When most people hear NASCAR race car, they think machines set up exclusively for ovals – like a former Ricky Rudd-driven Ford Taurus and another that spent time under Greg Biffle’s control – but there are some models set up for road courses, and that means turning left and right. There’s another race-prepared Ford Taurus up for grabs, and this one turned laps on plenty of road courses, driven by some big NASCAR names.
This No. 88 Ford Taurus, available on Bring a Trailer, actually began life as a 1990 Ford Thunderbird built by Robert Yates for drivers Davey Allison and Ernie Irvan. It was later rebodied and rebadged to a Ford Taurus spec race car, which was driven by Dale Jarret, most notably during the 1999 season, when he won the Cup championship. The race car visited Victory Lane at Sonoma in 1991, then driven by Allison, and again in 1994 with Irvan at the wheel. It even saw track time in Japan, driven by Jarrett in 1996 and Darrell Waltrip in 1998 during the Cup’s brief stint in the country.
Later, the Taurus race car was then sold by Yates and taken to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2002, winning first place in its class. The selling party acquired the vehicle in 2005, refurbishing it in 2006. Under the hood, it harnesses an Ernie Elliott built 358ci V8 engine, measured at 775 horsepower in 2018. The engine has 19.9 hours currently on it, and has been refreshed every 36. Power is delivered to the rear wheels via its four-speed G-Force manual transmission.
The No. 88 Ford Taurus features a roll cage, Richardson Racing Products seats, a complete Coolsuit system with a shirt, and a fire suppression system. Its three-spoke steering wheel frames a set of Auto Meter gauges and a Longacre Hot Lap timer.
Under current ownership, the Taurus race car was refinished in Jarrett’s iconic No. 88 livery after it was damaged in a vintage race. Repairs were performed by Jim Barfield at Bill Elliott Racing. The seller notes that they’re throwing in a custom UPS livery car cover in with the sale, too, along with a letter of authenticity from crew chief-turned-commentator Larry McReynolds that outlines its entire history. Note that the race car is not currently street legal.
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What in God's name would one do with it?
Its a race car, i assume they would race it 🤣
Race it at SVRA (sports car vintage racing association) events
Might be fun to drive to the local grocery store for a few things. Hopefully, no police would be in the vicinity.