Blue Oval/NASCAR fans have had a handful of cool old race cars to bid on in recent months, a list that includes a 1993 Ford Thunderbird Winston Cup car and a 2001 Ford Taurus NASCAR racer, too. Meanwhile, fans of the Gran Torino also had the opportunity to bid on a very special Starsky and Hutch replica that was quite faithful to the original a few months ago, too. Now, those two worlds somewhat collide with this Ford Torino NASCAR racer that’s currently up for grabs at Bring a Trailer.
This Ford Torino NASCAR racer is no replica, either – rather, it’s a real-deal former race car that competed in the 1976 season with driver Dick Brooks behind the wheel. It then spent many years in storage until it resurfaced in 2014, after which the stock car was refurbished by Rhine Enterprise in Denver, North Carolina. On the outside, that process involved stripping the body panels down to bare metal, fixing all the rust, and painting it in a red, white, blue, and gold livery with sponsor graphics and adding a set of Norris Industries wheels wrapped with Goodyear Eagle white-letter slicks.
As one might imagine, the interior is quite bare, with little more than a black seat and a racing harness, a roll cage, window net, and a fire-suppression system. Currently, the Torino is set up for road racing duties with Bilstein shocks and four-wheel disc brakes underneath, making it a fun potential weekend track warrior.
The 351 Windsor V8 present under the hood of this Ford Torino racer is also pretty new, and was built by the folks at GHR Racing Engines in Mooresville, North Carolina. It’s chock full of quality parts including a Bud Moore intake manifold, a Bill Pink 750 cfm carb, and a dry sump oiling system, sending power to the wheels via a Tex Racing T101 four-speed manual transmission and a Ford 9-inch rear end with a Detroit Locker differential. Sold for off-road use only with a Dick Brooks racing suit, a scale model of the car, sponsor patches, and a signed Junie Donlavey 1993 Maxx trading card, this Ford Torino would certainly make a cool vintage racer, or a nice museum piece, at the very least.
We’ll have more cool auction finds to share soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Torino news and ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comments
I saw that car race several times. And I’m going with a 351 Cleveland and not a Windsor.
That is a 351 Cleveland in the car not a Windsor.