My silent scream

CNN's Frederick Pleitgen reports on how the credit crunch is hurting the pride of German industry.

Frederik Pleitgen | BIO
CNN International Correspondent

It was going to be just another report about Germany’s troubles with the financial crisis illustrated through the impact on the auto industry, an essential part of the country’s national identity.

We decided to take a ride with 70 year 'rally car racing' veteran Heide Hetzer in her 1973 Opel GT (That’s a German sports car which looks almost exactly like a 1970’s Corvette). Heidi Hetzer has been racing cars since her teens. Not only is driving her passion, but she also owns one of the largest Opel dealerships in Berlin. Like most German car markers- her company is feeling the pinch. Opel has temporarily halted production in several of its plants.

And what better way to show Heidi's passion for cars then interviewing her as she was driving the streets of Berlin. Little did I know I would get more then I bargained for.

My cameraman took the passenger seat so I had to squeeze into the baggage compartment of the two-seater sports coup. I’m about 6’5” so it was like pressing a whale into a sardine can.

Heidi didn’t seem to care, the nice little old lady turned into a predator as she gripped the wheel. She took off doing wheel spins as I was trying to hold on to anything I could find in the trunk. I could see and hear pedestrians screaming for their lives as Heidi raced the car dangerously close to the passersby, once doing a pirouette around them.

I couldn’t get out a sound myself because I was so cramped up in the trunk, but I could hear Heidi laughing loudly, saying in a German accent: “You vant to drive a little sporty?”

And with that another spin and another, and I felt my breakfast slowly making its way back up to my mouth. Luckily she then stopped. And I could finally begin my interview, hoping to still be alive by the end of it.

“Yes,” she said, “the German car industry is doing fine!”

“No,” she added, “German car makers will not go bust!”

“Yes,” her analysis, “the Germans have a special relationship with their cars.”

The way this woman drives, at this point, I wasn’t going to argue with anything she said.