World’s most iconic race cars

This writer often shocks car enthusiasts by stating that even really good road vehicles do not do much for me. A road car is a bit like a toilet – you need it and things get crappy when you do not have one, but it does not do much to accelerate your heart rate.

Race cars, on the other hand, represent a singularity of purpose and ruthlessly applied functionality, with few concessions to appearance. Many road car owners spend lots of money to make their vehicles look mean. But race cars end up looking mean because they are mean, built to do mean jobs, with their appearance coincidental.

That grabs me – it did when I saw my first race car at age six, and still does today, at age 66. I have spent the intervening six decades following that magic thing called Motorsport, and formed definite ideas about history’s most stunning race cars. Here is our list of the six most iconic race cars, ever.

Gulf Porsche 917

Due to the movie “Le Mans” the Gulf Porsche 917 is probably the best known race car in history.

The Porsche 917 must head up the list, because Steve McQueen and the 1971 movie “Le Mans” immortalised that car in Gulf Oil colours.

The 917 was specifically developed in 1969 to tackle the World Sports Car championship, with Porsche building 25 of the cars as per the regulations at the time. The car gave Porsche its first overall win in the Le Mans 24-Hour race the next year, with another victory, plus the McQueen movie, coming along in 1971.

Powered by a 4.5-litre, flat-12 engine the 917 weighed in at 800kg and the long-tail versions of the car were clocked at over 360km/h in the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans. Two works teams – Gulf Wyer and Porsche Salzburg – ran cars and it was by sheer chance that a Gulf-liveried car was depicted as McQueen’s steed in the movie. It went on to become, probably, the best known race car in history.

John Player Special Lotus 72

Emerson Fittipaldi powers his Lotus 72 model before the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo in 2010, celebrating the 40th anniversary of his first F1 victory. Picture: AFP

Arriving in 1970, the Lotus 72 was initially driven by Jochen Rindt and Ken Miles, running in Gold Leaf Cigarette livery. The cars’ unique wedge shape came about because Lotus designer Colin Chapman moved the radiators to the sides, in search of better aerodynamics. The cars’ rear wings were the biggest yet seen on a F1 vehicle.

The 72 was powered by a three-litre, V8, 420-horsepower Cosworth DFV engine and Rindt became the first posthumous World Champion after dying in a crash during practice for the 1970 Monza Grand Prix. The 72’s design was upgraded during 1971, with Rindt replaced in the cockpit by Emerson Fittipaldi.

In 1972 the Lotus 72 appeared in stunning black and gold livery, was called the John Player Special, and Fittipaldi scored six victories to take the world title. The car took the 1973 Constructors’ title with Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson and was run in John Player Special colours until its final appearances in 1975. A more beautiful race car has probably never been built.

Ford GT40

Ford produced 105 Ford GT40 race cars between 1964 and 1969, with many surviving, to compete in historic car races today.

Launched by the Ford Motor Company in 1965, the Ford GT40 was based on the British Lola Mk6 and specifically designed to take long-distance sports car races – specifically Le Mans – away from Ferrari. It did just that in 1966, following it up with further victories of the 24-Hour race in 1967, 1968 and 1969.

The GT40 got its name because it raced in the Grand Touring class and engineers found by chance it was exactly 40 inches high. Over the years, the cars came fitted with a variety of Ford V8 engines, ranging from 4.7-litre to 4.9-litre and eventually seven litres, all using five-speed manual gearboxes.

A total of 105 were built between 1964 and 1969 – so many specifically designed race cars of a specific model will probably never be churned out by a road car manufacturer again. Many of them have survived, and dozens are still raced in historic car events. Many kit car manufacturers also build pretty accurate replicas of the car, to this day hugely popular with privateer sports car competitors.

Ferrari 312T4

The Ferrari 312T4 looked like no other F1 car, and clinched the 1979 Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles for Maranello. Picture: Getty Images

There have been many, many Ferraris in Formula One over the years – the Prancing Horse has been involved since the first Grand Prix season in 1950 to this day.

We choose the 312T4 for various reasons. For one, South African Jody Scheckter clinched the 1979 F1 Drivers’ World Championship in one. His team-mate, Gilles Villeneuve and the 312T4 was, at the time, undeniably the quickest combination in Grands Prix. And, the vehicles’ flat bodies and unique front ends make the car stand out among any collection of F1 car photographs.

Weighing in at 590kg, the 312T4 was powered by a flat-12 three-litre engine, sending 515 horsepower at 12 300 rpm to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual gearbox. Scheckter’s Drivers’ title apart, the 312T4 also took that year’s Constructors’ title – Ferrari’ last F1 championship victories until 2000, when, 21 years later, Michael Schumacher won for them again.

Auto Union V16

The Auto Union came with a six-litre, V16 powerplant, placed behind the driver, and went way over 300 km/h on seriously agricultural tyres.

In 1933, Adolf Hitler decided to use motorsport as a publicity vehicle for German technology and offered car makers in the country funding to build race cars. The regulations at the time centred around cars with a minimum mass of 750kg, with engines, chassis and transmissions free.

Private designer Dr Ferdinand Porsche grabbed the opportunity to realise his brainchild with the backing and resources of Auto Union. The car was rear-engined – unknown, in those years – and what an engine. Pushing the ultra-light alloy chassis and bodywork was a six-litre, V16 powerplant, with a never-revealed amount of power.

The cars could, in their third year of racing and development, do 125 km/h in first gear, 180 km/h in second, 250 km/h in third, 280 km/h in fourth and over 300 km/h in fifth. When the cars competed in hillclimbs, they often used double tyres at the rear to better avoid wheelspin. The V16 was replaced by a three-litre, supercharged V12 engine in 1938, which powered the Auto Unions until World War Two brought all motorsport to a halt.

The Auto Union V16 is on our list because it was the first race car to bring the advantages of the rear engine to circuit racing. Also, the men who drove them, like Hans Stuck, Bernd Rosemeyer, Hermann Muller, Rudolf Hasse, Ernst von Delius, Luigi Fagioli and Tazio Nuvolari, had balls of steel – always to be applauded, in our book.

Thrust SCC

Andy Green set the World Land Speed record in the Thrust SCC in 1997. Picture: Getty Images

Purists might argue that this is not a real race car. But, it officially holds the World Land Speed record at a velocity of 1 227.985 km/h, driven by British pilot Andy Green over a one kilometre distance through the American Black Rock Desert in October 1997. In the process, Thrust SCC became the first, and only human driven vehicle to break the sound barrier on land.

Designed, built and developed by former Land Speed Record holder Richard Noble, Thrust SCC was powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey 205 turbofan jet engines and weighed in at 10.6 tonnes. We have a video of the record attempt, and know that the car’s two fastest runs were achieved with some of its rear body panels coming loose due to shock-wave damage when breaking the sound barrier.

Green knew that and still set off to do the two final runs, knowing he was going to break the sound barrier again during both of them. Balls like an old hippo, the man has, and the car deserves its place on our list. What with the whole world currently bankrupt due to Covid-19, we reckon Thrust SCC’s record will stand for many years to come.

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