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Hooniverse Asks: What’s your favorite road car-turned-unexpected race car?

By Jeff Glucker Oct 15, 2019

Today, I’m heading to Barstow, California to meet up with a team that races in the Baja 1000. No, not in a buggy. It’s not a familiar Ford or Chevy-badged tube-chassis Trophy Truck either. Instead, I’ll sit in with the team racing a Honda Ridgeline in the production-based Class 7. This team is no stranger to the dirt, mind you, as its posted a number of wins down in Baja.

This truck has me thinking about other unexpected race winners. One of my all-time favorites is also an off-road racer. And this one is even more unexpected. When James Garner took to the wheel of his Oldsmobile 442, he set off into the dust and wound up finishing 2nd in his class. That was back in 1969. I probably think about this car once per month, because it’s just that awesome.

Now I want to know about other excellent racing machines that come from unexpected places. Let’s hear your favorites in the comments below.

By Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

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80 thoughts on “Hooniverse Asks: What’s your favorite road car-turned-unexpected race car?”

  4. “Mighty Mouse” was a Nissan EXA (aka 1st Gen Pulsar NX) factory team car that ran Aussie Group C.

    https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5764304bebbd1a9356def4e2/1515505160854-YM0VONWUY95MYUJCCSHQ/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kClkgvT80j1EQYhpCwlcsIN7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z4YTzHvnKhyp6Da-NYroOW3ZGjoBKy3azqku80C789l0k5fwC0WRNFJBIXiBeNI5fIZTn6oOiKMNd9hHpxk9gFqBZ3q4-H3E2gm1zCvDDp66A/image-asset.jpeg?format=1500w

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    2. The lower stock classes of Solo II had some weird cars in the front. I remember a guy that actually had a local Pontiac dealer sponsoring him in a Sunbird. He usually won his class and had a top 5 overall time.

      Reply

    1. Would this have been before AMC’s 1970 purchase of Jeep I wonder? I wonder if it would have been developing one of the more full-time 4wd systems.

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      1. The Baja 500 in which the AIR team participated was in June of ’69. These cars were therefore prepared before the purchase of Jeep in 1970. All of the Garner Rambers had blueprinted AMC 390s and modified suspension/tires/undercarriages, but only 2 were equipped with 4WD (the image caption says four, but I think it ended up only two). I can’t find any reference to whose 4WD system was used, but I would assume it was Jeep’s. Jeep started using AMC engines in their trucks in 1965, so there was collaboration between the companies several years before the union.

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        1. Ok thanks.

          A bit of trivia, in Australia Jeeps used Falcon engines from around that time, and when they did the Falcon 4wd ute it had Jeep running gear

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          1. Interesting. I suppose that makes sense, considering Jeep was strong on 4WD technology at the time, but Ford had better engines. In the 60s, Jeep had only the (ancient) Willys Hurricane and the Tornado six, which was discontinued outside of military use after 1965 (hence, Jeep started using AMC’s engines that year). Jeep had a history of borrowing engines from other manufacturers (AMC’s 327 V8 and 232 I-6, Buick’s Dauntless V6 and V8, GM’s Iron Duke I-4 and 2.6L V6, and diesels made by Renault and some Italian company that I forget). I’m only surprised that Jeep didn’t elect to go with Holden engines in Australia, given their established arrangements with GM in the States.

          2. Sounds like it was done as an alternative to the Buick V6, plus would have worked in with the need to increase local content. Not sure why Ford vs Holden, maybe it suited Borg Warner gearbox & axles.

      1. My favorite rally car of them all! I don’t find Volvo’s racing pedigree surprising, though, given the ruggedness of the chassis and B14/16 and B18/20 engines. I love watching film of PV544s and Amazons plowing through the countryside.

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    3. Speaking of the PV544… how would that car do in modern driving? Were the 4-speed transmissions fully syncro’ed, or was first gear straight-cut? Other than modernizing the brakes for safety reasons, I’d like to find a rugged classic with enjoyable but stone-simple mechanicals.

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      1. My impression is that these are pretty versatile classics, as long as you move them up to 90 kph – highway speeds need a longer rear axle. They’re pretty light, and the B18 is powerful enough. Make sure you use a 12V version though…

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    2. I miss seeing the Killer Zomgbie out of the race circuit. It was actually the inspiration for the purchase of my old MGB.

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  14. Mercedes R107 rally car. They had railway-like reinforcements, the Germanic infrastructure and logistics, but then, the driver (have you heard of Walter Röhrl?) on the question whether it was possible not to win Monte Carlo in the very first season of the car, gave an optimistic but cautious/realistic “I expect us to be in the top five”.
    Unthinkable considerations for the management, so they pulled the plug.
    http://benz-books.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Mercedes-R107-500SL-Testwagen-mit-W.-R%C3%B6hrl-am-Steuer.jpg

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        1. He has to support his head with his hand due to the g-forces and wind buffeting! 😉 Either that or he has the Automatic Dope-Slap machine, which was a very rare option.

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        1. The Skoda had an actual mechanical LSD too, which helped. 135bhp from under 1300cc was pretty good by 80s standards as well.

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      2. Absolutely, 1965 Tulip Rally in what would now be the WRC, won by a Hillman Imp when so many competitors didn’t make it to the finish due to the conditions. What year would this have been?

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      3. Absolutely, 1965 Tulip Rally in what would now be the WRC, won by a Hillman Imp when so many competitors didn’t make it to the finish due to the conditions. What year would this have been?

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          1. I guessed it might have been because some results l found had a number/edition against it. Rosemary Smith won the ladies’ prize in that rally twice (66-67) and also took class wins which was repeated again in 68 by local Sean Power.

    2. I saw this car on display at the Daytona International Speedway a few years back. I have been looking for my image of it ever since. Used but nice.

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        1. It’s like a KFC bucket, once you get past the wings you’re just left with greasy disappointment.

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      1. The six eyes front end is the rarest and coolest looking, most of them have more conventional headlight and spotlight setups

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      2. The six eyes front end is the rarest and coolest looking, most of them have more conventional headlight and spotlight setups

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      3. It was a bit of an also-ran of the group B era, interesting, but not effective.

        Also hard to control apparently (even by Group B standards), which is kind of amusing in light of the recent Chris Meeke fiasco, seems they haven’t learned much..

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  23. A supercharged Austin 7 race car won the first Australian Grand Prix, beating a couple of Bugattis and an Aston Martin. There are a lot still racing!

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  24. For a target-rich theater, just check out the field that ran the 1950s Carrera Panamericana. (They were mostly stock car based, where the 1993 and later revival race is heavily modified open class contenders.)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Carrera_Panamericana

    My favorite is the Lincoln Capri…

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f640baece04d357c7df74c6b49ea552d6920a7d49b6b895d2116952c9609a83c.jpg

    and Cosmopolitan…

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8e86fd121f5bff2e19254761d8d5063b88e93366e94252f96b3307bc9512c602.jpg

    though it’s tough to beat the Chapultepec Motors Cadillac(?)

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/99b8791c3285448058911d8001b7a8a2ca4b56a875b4a7a2293674a4edaf66a8.jpg

    Reply

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