While I don’t feel particularly old, I’ve now reached the point in life where something I could have blogged about might be 18 years old. A post of mine could vote, could go to college, could even fight in a war (or kinetic action). This means there are foundational texts of the car internet that younger people might not even be aware of. Texts like NEMESIS!!!
Let me preface this by saying that I just started reading Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” which is an epic poem that itself relies on at least being aware of a few other texts, including Virgil’s Aeneid, and the writings of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. Having not really studied all of those works and authors deeply, I’m aware that I’m probably missing some of the references.
When blogging here, I am also aware that I might make quick shorthand to pieces of content that might be missed because either the reader is too young to have been around for it or, also reasonably, just wasn’t terminally online 15 years ago.
A prime example is the short film “Porsche vs. NEMESIS!!!!!!”
“DAMIEN, WILL HAVE YOU”
“NEMESIS, OHHHH YOU LIKE IT LIKE THAT. NEMESIS!!!!!”
“NEMESIS! OHHHHHH MY GOOOOOOD!”
“HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHH AHAHHH HAHHAAH”
It’s basically Days of Thunder, F1: The Movie, and every season of Drive To Survive summed up in about 90 seconds. When it first hit the Internet nearly two decades ago, there was basically no context. It was just a driver, pretty clearly in some sort of 911, chasing a Saleen Mustang around a small race track that wasn’t easy to identify. There was no one famous here and, this being pre-GoPro, it was clearly shot on some sort of camcorder.
Even the original poster pointed out that “This isnt my video someone posted in one of my regularly visited automotive forums. I decided everyone needed to see this. just watch!” I’m fairly sure I saw it myself in The Car Lounge of VW Vortex, which is a sentence that makes my bones creak.
The pure delight, the impromptu insanity, and the delightful payoff are what make this little film probably the greatest car racing video ever, and whenever I’m behind someone on a race track, I can’t help but call out “NEMESIS!!!!”
Credit to the blogger Paulo Acoba, who managed to track down the driver of the 911 and learned that NEMESIS is the name of the Mustang, which explains a lot. Also, the guy behind the wheel of the Mustang is also the 911 driver’s brother. That explains even more. Here’s the bit I find most interesting, from the 911 driver, Jon Theobald:
I have to preface this section: this video was never meant for public consumption. We normally would just video a handful of our sessions then watch at home later that night while we ate dinner and drank a beer or two, critiquing our driving and it was just cool to watch our cars on TV.
On this particular video, I was just following my brother watching him pull away from me on the long straight, getting frustrated as he added car lengths to his lead. I was thinking in my head “Damn you Nemesis!!”, “I will have you Nemesis!” and then it just came out of my mouth as I was driving in a primal scream intended to be a surprise at the video screening later when were home.
That’s the magic of this, and it’s a magic that’s hard to find these days. There’s more automotive content being produced every 15 minutes than we’d get in a week 20 years ago. The difference is that most of it is, if not explicitly scripted, filmed in an era where everyone assumes they’re on camera all the time. Between action cameras like GoPros and the ubiquity of cellphones, there is no way anyone would assume anything filmed “was never meant for public consumption.” Everything is public, and everything is consumed.
NEMESIS!!!!!!!! benefits from being shot merely for the amusement of one brother. A film created to be enjoyed over a few beers. It just happened to be right in the era that, if someone uploaded it to a forum, it might end up on YouTube for everyone to enjoy.
IYKYK. If you don’t, here you go. You’re in on the joke now.
Top photo: YouTube screenshot
This landmark is only rivalled by the “Hitler Rant” channel outlasting the Third Reich.
I was there 8̶4̶ 18 years ago…
Amazing, I’ve had it on my saved youtube videos since that time.
Matt, I’m the same age as you and have never seen this.
Hilarious.
THANK YOU for bringing this back around! Giggles then, giggles now. +1 for dropping some serious lit references. I remember and enjoy the image of Dante climbing over Satan frozen in the ice as much as I enjoy this dude’s evil laugh.
In the “young Internet” years when storage prices were crashing and search became actually useful there was this thought that no knowledge would ever be out of reach, everything would be preserved, the record of human knowledge would be forever.
It turns out to not have worked like that at all. Archives are lost, bit rot happens fast, search has been hijacked for profit and engagement and in less than a generation internet and culture historians are needed to teach the world about NEMESIS.
and whenever I’m behind someone on a race track, I can’t help but call out “NEMESIS!!!!”
This!
After about 10 years of taking my Miatas (NA, tubos, supercharged…) and ‘practicing’ with other drivers on racetracks (it’s High Performance Driver Education, we NEVER use the “R” word) – I absolutely have yelled “NEMESIS” at least once every weekend!… perhaps even a “You Likey Like that!” or two.
It’s not a track day if you don’t.
Thanks for the flashback!
Love it; he sounds like an early-80’s cartoon villain!
LMAO I have never seen this.