5 More Race Cars that are More than Just Fast

In part one, we discussed five of the ten. Here are five more…

Even though we mostly look at production models and discuss what your next car buying experience might bring you, it’s fun to check out some awesome racing machines from time to time.  One reason is some of the best technology aboard your daily driver probably was at one time or another put inside a race car in order to give it some form of an advantage.  Another reason to take a look at race cars is because they are race cars.  These cars are built to go as fast as possible and have a ton of science and engineering aboard as well as a beautiful look to them that simply gets that engine inside of you going with the dream of one day driving one of these speed demons yourself.

2008 Mazda Furai

Unfortunately this car has not seen a race, but it certainly should have and Mazda could easily enter the supercar club with a street legal version of this beauty.  This concept car was one of the most attractive from the artistic paint scheme added to the high performance and low angles and lines that gave this awesome ride its shape.  Even though this car was built for Le Mans it never saw the track and ended up as a show favorite around the world until it burnt to the ground during testing.

1964 Spirit II Dragster

This beautiful long and sleek dragster was built to reach 200 mph, a number we nearly scoff at today, but in 1964 it hadn’t been done in the quarter mile yet.  This car was built and developed by Craig Breedlove who would later hold the land speed record.  With the body work on this car looked like it belonged in the future, but in an interesting testing to gain the most numbers possible, it was discovered to be faster without the body work attached to it, even though it looked amazing with all its dressings in place.

1967 Eagle T1G

This car has been known as the most beautiful car of its time and offers the low and tiny look of race cars of the time.  This list would certainly not be complete without a car that with these appealing features of having the open wheels so far from the cigar shaped body.  The Eagle T1G was powered by a V12 engine to be awesome, but alas it only won one championship Grand Prix even though it was certainly the Belle of many a ball at the tracks in those days.

Miller 91

Big and brutish, racing cars of the very early days had not taken aerodynamics into account as of yet and the bigger the engine, of the 1920s and 30s, the faster it would go.  This car was a work of art from Harry Miller and came into the Indianapolis 500 as a fan favorite that was powered by a 2.0-liter supercharged and intercooled engine that produced 285 horsepower.  This was huge for the time and with the hand crafted machine of Harry Miller, the Miller 91 gave fans an amazing show at the Indy Speedway.

1981 Zakspeed Ford Capri

As one of the most aggressive looking cars on this list, the Zakspeed was full on power and in your face aggression to give us a race car that meant it when it said it was going to blow your doors off.  This full-frame tube chassis carried in a turbocharged Ford engine that was rated at 600 horsepower but really reached much closer to 750.  This car competed in Group 5 racing in Europe and was the most sinister looking beast on four wheels to ever show up and qualify for races.

As I said, it’s certainly worth a look at some race cars to see what technologies, especially those involving the use of aerodynamics to increase speed.  You see the results of many sports cars on the road around you today, but even with the science aside, it’s always fun to look at some awesome speed machines and these are some of the most beautiful race cars to ever patrol the tracks and deserts of the world to give us awesome speed, power and handling to cheer for and wish we were able to get behind the wheel and drive them ourselves.