Autosport's top 5 NASCAR machines

When Autosport recorded its Greatest Cars series of podcasts, we covered everything from junior single-seaters to sportscars, Formula 1 machines and Indycars alike. NASCAR got a passing mention, and this author made a case for one of the greatest Cup cars to be considered - but given the parochial nature of the series, it was admittedly in vain.

In the modern era, the 'Generation 6' NASCAR Cup cars are strictly regulated, identikit pieces of machinery draped in a facsimile bodyshell of each manufacturer's US-flagship consumer car. Today, the ovals (and sporadic 'roval' and circuit events) are occupied by collections of the Toyota Camry, the Chevrolet Camaro and the Ford Mustang GT. Sure, they may hold a passing resemblance to the road-going models, but the internals are far away from the real thing.

When you consider NASCAR's greatest cars, the modern machines are perhaps a little bit too formulaic to enter the conversation. They're great for racing, but they don't evoke quite the same frisson of excitement that some of the past oval-botherers used to.

From the stylish to the brutish to the oh-so-illegal, we've picked out five of NASCAR's greatest hits from yesteryear.

5. Ford Thunderbird (1977-1997)

The elegant 'T-Bird', as it was affectionately known, had made sporadic appearances in NASCAR since the late 1950s and 1960s, but in 1977 it became Ford's de facto model in Cup racing. By then, the car had become significantly more boxy than the swooping models of the previous decade, but was also vastly more successful.

The Thunderbird was still a persistent force throughout the 1980s, bringing its victory count into triple figures, but did not take a driver to the title until 1988

When Bobby Allison switched from his own team, running the AMC Matador, to Bud Moore's Thunderbird-toting squad for 1978, he delivered immediate success for Ford. In an incident-packed Daytona 500, Allison managed to overcome contact with the wall to clinch victory as the likes of AJ Foyt and Richard Petty sustained heavy accidents in NASCAR's blue-riband event.

Allison took the car he'd labelled as a "luxury liner" into title contention, but it didn't have the legs over Cale Yarborough, racing an Oldsmobile for Junior Johnson's team. Although the Thunderbird was once again in the cut-and-thrust of the action the following year, Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip - both racing a combination of the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and the Oldsmobile 442 throughout the year - streaked ahead in the battle for the title.

The Thunderbird was still a persistent force throughout the 1980s, bringing its victory count into triple figures, but did not take a driver to the title until 1988, when Bill Elliott ended Ford's drought to secure the Cup crown. Alan Kulwicki delivered another Ford drivers' title in 1992, securing the manufacturers' crown for the Detroit marque too, before Ford wound down the T-Bird in favour of the Taurus for 1998.

Elliott's Talladega qualifying lap from 1987, set at an average of 212.809mph, still stands as the Alabama circuit's fastest-ever lap to this day.

4. Chrysler 300/300-B (1955-1956)

When Chrysler launched its performance 300 series in 1955, it had developed the cars with NASCAR in mind. Back then, cars had to run in a 'stock' specification, meaning they had to be sold commercially to be homologated.

Inside, Chrysler installed its 'FirePower' V8 engine, a 5.4-litre Hemi capable of churning
out (a claimed) 300bhp while its contemporaries comparatively struggled to peel the skin off of a rice pudding. The 1955 edition of the Grand National series - as the Cup Series was then known - was a straight fight between the Carl Kiekhaefer-prepared 300s and those prepared by Lee Petty's Petty Enterprises team, at least until Kiekhaefer's mechanics hit upon a sweet spot and Tim Flock cantered to the title with 18 wins in that year's 45 races.

The follow-up, 1956's 300-B, boasted even more power - a figure that was so impressive, the Kiekhaefer cars had it daubed on the bonnet. The 300-Bs, along with the new Dodge D500s occasionally employed by the team, were more dominant than the previous year, although the opening part of the season was hardly as felicitous. After scoring his third victory of the year at North Wilkesboro, Flock immediately walked out on the team. His fractious relationship with Kiekhaefer had finally boiled over, citing stomach ulcers while also tired of Kiekhaefer's overbearing nature.

That left the team to throw its weight behind Buck Baker, who duly took the mantle graciously, while Herb Thomas replaced Flock in the other car. In the first 25 races of the season, Kiekhaefer's cars won 21 of them, taking 16 consecutive races between the Lakewood Speedway round on 25 March and at the Merced Fairgrounds on 30 May.

But NASCAR fans began to become restless with races resembling a Kiekhaefer benefit concert. And, like today, NASCAR's governing body sought to try to find something illegal on the 300-Bs and D500s amid rumours of outlawed parts or rocket fuel. Despite its best efforts, NASCAR could find nothing.

Regardless, Kiekhaefer withdrew his team at the end of 1956, having become saddened by the allegations of cheating and the subsequent rules changes by NASCAR to rein in his team. He was also worried that fans' boredom of his team's domination might hurt the sales of his outboard motor business, which he subsequently retreated to. The following year, Chevrolet changed the game completely...

3. Chevrolet 150 'Black Widow' (1957)

Perhaps the only racing car to be developed in response to a government's threats to ban all forms of motorsport, the Chevrolet 'Black Widow' isn't, strictly speaking, a Chevrolet. Ahead of the 1957 Grand National season, US congress had mulled over a bill to put a stop to racing amid escalating road traffic fatalities. Eventually, it settled on a compromise: racing could carry on, but car manufacturers couldn't use their racing victories to advertise their models, effectively ending the 'win on Sunday, sell on Monday' axiom.

To circumvent that, General Motors gave its blessing to Chevrolet head of racing Vince Piggins, who had enjoyed NASCAR success running the Hudson Hornets (another candidate for this list) in the early years of the series, to set up the Southern Engineering and Development Company (SEDCO) to act as Chevrolet's entry by proxy.

The Black Widows continued to streak to victories, even after Chevrolet joined the Automotive Manufacturers' Association in its banning of car companies' support of racing teams

SEDCO then took the Chevrolet 150 and, to also circumvent the 'stock car' regulations, set about modifying it with race-ready components that all had official GM part numbers associated with them. The firm also released a commercially available guidebook on how to modify a standard road-going 150 and turn it into the same specification as the 'Black Widow'. This was underpinned by a small-block, fuel-injected 4.6-litre V8 motor from the Corvette, cramming the small engine bay with the biggest powerplant Chevrolet could find. It dished out almost 300bhp, and ended up picking up from the Kiekhaefer team as the dominant force in top-level NASCAR competition.

It first took to the track during the Daytona SpeedWeeks race, in which Johnny Beauchamp finished second behind Cotton Owens's Pontiac, and then swept to a 1-2-3 finish at Concord as Jack Smith took victory from Buck Baker, now driving the Chevy, and Speedy Thompson. The car was quick, to the point where NASCAR intervened.

In particular, NASCAR quibbled with the idea of fuel injection and, to rein the team in, mandated from April that all cars could only be equipped with a four-barrel carburettor. But the car didn't seem to suffer any clear adverse effects from that switch, and the Black Widows continued to streak to victories, even after Chevrolet joined the Automotive Manufacturers' Association in its banning of car companies' support of racing teams.

As SEDCO was shut down, the ownership of the 150s passed to the drivers, but Baker transcended the politics and took the car to the 1957 title, firmly placing the Black Widow's tale in NASCAR folklore.

2. Chevrolet Monte Carlo (1997)

Chevrolet's Monte Carlo model, in its various guises, spanned NASCAR Cup competition from 1971 to 2007. By far the most successful car in NASCAR history, winning 396 races, it's arguably best-known for its tenure in the hands of four-time Cup winner Jeff Gordon, particularly in the 'Rainbow Warriors' DuPont scheme of the late 1990s.

But it's a one-off edition that makes the list, simply because of its innovative streak and its subsequent outlawing thanks to its roaring turn of pace - namely, the 'T-Rex'. The myth and the tale of legend behind the car only adds to its lustre, and was Hendrick Motorsports' golden goose built for the NASCAR All-Star race at Charlotte.

PLUS: The "bad to the bone" NASCAR dinosaur way ahead of its time

Driver Jeff Gordon was in irrepressible form in 1997, owing to his own excellence as a driver and Hendrick's willingness to meticulously indulge in self-improvement. One day in 1996, head honcho Rick Hendrick gathered all of the engineers in his workshop and told them to come up with all of their ideas to create the best race car. They were then encouraged to give that information to chief engineer Rex Stump.

The engineers went away, came up with their solutions, and then scoured the rulebook to ensure they would be workable on a Cup car. Everything inside the Monte Carlo shell was rearranged to fit those ideas, changing the position of the fuel tank to get the centre of gravity down and modifying the front end to boost downforce. The chassis was also strengthened to reduce torsional stiffness, and careful attention was paid to the weight distribution throughout the car.

Hendrick's engineers did this in constant communication with NASCAR's technical delegates, but were warned that even if the car was legal within the bounds of the rules, NASCAR could always add more rules, meaning that they had a steady tightrope to walk.

Eventually, the T-Rex was taken to Texas in early 1997 for testing, but it was a few tenths off the pace and Hendrick struggled to get the car to hum a cohesive tune. Rather than tinker with the set-up using the parameters used on the standard Monte Carlo, they got radical.

Gordon's crew chief Ray Evernham, no stranger to lateral thinking, asked to try a "crazy" set-up. Stump gave him the affirmative, and Evernham asked the team to soften the front springs, stiffen the rear springs and equip the car with a bigger sway bar before Gordon went out again. Changes made, Gordon returned to the circuit, set some laps, and retreated to the pit - over a full second quicker than in his regular car.

As the race started, Gordon tore through the field akin to how the hood-adorning T-Rex would tear through its prey

Ahead of the All-Star Race at Charlotte, then known as The Winston, Hendrick signed a deal with Universal Studios to advertise the Jurassic Park follow-up The Lost World. A Tyrannosaurus Rex livery adorned the nose, with the car wrapped in red - bestowing the special-edition Monte Carlo with its infamous T-Rex moniker.

Gordon, perhaps by good fortune, messed up his qualifying run and had to begin the race from a lowly 19th out of 20 runners. As the race started, he tore through the field akin to how the hood-adorning T-Rex would tear through its prey. The soft front set-up meant that the front end could pitch into the corner, generating a healthy supply of downforce to let Gordon squeeze the throttle earlier than his rivals.

In a 70-lap race, arranged in a 30-30-10 format, Gordon finished the first portion in third, and then got up to fourth in the reversed-order second part. In the final 10-lap showdown, the T-Rex surged to the lead by the end of lap two and proceeded to rout the field.

After that race, Evernham got a call from NASCAR chief Bill France. Expecting a pat on the back for a job well done, he instead was ordered to ring Hendrick and tell him that the car was now illegal. Evernham protested, stating that the car was completely legal. France replied: "It won't be tomorrow."

In that conversation, the tale of one of NASCAR's most electrifying machines came to an end. The T-Rex went into a museum, while Gordon took the plain-Jane Monte Carlo to the 1997 championship, winning 10 races to claim his second Cup title.

1. Plymouth Superbird (1970)

In the late 1960s, one man reigned supreme in top-level NASCAR competition. Still known today as 'The King', Richard Petty won the Grand National series in 1964 and 1967, but left Plymouth at the end of 1968 having felt that the Road Runner was not a match for the Ford Torino. Ford dangled a hefty financial carrot for Petty to join the Detroit marque for 1969, and he duly took up the offer.

Plymouth's sister company Dodge then spent 1969 treading ground that NASCAR had rarely walked, playing with aerodynamics on the Charger 500. It was equipped with a nose cone over the front grille and a tall rear wing to find downforce and, over the course of the season, Dodge's fortunes began to improve. Ford had dominated in the middle part of the season but, as the Charger's intricacies began to be understood, the trio of Bobby Isaac, Bobby Allison and Richard Brickhouse began to chalk up the wins.

Dodge took its findings from 1969 and developed the evolutionary Charger Daytona. Plymouth built a version of that using the Road Runner as a base specifically to lure Petty back to the team. He agreed to return, and the resulting Plymouth Superbird painted in his trademark baby-blue livery became an icon.

Powered by Dodge's 426 Hemi V8, the Plymouth was powerful and had the aero progress to put the power down after the bodywork modifications were honed in the windtunnel. These aero changes were overseen by Gary Romberg, a former aerodynamicist at NASA who had thrown his lot in with Chrysler's racing division.

It took Petty a few races to get his eye in, as his stablemate Pete Hamilton won the Daytona 500, but he took victory in the sixth round of 1970 - at Rockingham - to help kickstart Plymouth's fortunes. He followed that up with another win next time out at the Savannah Speedway, and took another two victories at North Wilkesboro and Columbia. Then, Petty had an almighty shunt at Darlington that put him on the sidelines for a few rounds, narrowly avoiding serious injury as his helmet rubbed along the circuit while his car was on its side. His incident resulted in the cockpit window net becoming mandatory in NASCAR.

After five races out, Petty returned to action at Michigan and then won the next race at the Riverside road course by a full lap. Vowing to make up for lost time after his spell on the treatment table, Petty went toe to toe with Isaac, who was in the winged Charger Daytona. Although Petty put a streak of victories together late into the season, winning a hat-trick at Richmond, Dover and Raleigh, Isaac's points lead proved insurmountable and Petty could only manage fourth in the standings.

After 1970, manufacturers running winged cars were given an option - they could either remove the aero, or be forced to run an engine no bigger than 305 cubic inches (five litres), smaller than the 426ci (seven litres) Hemi engines that Dodge and Plymouth were running. The Superbird and Charger Daytona were put out to pasture after that, NASCAR inhibiting the aerodynamic progress made. Petty, in the new 1971 Road Runner, won the title.