I first became aware of these during the rollout of the Carrera GT, all those years ago. Each CGT came with one in the tool roll, as it was needed to remove and install the centerlock wheels, which were torqued to a whopping 470 lb-ft of torque, and Porsche wisely decided that there might be times when an owner might need to get those wheels on and off away from a dealer.
(I found this image of the Porsche tool on Pistonheads. Not shown is the long breaker bar still needed to leverage that nut off.).
Today,the guys at Torrque Test Channel tested a few and took a couple of them apart so a person can see what makes them multiply those many small torques into one big torque.