The Aero Car lasted way past its intended life span!
We all know the auto manufacturers went NASCAR racing to improve their sales. Win on Sunday and Sell on Monday was real. However, Ford Motor Company didn’t think very far in advance when they gave up on the King Cobra and pulled out of factory supported racing in late 1969. As much as NASCAR didn’t like the aero cars they were also also likely none too pleased with the results. The 68/69 sports roof cars and especially the Talladega and Spoiler II were great cars for the super speedways. The new for 1970 models not so much.
What is a racer supposed to do when his manufacture’s new model is not as “slippery” as the previous model? The manufacturer and NASCAR want to see the newest models on the race track. The fans also want to see the new cars. The racers want to win and the result was a compromise.
Back in the early 70s this was the situation. Simply put the old car was faster on big tracks so the race teams raced two different bodies for up to 3 years! On the high speed tracks the old aero cars were pulled out and used. On the short tracks were aerodynamics was not as important, the new models could be raced. Read about what was said about this in this old Ford and Mercury Speedway newsletter provided by Steve Marek.
