Weekend Watching: Modern Marvels: Autobahn on Hulu
There is a road that has taken on the awe of a holy relic, practically the Dead Sea Scrolls of tarmac, and it goes by one simple name: Die Autobahn. There are few, if any, other roads in the world that are as significant for gearheads as those remaining polished stretches of German highway that remain unhindered by speed limits. Even for us jaded hacks, the opportunity to open up the right car in the left lane is, if not rapture, at least an out-of-body experience.
So this is merely a public service announcement for gearheads: if you need something to do this weekend, Hulu has the History Channel's Modern Marvels episode on the story of the Autobahn. Even with Hulu's commercials it's only 46 minutes, which means you can pay your respects quickly. And if there's anything better than the Autobahn, it's the Autobahn with a pillow and popcorn. Thanks for the tip, Jay!
[Source: The History Channel via Hulu]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
zamafir 6:15PM (8/28/2009)
Worth a watch, well worth the drive... on the few derestricted portions, before the morning commute, before lunch or late at night. It’s such a wonderful bit of roads to drive on. Pity there’s so much summer construction in august and so many LKWs and caravans being pulled by 1.4l TDIs to really reach the potential of whatever supercar your piloting.
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montoym 6:46PM (8/28/2009)
Seen that episode many times before, one of my favorites.
I like that they added a section in there about Alois Ruf as well.
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JC 6:48PM (8/28/2009)
Kinda sucks that they chose to use the sounds of a sportbike to fill in engine noise where they didn't have it. Makes it sound like a bad episode of "World's Wildest Police Chases".
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Santosh Tiwari 7:49PM (8/28/2009)
They should have put an F1 car on the Autobahn. It goes fast and sounds amazing.
notabum 9:12PM (8/28/2009)
Lol I Noticed the sportbike sounds also, im like WTF! haha
-notabum.com
Santosh Tiwari 7:48PM (8/28/2009)
/me is moving to Germany.
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Seminole 7:49PM (8/28/2009)
I heart Modern Marvels.
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Nerdicle 8:15PM (8/28/2009)
I hope the episode goes into the construction and maintenance of these roads. They are just dreamy to drive on - smooth as glass. Took my 335i all the way up to the limited (155mph) a couple times on my last trip. I still miss driving my car the way it was meant to be driven. Stupid LA perma-gridlock.
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taipeileviathan 1:14AM (8/29/2009)
actually i think the actual autobahn is better than the autobahn with a pillow and popcorn...
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Coola 2:08AM (8/29/2009)
I can't believe that the Autobahn is a reason to thank Hitler for...
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PercyPricksworth 8:24AM (8/29/2009)
Actually you don't have to. Initially the autobahn was discredited as "jewish high finance" project because of HaFraBa's jewish members. HaFraBa -> Hamburg, Frankfurt, Basel.
You can read a rather lengthy paper here. And no, it's not Wikipedia: http://cms.uni-kassel.de/unicms/fileadmin/groups/w_030110/Publikationen/History_of_Mobility/WP9_Hafraba_englisch.pdf (page 43)
HK 3:59AM (8/29/2009)
No protesters back then comparing Dwight Eisenhower with Hitler?
Socialist party of Germany opposed a public works project?
oh my...
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