charliemike

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/12/20/v...e-nurburgring/

Apparently it's half a million euros in debt and they're talking about turning it into some sort of hellacious fire department-level amusement park.

Yumcha

Moog-Type-S

AZ charity campaign?

It's a worthy cause!

Black Tire

This is what happens when you run companies/events on debt.

Crazy Bimmer

Its too valuable to car companies... for marketing purposes.

neuronbob

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

500 million Euros in debt? A racetrack? How in fsck did that happen?

Moog-Type-S

My guess is they spent more than they took in.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

An automaker needs to take over like Mazda took over the Laguna Seca.

I think Audi should buy it and ban all other brands.

Will Y.

Fixored... and -- that's some real money!

Moog-Type-S

Audi can't buy anything....however VW can buy it.....

hmmmm Exclusive Porsche, Bugatti, Bentley proving grounds

godfather2

that's pretty sad, especially for such a historic and regularly frequented place

neuronbob

You think? I'm just wondering what on earth a racetrack would spend so much money on.

charliemike

They kinda have one already ... it's where Captain Slow did his high-speed Veyron run.

charliemike

ROFL ... I'm so used to hearing about trillions now that I couldn't imagine it was billion ... Oops

charliemike

Weren't they planning on condos or something looking over the track. Some sort of uber residence where you could keep your Aston Martin when you weren't driving it?

knight rider

iTrader: (1)

my best guess is surface maintenance, payroll, taxes (?), insurance, and groundskeeping (?).

I say they can get started by selling those funny Christmas hats . I wonder how the auto industry is going to react to this news. It may be another "Save the Hollywood" sign kind of thing.

Moog-Type-S

The more tracks....the merrier

Yumcha

Honda should so buy the track...because, clearly...they have the fleet to make use of it.

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

Exactly what I was wondering. Didn't know tarmac was expensive.

It won't close. It's a landmark. Someone (or the government) will step in.

crazyasiantl

iTrader: (7)

Moog-Type-S

You live in the USA...not the UK....so don't use the word "tarmac"....or "petrol" for that matter.

dallison

damn

black label

Gas is what you have in your tank if your tank is empty, petrol is what you have in it when it is full. If your tank if full of gas, your engine will not start.

charliemike

The only appropriate use for an American to use "tarmac" is in reference to a runway ... For airplanes, not models

Moog-Type-S

Pretty much

NJ SHAWD

Tarmac is the Reese's of road surfaces.

John Macadam was the founder of road bases (crushed gravel road bases) and E. Hooley noticed a spilled barrel of tar on the road. They decided that there was much less dust that kicked up on the patch that was covered in tar and decided to mix the two.

Thus the name tarmac...


More useless information

Moog-Type-S

^^ "Check out the brain on Brad!"
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NJ SHAWD

Nobody noes pavements like eyes noes pavements.

speedemon90

v6cord2k5

iTrader: (1)

Maybe they can have multi-billionaires adopt sections of the track

speedemon90

like someone said, car manufacturers rely on the track so much that I doubt they would let it close down.

F23A4

Or possibly a consortium of automakers, particularly since it seems to the measuring stick by which performance vehicles are judged these days. It'd be ironic if Hyundai took the lead on this.

Moog-Type-S

How many car makers do you know of that have a spare half billion lying around to bail-out a track?

I don't think it's in the cards.

charliemike

Some stupid rollercoaster at the 'Ring that never opened

Looks like we know the answer ... Grossly incompetent management.

sickrex

Sux to be them... oh well

CocheseUGA

I'm in for the fundraiser.

Bdog

Bumping an old thread, but the Nürburgring will go up for sale tomorrow. I've been following this for a while and the fate is still unknown. With the hotels and the very expensive amusement park that nobody visits, this still may be an expensive buy for a couple races and open track days.

http://www.swr.de/nachrichten/rp/-/i...19594/1oyjnmv/

From tomorrow the insolvent Nürburgring is offered for sale. As the renovators of the circuit communicates rushed to be connected to displays in the "Handelsblatt" and the international edition of the "Financial Times". Investors may purchase the complete ring or single units.

To each unit include rehabilitation, according to CEO Thomas Schmidt and Trustee Jens Lieser about the track, the four-star hotel or holiday park. The sale will be open and transparent process conducted in accordance with the requirements of the EU Commission, as the agency has opened a state aid procedure against the country. Bidders should a non-binding until the summer and then make a binding offer to autumn. The subsequent contract negotiations can last until early next year, according to the restorers.
Renovators are under time pressure
The time for the sale of the ring is short, because Brussels is currently evaluating whether aid for the race track in the country of around half a billion euros were lawful. It threatens a recovery of up to 480 million euros, which could come in 2014. If by then no investor is found, all the lights would go out.
The State Nürburgring GmbH filed for bankruptcy in the summer of 2012. Reasons were too few visitors and few revenue. The private operators had little luck: the country announced their lease because of too little, they left the ring, 2012. A big problem is the continued over-sized amusement park, which the former SPD government had built and for the failed private funding several years ago. A 330-million-euro loan for the construction of the park had to be covered with tax money initially mostly.

00TL-P3.2

Here's hoping something good happens.
Out of every track in the world, this is the one I want to drive the most.

charliemike

The track has value, the rest ...

Let the idiots go into complete bankruptcy, buy the track and let someone else deal with the crap no one uses.

CCColtsicehockey

Hopefully it survives. It is on my to do list to visit one day.