1965 Daytona Continental 2000. Sports car endurance racing. A Ferrari was on the pole, a GT40 (Bondurant) next to it. Shelby Daytonas, a Lotus (Gurney), and ... a Hemi Belvedere?
The Belvedere passed Bondurant's GT40 at 5:18! (OK, so Bondurant took a detour first and was trying to get back on the course ...).
Got any other mismatches?
I don't know of any video but I attended a race at MidOhio back in the early 80's. The race was called the Lumbermans 500. It was a race that all kinds of cars could race in. This was the days of IMSA 934's & 935's, etc. That Sunday it rained and the winning car was a U2 (Under 2L) Cam-Am class car driven by Jim Trueman & Bobby Rahal.
In 1995 the Flis brothers showed up at the 24 Hours of Daytona with a brand spanking new Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX, which was basically an SCCA World Challenge car. Entered in GTS3 class it was the only 4 cylinder, up against factory supported Porsches and M3's. The car managed a 24th place finish overall though as it managed to finish and reliability that year was awful. The car was a real honest-to-goodness DSM with a real 4G63 sitting up front. The car reappeared in 1998 when it could run in the lower spec GTS3 class.
(pictures from '98/'99, can't find a pic from '95)
The Flis brothers would eventually give up on the Eclipse and buy a Camaro in 2000, morphing into Spirit of Daytona racing, which somewhat sucessfully ran Daytona Prototypes through the first decade of the 2000's.
Didn't a Hyundai Scoop turbo win the production class at Pike's Peak back in the early nineties? I think Rod Millen was driving though, he could probably put a YUGO on the podium.
drdisque wrote: In 1995 the Flis brothers showed up at the 24 Hours of Daytona with a brand spanking new Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX, which was basically an SCCA World Challenge car. Entered in GTS3 class it was the only 4 cylinder, up against factory supported Porsches and M3's. The car managed a 24th place finish overall though as it managed to finish and reliability that year was awful. The car was a real honest-to-goodness DSM with a real 4G63 sitting up front. The car reappeared in 1998 when it could run in the lower spec GTS3 class.
A friend of mine co-drove that car at Daytona. He basically said it was a rocket in a straight line, but they couldn't get it to turn. His comment was that in the middle of the night on cold tires, it was scary.
Nothing but good things to say about the Flis brothers, not many positives to say about the Eclipse. Other than to say he had a great time running with the team that is.
Didn't John Buttera build a car that came very close to qualifying for the Indy 500 sometime in the 1980s using a small block Chevy?
Another that comes to mind is the Chassis Engineering Special. This was the first diesel streamliner over 300 mph. Considering that JCB took a factory-backed and built streamliner to Bonneville the same year, I think that's a pretty big deal.
For contrast, the Chassis Engineering Special was driven and basically built by one guy (Roy Lewis, CE founder) in a small shop in Iowa. I wrote an article on the car just after it set the record, and Mr. Lewis was kind enough to send me an autographed picture of him next to the racecar.
In reply to drdisque:
The Flis brothers? Troy and Todd, right? God, I knew them back in the dark ages when I ran the CFR Solo program. I think Troy was on his learner's permit at the time.
I remember seeing Falcon Sprints racing against Cobras and the like.
I guess when the car meets the class requirements, it's in !
Honestly, kind of cool. Very cool, honestly.
I don't know much about the Flises. First time I read the name was today. I just remembered the car from my youth and researched it for this thread.
However, The Flis brothers did later team up with a fellow named Doug Goad who drove with them for Spirit of Daytona. Goad had some connections with GM. I went to high school with his son.
Does running an NA Miata in E-Street count? 
What about stock Corollas running at Spa???
From Eau Rouge to Les Combe it must have been bouncing off the rev limiter
Mini Vs Galaxy GT500 in BTCC in the 60'
caterham in F1 the last couple of years
Third gen celicas. Toysport raced a 22RE Toyota Celica GTS in the Macao Grand Prix. The original plan was to use an 18RG, but since the vehicle had US serial #'s (from Toyota Motorsport) we were forced to use the U.S. engine, the 22RE! To the entertainment of the other Toyota Teams from Japan, we qualified at the last minute, in the last half of the grid. The other Celicas (with their Twin Cams) were all in the top 6 positions. At the finish the Toysport Celica placed 3rd- behind 2 BMW Motorsport prepared 6 cylinder BMWs! This is the highest finish achieved by the 22RE in international racing competition.
Another good try, but this one didn't qualify:
Barney Navarro's Rambler-powered Indy car:
Every car I've ever driven at any event?
Try racing a 1964 Pontiac Tempest against Mark Donohue’s AMC Javelin in '71
http://bangshift.com/bangshiftapex/the-defant-ones-part-3-the-gray-ghost/
Adrian_Thompson wrote: Mini Vs Galaxy GT500 in BTCC in the 60'
I love watching some of those old videos, but have to admit that I always root for the Minis.
The 1970 Rd Atlanta Can-Am where the field included two factory McLaren M8D's, new Lola T220's and the Chaparral 2J - all powered by 494/502 cid, aluminum-block Chevies.
The race was won by a three liter Porsche 908 Spyder.
Michele Alboreto Detroit GRand Prix 1983 Tyrrell 011. Last win for a Ford DFV Engine against far far more powerful Turbo cars.
Bill Caswell took 3rd in a support series at the 2010 WRC Rally Mexico in a $500 E30 he got off Craigslist.
http://jalopnik.com/5497042/how-a-500-craigslist-car-beat-400k-rally-racers
The 1-2-3 Mini wins (sort of) at the 66 Monte Carlo rally come to mind.
Of the cars you could have raced in 66, would you think these things would win anything?
Lancer007 wrote: Bill Caswell took 3rd in a support series at the 2010 WRC Rally Mexico in a $500 E30 he got off Craigslist.
Dude, I remember that story! He ran against factory backed, awd, 500,000$ fully fledged race machines! The fact he finished 7th was incredible. This guy wins^^^^ /thread
I posted this one a few years ago. But what about a Lotus 7 in a Formula one race, not a Grand Prix, but an F1 race all the same. 1962 Rand Grand PRix run at Kyalami a couple of weeks prior to the actual WDC Grand Prix at the same circuit with many of the top teams, drivers and cars already there. A Lotus Freekin 7 in an F1 race. Blows my mind.
Brausch Niemann qualified 32nd and last with a time of 1:44.5 Vs the pole time of Jim Clark at 1:35.0 in his Lotus 25. He finished 10th ahead of 3 Lotus Climax cars
Niemann's car had a Ford 109E all steel engine bored out to 1475cc with four Amal carburettors, special camshaft and head. The chassis was halved lengthwise and reduced by two inches to comply with Formula One regulations. The front brakes were 1958 Mercedes 180 with finned drums. The rear axle was changed to Austin due to the wide choice of ratios and free-floating hubs were incorporated as a safety feature. There was no limited-slip differential so a fiddle handbrake was used on the driver's side to stop wheel in the corners. The car was painted red, had steel wheels and the cycle wings were removed.
To everyones astonishment the Seven easily qualified for a place on the start line. Non-starters included eight Coopers, a BRM, the Assegai, the Netuar, one LDS, four Lotus 18's and two Lotus 20's.
Clark led all the way and won the race itself, followed closely by Taylor, Surtees and Hocking with the Seven finishing in a respectable 10th. place having beaten three of the Climax powered Lotuses. Through the speed trap Niemann was timed at an astonishing 127mph. Infact so fast was the car that Chapman was heard to remark that it must be the quickest Lotus Seven in the world when he saw it howling down the Kyalami straight 'stuck' to the rear of Jim Clark's Lotus 25!
Here's the results.
1 Clark Lotus-Climax 1:20-47.4 95.70mph
2 Taylor Lotus-Climax 1:20-47.7
3 Surtees Lola-Climax 1:21-11.1
4 Hocking Lotus-Climax 49 laps
5 Lederle Lotus-Climax 49 laps
6 Serrurier LDS-Alfa Romeo 48 laps
7 de Klerk Alfa Special 47 laps
8 Tingle LDS-Alfa Romeo 47 laps
9 Viljoen LDS-Climax 46 laps
10 NIEMANN LOTUS-FORD 46 LAPS
11 Pieterse Lotus-Climax 46 laps
12 Podmore Lotus-Climax 44 laps
13 Bosman LDS-Alfa Romeo 43 laps
14 van Niekerk Lotus Climax 40 laps
15 Ginther BRM 36 laps
Wouldn't it be awesome to build a replica of this car, inc the narrowed chassis?
This thread is full of win.
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