The Great American Cars That Made Racing History

Record-Breaking Racers

Racing is a sport, and engineering race cars is a skill. Together, they make car races a battle of brains and brawn. Amongst the record-breakers in track history, some changed the course of the sport.

Record Breaking Racers Intro

Burning Rubber Since The 1900s

Since the invention of the wheel, humanity has made a hobby out of breaking the speed limitations of existing means of transportation. It didn't take long for racing to become a sport enjoyed worldwide, with its origins rooted in some of the most memorable cars from America.

Goodwood edited Michele Borioli, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Ford 999

Henry Ford manufactured what is probably one of the first race cars in American history: the Ford 999. Its name was inspired by a steam engine that held a speed record, and the motive behind the development of this vehicle was to generate publicity for automobile sales.

1902 Ford 999 racing car Joe Ross, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Hudson Hornet

The Hudson Hornet is a stock race car built for performance. It produced 145 horsepower, which was a considerable figure for the time. The legendary vehicle holds over eighty NASCAR wins. To top it all off, it was immortalized in the movie Cars as Doc Hudson.

Hudson Hornet Ermell, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Cunningham C4-R

A successor to the C2-R, the Cunningham C4-R was a model built to compete at the highest levels of motorsport. Its integration of aerodynamic design with a powerful V8 engine rendered it fit to compete internationally against the then-dominating European manufacturers, helping put America on the map.

Cunningham C4R Writegeist, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Scarab

The Scarab was Lance Reventlow's passion project that challenged formidable European competitors like Ferrari and Maserati. While it was originally intended to compete in the 1958 World Sports Car Championship, shifts in regulation saw it compete in the SCCA races instead, where it proved its prowess.

Scarab 16 fotojrb, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Ford GT40

The Ford GT40 was born from the notorious rivalry between Ford and Ferrari, which began after the former failed to negotiate a purchase of the latter. This led to Ford aiming to dethrone Ferrari's supremacy in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, which he did with the Grand Touring model.

Ford GT40 Alexander Migl, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Shelby Daytona Coupe

This race car made history as the only American-manufactured one to win the FIA World Sportscar GT Championship. The Daytona Coupe is Pete Brock's brainchild, who designed it after Carroll Shelby recognized the need for improvements in the Shelby Cobra Roadster.

1964 Shelby Daytona Coupe Coolsteve11, CC0, Wikimedia Commons

Chaparral 2E

This automobile is visually hard to miss, with advanced features such as its prominent rear wing and side-positioned radiators. The Chaparral 2E, built by Jim Hall, was among the most aerodynamically advanced cars of the time and set the standard for motorsport engineering with its telling track record.

Chaparral2Emuseum Oldwizzard, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Gurney Eagle-Weslake Mk. I

Like many others, this automotive was born from the urge to outperform European race car manufacturers. It's widely heralded as one of the most beautiful race cars ever made and had its moment in the spotlight when Dan Gurney won the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix with it.

Dan Gurney Eagle Mk1 Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018 Andrew & Alan Frost, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Chevrolet Camaro Z/28

The Chevrolet Camaro has evolved over time, with the Z/28 variant made to appeal to both street enthusiasts and competitive racers. It's a muscle car equipped with a powerful V8 engine that gives it up to 505 horsepower and track excellence, specifically in the Trans-Am series.

77 Chevrolet Camaro Z-28 Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Lotus 56

The Lotus 56 is a race car whose makers, Colin Chapman and Andy Granatelli, experimented with the lesser-used turbine engine that showed potential for greatness. The piece used to achieve this was the Pratt & Whitney STN 6/76, an engine capable of producing up to 600 horsepower.

Lotus 56 Goodwood FoS Surreal Name Given, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Howmet TX

The Lotus Group were not the only experimental ones: even Ray Heppenstall wanted to try his hand at creating a gas-turbine monster. He initiated the development of the Howmet TX, the only one of its kind to win a competition and prove the viability of turbine engines in racing.

Howmet TX Dave Hamster, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Plymouth RoadRunner Superbird

This iconic race car was built by the Plymouth division of Chrysler for many reasons, one of them being to attract racer Richard Petty back to their fold. It was also a response to regulation changes by NASCAR—the racetrack for which it was custom-built.

Plymouth Superbird 02 Ferrari 4 ever, Wikimedia Commons

Competition Vs. Consumerism

The new regulations required a manufacturer to develop a certain number of street-legal cars to qualify for the tracks. Consequently, 1,920 units of the Superbird were produced in 1970, stepping up against Ford and Chevrolet. It also promoted the "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" philosophy.

1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Chevrolet Monte Carlo

General Motors made a shrewd move with exceptional business acumen when it produced the Monte Carlo. They sensed the changing consumer preferences towards more luxurious models and adapted accordingly, designing a race car that was both sleek and adept on the tracks, notably that of NASCAR.

1984 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Swamp Rat

Designed and constructed by the pioneer of drag racing himself, Don "Big Daddy" Garlits, the Swamp Rat is revolutionary. Its engine can reach over 3000 horsepower. The mastermind brought his experience at the wheel to build the model, which incorporated a closed-cockpit design for driver safety.

86 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Dodge Viper GTS-R Mk. I

This automobile has set crowds ablaze with its remarkable performances in endurance racing, particularly as a class two grand tourer. It was born of a collaboration between Chrysler Corporation, Oreca, and Reynard Motorsport. Although initially designed as a GT1 car, it was moved to GT2 because of regulations.

Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons Alexander Migl, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Swift 007.i

The 007.i model marked Swift Engineering's shift into open-wheel racing after its acquisition by Hiro Matsushita in 1991. The car was conceived to meet the demands of the CART series, with a chassis specially designed for Newman/Haas Racing. It debuted at the Marlboro Grand Prix in 1997.

Mario Andretti PSParrot, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Corvette Racing's C5-R, C6.R, and C7.R

Corvette Racing is a formidable engineering and design team that focuses solely on the race car segment under Chevrolet. They first broke through with the C5-R, which fixed prior failures to make a rival to the Dodge Viper GTS-R. Later models were all improved iterations of the same.

Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Martin Lee, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Panoz LMP-1

LMP here stands for Le Mans Prototype. The structure of this vehicle involves front-mounted V8 engines, a callback to the Scarab F1 cars of the 1960s. It was built by Panoz Auto Development, a manufacturer that took an unconventional approach to prioritizing the aesthetics of its cars.

Panoz LMP-1 Roadster Martin Lee, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Cadillac ATS-V.R

The Cadillac ATS-V.R was introduced in 2014 by Cadillac Racing, a division under General Motors. It was built to race in the FIA GT3 category and had to live up to the expectations set by its predecessor, the CTS-V.R. The ATS-V.R ultimately impressed enthusiasts in the Pirelli World Challenge.

Cadillac ATS-V.R steve lyon, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons