September 27: The Nürburgring’s ground breaking was held on this date in 1925

The world's greatest race track came to life mainly as a public-works project. After World War I, a German politician named Otto Creutz came up with the idea for a track and testing road that would not only bolster Germany's auto industry but bring thousands of jobs to the rural Eifel district. After years of lobbying, the German government paid for the project, and on this date in 1925 held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the track named after the medieval village of Nurburg. In the intervening decades, the Nurburgring has risen to become the world's most famous racetrack, and today automakers flock to its 12.9-mile northern ring and its 154 turns to flog new models — like the upcoming LaFerrari supercar, caught at speed below.