1967 Ford Mark IV Sports Car Racing. This was the first all-American car and team to win the Le Mans 24-hour race. For decades, Europeans had dominated sports-car racing in cars with small, fast-turning, highly efficient engines. Americans typically used big, slower-turning, less-efficient V-8 engines. This car’s sophisticated chassis used aerospace techniques, and its shape was refined in a wind tunnel. But its big engine was based on Ford’s V-8 used for stock-car racing.

1902 Ford “999” Oval Track Racing. Henry Ford and the other builders of “999” were afraid to drive their own brutish machine, so they hired a fearless professional bicycle racer named Barney Oldfield. Although he had never driven a car, Oldfield not only mastered it but also won his first race and went on to become America’s first nationally known racing hero. With his trademark cigar and aggressive driving, Oldfield was the terror of dusty ovals across the country.

1933 Willys Drag Racing. When machinist George Montgomery started racing in 1953, all drag racers were amateurs, with a “real job” supporting their hobby. This car helped change all that. Montgomery bought an old Willys in 1958 and built a dragster so successful that promoters started paying him to run at drag strips nationwide. In 1966, he got a new “real job” as one of the first full-time professional drag racers.

1901 Ford Sweepstakes Oval Track Racing. When Henry Ford’s first auto company failed, he rebuilt his reputation with this race car. After building “Sweepstakes” with some friends, the then little-known Henry Ford wheeled it to victory over well-known Cleveland automaker Alexander Winton in a 10-mile race at Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Ford’s win helped finance a second auto company, which he left after a few months. He succeeded on his third attempt, founding Ford Motor Company in 190

1965 Lotus-Ford Oval Track Racing. After this innovative rear-engine Lotus won the Indianapolis 500 in 1965, a traditional front-engine car never won that race again. Its European design was quite unlike that of the traditional Indy car: The engine was behind the driver, the lightweight monocoque chassis was based on aircraft technology, and each wheel was independently suspended. Americans thought their big front-engine cars could never be beaten. This British Lotus proved them wrong.

1965 Goldenrod Land Speed Racing. In November 1965, a flash of gold streaked across Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats at 409.277 mph, breaking the land speed record for wheel-driven cars. Its long, slim shape minimized wind resistance, but it took clever engineering to pack in four massive Chrysler engines and the machinery to drive all four wheels. Although other car builders adopted the sleek new design, Goldenrod held the record until 1991.

1962 Mustang 1. This concept car was developed to accomplish a marketing goal—to make people think of Ford as an exciting, forward-looking company. Designers created a sleek two-seater body with the engine behind the driver, like the latest European sports-racing cars. They also made sure the car was as fast as it looked. It was a huge hit with the public. Mission accomplished.

1984 March 84C-Cosworth. Until the 1960s, race car designers treated wind resistance as the enemy. Then they discovered that air pressure pushing down on wedge-shaped bodies helped cars grip the track and corner faster. Adding wings shaped like upside-down airplane wings—helped even more. Designers then shaped cars’ undersides so airflow created a vacuum, sucking cars to the track. By the 1980s, these aerodynamic advances established the fundamental shape of Indy racecars used today.

1960 Meskowski. The famous Offenhauser engine powering this car and hundreds of others—is the result of innovations from its builder and its users. Originally designed by the legendary Harry Miller, the engine was refined by Miller’s shop foreman, Fred Offenhauser. “Offy” engines powered their first Indianapolis 500 winner in 1935 and their last in 1976. Scores of mechanics made improvements over 40 years, until the final turbocharged versions pumped out 1000 horsepower.