OPEL RAK-2. Brazen challenge to speed limits

Comparatively recently, I read an article about the development and testing of a rocket car in the 20s of the last century. What really surprised me was, on the one hand, the obsession with such an idea, and on the other, its success. After all, at that time rocket science was not so popular, and the harbinger of all space, the V-1 rocket, appeared years later.

In this story, I am even more surprised by the combination of the commercial component and the exciting consciousness of the genius of human thought. Fritz von Opel, grandson of company founder Adam Opel, wanted to sell more cars, so he went for a very cool marketing move and decided to build a rocket-powered high-speed land vehicle.

And for sure, the most amazing thing is that they did not explode in their attempts to curb all this power. Telling of them, and von Opel started working on a unique project together with Friedrich Sander, founder and owner of a company that makes solid signal rockets, as well as with futurist Max Valier. Max is an example of a man who was a rocketry pioneer and a leading figure in the world's first large-scale rocket program. It's worth noting that it was he who had a strong influence on Werner von Braun.

I have always been inspired by the characters of the story, who boldly crossed the boundaries of the possible and seemed to move humanity a little forward on the path of their development. Their incredible faith in the future, their vision of this future, allows us to create the present. I always had the impression that they were like aliens who came to us from deep space to help us bring the present a little bit closer.