Are the pays-your-money, takes-your-life-in-your-hands days of the Nürburgring's touristenfahren (tourist drives) numbered? According to United Kingdom-based motoring site Pistonheads, there's real worry in the Eifel Mountains that that could be the case.
The culprit? At a very base level, it's the number that enthusiasts love to debate--how quickly a car can lap the Green Hell, and the manufacturer bragging rights that come from having a car's suspension tuned on the famed circuit.
The Disneyfication of the 'Ring has also played a role. The circuit itself is publicly owned by the state of Rheinland-Pfalz and is under the administration of a private entity called Nürburgring Automotive. Note that these public-private racetrack partnerships can work. For example, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca--a track nearly as storied as the 'Ring--sits in a Monterey County park, is administrated by the nonprofit Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula and is supported by dollars from Mazda.