The Dakar Rally has been held since 1978. Winning this long-distance rally immensely boosts the image of the winning vehicle and the manufacturing company. For this reason, some car manufacturers invest a lot of money and expertise in the development and use of the vehicles, and they engage the best rally drivers in the world. One of them is the Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel.

In the idyllic market town of Pfaffenhausen in Unterallgäu, the Ruf company has been designing and building exclusive Porsche-based sports cars for almost five decades. The owner, source of ideas and centre of this innovative company is Alois Ruf, a passionate entrepreneur.

Hans Herrmann was one of the most important motor racing drivers of his time and had a major influence on the motorsport era of the 50s and 60s. He was fast, courageous, and a real racer. Despite a number of spectacular accidents, the 83-year-old is still alive and well today. He competed in a total of 261 races and stood at the top of the podium 79 times.

Since the 1930s, racing drivers from all over the world have been trying to set records on the Nürburgring. Among them is Sabine Schmitz, a racing driver with heart and soul. In 1996 and 97, she won the annual 24-hour classic. And even today, she is still a strong contender for a place on the podium at important races on the Ring.

From his youth, Prince Leopold of Bavaria was a committed motorsport enthusiast and, for a long time, an enthusiastic and recognized racing driver. And even today, he loves everything that has two or four wheels and is fast and powerful. Blue blood flows through his veins. As a descendant of the House of Wittelsbach, he comes from a royal family that has very famous ancestors in its family tree.

America at the beginning of the 20th century: industrial development is making enormous progress. And in the field of mobility, a man appears on the world stage and achieves astonishing progress on four wheels over the next few decades. A car pioneer, do-gooder, and charismatic engineer. His name: Henry Ford.