Greatest race car ever?

[lt1fire]

Very subjective subject, but @GLTHFJ60 post about motorsport parts had me reliving my "glory" days of racing back in SoCal and when cars and power was all I cared about.

Talking with my boss at lunch about the subject he asked what I thought was the greatest race car ever. I've been thinking of it for most of the day in the back of my head while working but I think I do have one.

First the ones I think it could have been.
63 Grand Sport Corvettes.... anything that struck fear into the heart of Carrol Shelby has to be taken seriously. There were first supposed to be 125 of these for homologation rules but GM corporate but the brakes after only 5 because the brass back then had a motorsports ban due to fear of antitrust suits by the feds. So 5 were made, sold off and raced privately to modest success since there were no backing for the cars at all from GM.

GT40...... I'm sure everyone knows the stories of these so I won't even start on them.

I also considered a lot of group b cars but for the most part there was a different dominate team every year mostly due to an update done by their factories.

A few years of ferrari in F1 or the Chapperal was thought of but this is what I finally came up with...............................

For those that don't know what that is, it is Rod Millens Pikes Peak Hill Climb car.
The reasons I went this way over all others is just because what it did was astounding, it blitzed the previous record by more than 40 seconds coming within 4 seconds of breaking the 10 minute barrier for the race to the clouds. AND that record stood for another 13 years despite Millen himself and numerous others trying to beat it with time and time again. The main reason I went this is the simple fact that despite I just said its record was broken its record will actually never be broken because it set it when it was an all dirt track and was broken when the majority of it was paved. (it is now completely paved)

Its also a very neat car powered by one hell of an engine. Basically a super modded version of the 3sgte that came in the celica all trac or MR2 turbo it made 850 hp and was the race engine of choice for toyota at the time with it powering the dominate AAR IMSA GTP Eagles and also what toyota put in the Supra for the JGTC supras, actually pulling out the racing 2JZ for this engine.

I used to have a poster of this on my wall in highschool... wish I still had it.

Anyway what is your pick for the greatest race car ever? There are no real wrong answers.

 

[CharlestonG8R]

The 959 tops my list as my favorite rally car; which is my favorite type of racing. Is it the GOAT? Nah, probably not, I'd have to agree with you on the Toyota. But as a kid, nothing came close to the 959. My grandparents raced for a living and his favorite car, and my mom's incidentally, was their Sunbeam Tiger. They had a ton of cool cars, including a GT40 and a Shelby, but he'd gotten out of racing in the 70's and I only remember them having a BMW 2002, (2) Mini Coopers (which we inherited), an enormous vomit green Cadillac (which we inherited), and a 1956 Alfa Romeo Guelietta Sprint Speciale Veloce (which we inherited; I couldn't remember the model, had to ask my dad what it was @Green Hell Mustang ).

 

[uzj100]

Audi Quattro from the killer b era.

959 is my all time favorite of all cars. The Dakar Rothmans 959 was insane. Basement poster I need to hang at some point.

World rally guys seem to have the most complete skill set and are my favorite to watch. The car control is insane and on all surfaces.

Sad that they paved pikes peak.

 

[Green Hell Mustang]

@lt1fire is right, there is no correct answer here. That being said, there is a race car that, both due to the homologation at the time and availability for private ownership/entry, is the most successful race car ever. The Bugatti Type 35 (and its variations) has won over 1000 competitive races. Awesome car.

My pick for greatest race car of all time goes to the GT40/Gulf Mirage M1. The thing was so competitive in '67 World Sports Car Championship that the FIA forced a rule change to the '68 season making big block entries (i.e. 427 c.u.) illegal. The car still won and it dominated endurance racing up until the early seventies.

Last, but certainly not least, the Porsche 917. What the 911 did for Porsche's fame in the road car world, the 917 did for Porsche in the racing world. The different variations of that car, from Le Mans to Can Am, are nothing short of amazing. The 917/30 CAN AM is still the most powerful race car in qualifying trim. Beautiful car, and deceptively small. Not bad for a car built from 1969 to 1973.

 

[Green Hell Mustang]

The 959 tops my list as my favorite rally car; which is my favorite type of racing. Is it the GOAT? Nah, probably not, I'd have to agree with you on the Toyota. But as a kid, nothing came close to the 959. My grandparents raced for a living and his favorite car, and my mom's incidentally, was their Sunbeam Tiger. They had a ton of cool cars, including a GT40 and a Shelby, but he'd gotten out of racing in the 70's and I only remember them having a BMW 2002, (2) Mini Coopers (which we inherited), an enormous vomit green Cadillac (which we inherited), and a 1956 Alfa Romeo Guelietta Sprint Speciale Veloce (which we inherited; I couldn't remember the model, had to ask my dad what it was @Green Hell Mustang ).

Was it a Spider Veloce? Or was that what we thought it might be?

Either way, it's an Alfa and I love Alfas.

 

[izzyandsue]

@lt1fire is right, there is no correct answer here. That being said, there is a race car that, both due to the homologation at the time and availability for private ownership/entry, is the most successful race car ever. The Bugatti Type 35 (and its variations) has won over 1000 competitive races. Awesome car.

My pick for greatest race car of all time goes to the GT40/Gulf Mirage M1. The thing was so competitive in '67 World Sports Car Championship that the FIA forced a rule change to the '68 season making big block entries (i.e. 427 c.u.) illegal. The car still won and it dominated endurance racing up until the early seventies.

Last, but certainly not least, the Porsche 917. What the 911 did for Porsche's fame in the road car world, the 917 did for Porsche in the racing world. The different variations of that car, from Le Mans to Can Am, are nothing short of amazing. The 917/30 CAN AM is still the most powerful race car in qualifying trim. Beautiful car, and deceptively small. Not bad for a car built from 1969 to 1973.

View attachment 1605192 View attachment 1605212 View attachment 1605209

917 long tail, best so for for me.

 

[Green Hell Mustang]

I have to put this one in too. Quite possibly the very reason that Ferrari has became as well known as they are today. The Ferrari 250 series, and specifically the Ferrari 250 GTO. This car had 300 hp and was capable of going 170 mph...in 1962. The car was driven by some of the most legendary names in motorsports: Phil Hill, Richie Ginther, Lodovico Scarfiotti. The GTO enjoyed success from 1962 to 1964, even against the first generation of the Shelby Cobra. Success was limited in 1964 with the introduction of the Ford 289 small block into the Shelby Cobra. Ferrari famously skirted many regulations with this model of automobile. In many cases the FIA turned a blind eye to Ferrari fudging the numbers of cars (specifically the GTO) in order to be homologated for racing. Only 39 of these were built and they were part of the most successful model that Ferrari has ever had. There are many storied racing Ferraris: the F2004, The 330 P3/4, the 250 Testa Rossa, but IMHO this is the king of them all.

 

[roadstr6]

Agree with Alex on the GT40 Gulf cars. Absolute perfection and my first choice for "greatest of all time."

Many times the stories surrounding the cars is what catapults them into legendary status. In true redneck fashion, I'd like to submit a trio of race cars to this list that, while clearly more lowbrow than the Ferrari above, have a rich racing heritage.

The '70 Plymouth Superbird was the first American race car that was designed and tested based on wind tunnel and computerized data. It was ugly, but it worked...so well, in fact, that NASCAR had to change their rules to limit engine size on the aero cars to 305 CI just so the other cars could be competitive.

Smokey Yunick's '68 Trans-Am Camaro #13. Smokey was a real man's man and a brilliant car builder. He was a rule bender and went to great extremes to make his cars faster. Don Yenko won several races in this car. It looks like a typical '68 Camaro but the sheet metal was dipped in acid to make it thinner and lighter, the glass is thinner and laid back at an angle. The fenders are widened and the nose is pushed down. The floor boards were cut out and raised to allow the car to be lowered. The frame was Z cut, raising the suspension and lowering the pan. There was essentially nothing about the car that was not modified in some way, although "technically" it was built using all factory parts. Yunick was an innovator and a big safety advocate. He left NASCAR in '70 when NASCAR refused to implement safety measures that Smokey felt were important.

If you raced NASCAR in the early '50's, and you weren't driving a Hudson Hornet, you didn't have a chance. A Hudson Hornet won 27 of 34 NASCAR races in '52, 22 of 37 in '53 and 17 of 37 in '54. It was a big old boat of a car and it was built like a tank. Hudson manufactured a special line of severe duty parts for the Hornet that were basically Hi-Po race parts. The Hornet had a really low center of gravity and the body sat down into the frame. It out handled its competitors.

 

[Green Hell Mustang]

Agree with Alex on the GT40 Gulf cars. Absolute perfection and my first choice for "greatest of all time."

Many times the stories surrounding the cars is what catapults them into legendary status. In true redneck fashion, I'd like to submit a trio of race cars to this list that, while clearly more lowbrow than the Ferrari above, have a rich racing heritage.

The '70 Plymouth Superbird was the first American race car that was designed and tested based on wind tunnel and computerized data. It was ugly, but it worked...so well, in fact, that NASCAR had to change their rules to limit engine size on the aero cars to 305 CI just so the other cars could be competitive.

Smokey Yunick's '68 Trans-Am Camaro #13. Smokey was a real man's man and a brilliant car builder. He was a rule bender and went to great extremes to make his cars faster. Don Yenko won several races in this car. It looks like a typical '68 Camaro but the sheet metal was dipped in acid to make it thinner and lighter, the glass is thinner and laid back at an angle. The fenders are widened and the nose is pushed down. The floor boards were cut out and raised to allow the car to be lowered. The frame was Z cut, raising the suspension and lowering the pan. There was essentially nothing about the car that was not modified in some way, although "technically" it was built using all factory parts. Yunick was an innovator and a big safety advocate. He left NASCAR in '70 when NASCAR refused to implement safety measures that Smokey felt were important.

If you raced NASCAR in the early '50's, and you weren't driving a Hudson Hornet, you didn't have a chance. A Hudson Hornet won 27 of 34 NASCAR races in '52, 22 of 37 in '53 and 17 of 37 in '54. It was a big old boat of a car and it was built like a tank. Hudson manufactured a special line of severe duty parts for the Hornet that were basically Hi-Po race parts. The Hornet had a really low center of gravity and the body sat down into the frame. It out handled its competitors.

Smokey Yunick has been mentioned. It's gonna be a good day.

I saw that exact '68 Camaro race twice at Laguna Seca. It's fast, even by today's standards. I believe it was owned by the Edelbrock family at the time. I love all the cars that came out of the Trans Am racing era, they were amazing machines. Smokey wrote a book about his life and his shop, I need to read it at some point. He's still my favorite figure in all of motorsports. He wasn't hesitant to venture outside of NASCAR and into the different worlds of motorsports. I know that Zora Duntov had a lot of good things to say about him too. Lots of respect for him.

 

[onemanarmy]

McClaren F1.

Just adding to the list though...all are great in their own way.

 

[Green Hell Mustang]

McClaren F1.

Just adding to the list though...all are great in their own way.

You know it's a good car when, on it's debut at Le Mans, it beats everything. Including the upper tier prototype and sports car classes. That thing was just about unstoppable.

 

[Trollhole]

Ever is a hard one as there were lots. Not all were successful.

Big Daddy Don Garlits changed top fuel for ever with this one.

Senna's 91 Mclaren Honda

Tyrrell P34 Was my favorite though it didn't win any races.

99' Mercedes CLR's were very famous cars. In a different way.

 

[stevezero]

Smokey's 15/16th scale chevelle was a work of art. The story goes he got walking pneumonia before Daytona, and asked Bill France (they were still friends at that time) if he would have issues getting thru inspection, France said no. Smokey went into inspection, and they said he needed to put it over a ford frame (the chosen/strong frame of the day). His car was skinned over a custom frame, so basically nascrap banned it right there. he asked for fuel, they said no, then relented. he fueled the car, to drive it onto the trailer, and instead, drove it out on the public roads back to his shop. When France came by later, Smokey threw a 4lb sledge at France's car. Hot Rod did an article and photo shoot of the restored chevelle. the chassis and rear suspension were eons ahead of its time.

The toyota GTP cars were amazing, as was the nissan cars of the mid 90s. The old GTO mustangs of the 80s and 90s were animals too.

Granitelli's Turbine powered indy car was quite a concept. 40 cents from victory...

The first diesel hybrid prototypes were also wild.

 

[PhrogsPhorever]

O.G. race car

 

[lt1fire]

OG you say???

 

[PhrogsPhorever]

OG you say???

View attachment 1607800

The front runners of “drive fast, turn left”

Or should I say moonshine runners

 

[lt1fire]

The front runners of “drive fast, turn left”

Or should I say moonshine runners

For sure... while Nascar is one of my least favorite style of motorsports the history and story behind it is one of the best.

dilly dilly

 

[NCFJ]

I agree with Marshal, Don Garlits turned drag racing on it's ear, sitting in front of the engine. Now they run 329.34 MPH

 

[NCFJ]

Lets add racing Dynasties to the mix

Petty-NASCAR
Andretti-Indy and F1
Force-NHRA

 

[Green Hell Mustang]

Lets add racing Dynasties to the mix

Petty-NASCAR
Andretti-Indy and F1
Force-NHRA

That's Dr. Force now.

Dr. John Force: NHRA legend awarded honorary doctorate at University of Northwestern Ohio