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Nascar Lincoln anyone?


4bangen

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I just found this section of the board. and figured I'd share.

Here is a photo shop I did of my 89 Mark VII. I still may paint my car like this, but will definitely make a model of it.

marknascarcopy.jpg

There was never a Mark VII in nascar, but seeing as they where so close to the T birds I figured why not?

here's the real car.

DSC_0674.jpg

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It is little known that the Mark VIII was almost a contender at NASCAR. Chevrolets had won 31 of 46 Winston Cup races since the redesigned Monte Carlo was introduced in the 1995 model year and racing season. In 1996, Ford had no plans to update its 9 year old Thunderbird in the near future. The next year, Ford announced that it would discontinue the Thunderbird, one of the most successful brands in NASCAR history, at year's end. In 1996,

Michael Kranefuss, owner of Team 37, saw the Mark VIII, which shared the MN-12 platform with the Thunderbird, as the logical replacement. The team built a NASCAR car based on the contour of 1996 Mark VIII. Wind tunnel tests were done on the completed car at the Lookheed plant in Marietta Georgia on May 7, 1996. The car attracted a lot of attention during the two day test at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 8-9, 1996. John Andretti drove the Mark VIII for those test laps, recording one of the highest speeds for those days. They were the focus of attention not because of the lap times but because it was a Lincoln Mark VIII.

NASCAR officials said they would allow the Lincoln Mark VIII to be used in Winston competition, but Ford asked the team to stop the development program. "Ford's foremost objective is to sell cars," stated Michael Kranefuss, who has a 30 year association with Ford. Ford wanted a sales leader represent Ford in NASCAR.

Also, at the time, Ford did not want Lincoln to have a race image. In 1997, when Ford announced that the Thunderbird was to be discontinued, Ford got special permission from NASCAR to campaign a two door Taurus for NASCAR for the 1998 season. Special dies were made up for the skins of this racing Taurus that was optimized for aerodynamics. No Two door Taurus was ever offered in the showroom! So much for "stock car" racing.

nascarmarkviii.jpg

Edited by martinfan5
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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

for now I went a different rout. or well another rout, I've been down before.

2012-01-05144113.jpg

this was my last one.

DSC_0052-1.jpg

looked and sounded great, but it was in piss poor shape. it led a hard life before I got it. its still around but only as a parts car.

Maybe one day I'll do one up nascar style but for now dark, black, and nasty is fun.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I remember seeing the Kranefuss-Haas Mark VIII during testing on TV back when it was current, and I loved the concept! Another similar car I would have liked to have seen built would have been a contemporary Buick Riviera. That car looked like it was pretty slippery aerodynamically. I did a couple of sketches of one in NASCAR trim back then, and I liked what I came up with. That was back when GM had four divisions competing in "Winston" Cup.

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