Part three of our series of road cars designed to go racing takes us to the land of the free.
In parts one and two of our homologation special series, we looked at motorsport titans that originated from Japan and France. In part three, we take a trip to the home of the V8 engine and general big-displacement warriors
– America.
With US car brands some of the largest in the world, there aren’t many forms of motorsport that star-spangled brands haven’t participated in.
Furthermore, on top of international competition are US-specific forms of racing like NASCAR, which spawned their own sub-set of unique road-going racers.
Let’s look at five of the best.
1966 Dodge Charger 426 Hemi
During the early 1960s, NASCAR was entering full flight. Engine technology was steadily progressing, and manufacturers were keen to began trialling ‘mystery’ motors – not offered in showrooms – in an attempt to win races.
One such rule breaker was Pontiac’s 421-cube V8, as it was not homologated for motorsport, yet powered some cars to victory. Chevrolet played dirty, too, keeping its ‘mystery motor’ engine tightly guarded.
Even Chysler’s 427 Hemi was just as illegal. The tomfoolery didn’t go unnoticed, as in 1965, NASCAR’s Bill France begin reinforcing homologation rules to the letter of the law.
It meant that US car giants had to begin installing, or at least offering, similar versions of the race engines for the road. One of the first to showroom was Dodge with its new 1966 Charger 426.
While road-going cars featured dual four-barrel carburettors, race versions made do with a single four-barrel set-up, as per the new and heavily enforced rulebook.
Still, the Hemi V8 produced over 300kW, and was successful with motorsport legend and driver
Richard Petty winning 27 of 48 races
– including 10in a row
– in his Plymouth Belvedere shod with Chrysler’s now homologated bad boy 426ci Hemi V8.
1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Another favourite pastime in America is drag racing.
Back in the late 1960s, Illinois-based Chev dealer Fred Gibb was tired of being pummeled at the track. Week after week, he and his bowtie-branded products were beaten over the quarter mile, mainly because General Motors outlawed the installation of its most powerful big-block V8 into its smaller Camaro chassis.
It was a shame, as Gibbs saw potential in fitting the brand’s 427-cube ‘ZL1’ V8 into the small-bodied sports car. The lightweight, all-alloy engine he was eyeing off was originally developed for Can-Am racing, and was the most powerful motor in GM’s catalogue.
After chatting with the brand’s internal Central Office Production Order (COPO) department, Gibb quickly figured out how to get around the rules. He used the COPO ordering system – usually reserved for fleet vehicles and paint choices – to tick the box for a Camaro with the ZL1 V8.
The resulting 1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was a factory-warranted drag-racing machine, and in the right hands was able to achieve 10-second quarter mile times. Offered for an extra $4000 over a standard Camaro, Gibb needed 50 cars to be produced in order to meet NHRA drag-racing regulations.
He ordered 69 cars, with just 13 examples originally retailing from his dealership. Despite its performance, the car was a hard sell, and many
were pilfered for parts, or bought cheap and then heavily modified for drag racing.
1986 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe
Like all good rivalries, competition in the American stockcar series continued throughout the 1980s.
During the earlier part of the decade, General Motors was streets ahead of the rest. While the premium brand from its stable, Buick, had won 25 of the 30 Winston Cup races of the 1982 NASCAR season, sister brand Chevrolet languished mid-field. Still, it was General Motors party with archrival Ford barely getting a look in.
But it wasn’t all wine and roses for Chevrolet which continued to run at the back of the pack. After its new and shiny Chevrolet Malibu failed to win races that year, the brand brought back its then four-year-old Monte Carlo, which clawed back some success.
Later, in 1985, Ford had started to catch up. But, instead of throwing horsepower and cubes at the problem, Chevrolet turned to aerodynamic efficiencies to give its ageing Monte Carlo an advantage on-track.
By now, advanced computer-aided modelling was used to crunch the numbers, meaning tweaks to the Monte Carlo’s design could be targeted, smart, and data-driven. Its rear windows were extended and front-end treatment smoothed, both helping to lower its
drag coefficient from 0.375 to 0.365.
The subtle tweaks worked, giving the aero-bodied versions more speed and stability than before. The car went on to win Winston Cup championships in 1986 and 1987.
A fun fact is that most Aero-bodied road-going versions of Chevrolet’s Monte Carlo were sold in limited lumbers strictly in America’s southern states – the heartland of NASCAR.
1997 Panoz Esperante GTR-1
Panoz is an boutique American manufacturer with over 40 years of history building fast and unique vehicles.
Aside from low-volume production cars, the brand still actively competes on the global motorsport stage. Most recently, Panoz entered the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge GTS championship, where its in-house-designed ‘Avezzano’ grand touring racer finished with six wins and 10 podiums from 18 events.
However, it was back in 1997 that Panoz truly challenged conventions. It created the Panoz Esperante GTR-1 – a front-engined prototype race car – that had Le Mans racing set square in its headlights.
It achieved some success, with the Panoz factory team winning the GT Class at Road Atlanta circuit during its maiden season. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year, three cars entered, with none passing the finish line due to engine failures.
Panoz was praised for its efforts to return the front-engine chassis to Le Mans for the first time in 30 years. Because of its unique proportions, it saw the GTR-1 earn the nickname ‘Batmobile’ from fellow racers of the era.
Panoz had to build just one road-going example in order to homologate it for endurance racing. The son of Panoz founder and current owner, Dan Panoz, recently listed the number-one road car with a price tag over AUD$1,000,000.
According to Panoz’s website, you can still order your very own Esperante GTR-1 today.
2017 Ford GT
The last is arguably one of the finest sports cars to ever come from America. It was also one of the industry’s best kept secrets, remaining largely unknown before its reveal at the 2015 North American International Motor Show.
The 2017 Ford GT was designed secretly in a basement at Ford’s Detroit headquarters. Only a select few were allowed to work on the project – a couple of design managers and precisely four designers – who initially chipped away free from the oversight of Ford’s top brass.
Once the project had been greenlighted, Ford executives began travelling to HQ on Sundays just to view the car in direct sunlight. The thinking was that by unearthing it when no-one was around, no-one would know.
The plan worked, with the announcement – and reveal – coming as a huge shock to the industry. It’s clear the Ford GT was designed with a return to Le Mans in mind, as its 482kW twin-turbo V6 was tailored to suit the FIA’s ‘balance of performance’ homologation rules for the endurance series.
On its first Le Mans outing, the Ford GT placed first, third and fourth in the GTE Pro Class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Later on, Ford created the 2019 GT40 Mark II, which free from balance of performance homologation rules produced in excess of 522kW.
MORE: Homologation Specials – Part One: Japan
MORE: Homologation Specials
– Part Two: France
MORE: Everything Car Culture
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