Ford ALMOST Made a 'SuperBird' for NASCAR in 1996 With Lincoln Parts..Here's Why It Never Happened

Huge thank you to the legendary Don Miller at the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame museum in Mooresville NC for telling us this epic story and hanging onto this prototype from his days as Penske South president. Some may know John Andretti tested a Lincoln Mark VIII bodied Winston Cup car at Charlotte in 1996 and that never made it to race day....BUT...the story does not end there! Before the blob eye Taurus took the track in 1997 there was almost a whole new car created by Ford just for NASCAR racing!

Retro Themed NASCAR Merch!

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[Stapleton]

Stuff like this just makes me wonder how different things could have been. If you love racing history like this make sure you subscribe and check out the “racing history nerd zone” playlist on the channel!

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[bryanmulligan]

It’s a shame you had to grow up in the Taurus days. When I was a kid I got to watch Bob Glidden and Bill Elliott clean house with their 80’s Thunderbird’s. My mom had to buy a T-Bird after watching Bill Elliott lap the field twice at Talladega.

[BillChristen]

I was a police officer in the Daytona Beach area back in 1990 and I pulled Mr. Miller over one night. The race team was behind him in a truck and they jumped out and we all chatted for a few. It was about 2 in the morning and they had all been out partying (with Don Miller). Lots of fun back in those days.

[slabbusterrtr]

In my opinion ford shouldve never stop making the thuderbird

[rossroedel]

I've been a nascar fan since I was a little kid in the mid-late 90's, right as the thunderbird went away and the Taurus showed up. I always thought the Taurus was goofy looking and didn't look right on track. I bought a mark viii as my first car, and still own one today, so it's great seeing these cars get some attention on your channel. I knew about the John Andretti car, but I had no idea this car existed! It really makes me wonder what could've been. This body combined with Yates power of that era would've been almost unstoppable.
Keep up the good work, you've got one of the best channels on youtube.

[racefan]

Been to this Museum last year. Not knowing much about Nascar here in Germany and it was an absolute Highlight to get a tour with Don Miller there.

[robkal]

I worked in Ford Body CAD in the nineties. I remember there was some work being done on a T-bird roofline that was a good bit lower than the stock vehicle. This story reminded me of that and how the two could be related. Cool story Stapleton

[jayh]

Would love to hear the story of the Taurus.

[gcrauwels]

Yup. This was a good looking car and the Taurus was eurgh. I had been a Petty fan as a little kid because my Dad drove Dodges, but as Dale was emerging became a fan.

[jmkenny]

More interviews like this would be sick

[montecarloss]

Interesting point on the rear spoiler. The 2000-2002 Monte Carlos had a pretty similar (not as dramatic) hump in the rear spoiler as the 37 car shown.

And, yes, we need to know more about the big booty Taurus!

[DelayedPenalty]

That generation of Taurus was an awful-looking road car and looked even worse as a NASCAR. I'm curious to hear the story about the one out back, though!

[young]

Damn Taurus looked like it had the newer escort tail lights, hell yea man this back story videos for all brands is fkn awesome. These are a part of racing history 95% of us have never heard or would have ever known without you bringing it to us, im a die hard Ford guy and never knew any of this with the Lincoln as a race car.
I cant go to car Museums, last one they almost ran me off because i cant just look at the outside and be happy, i was sliding under them looking at what made them work vs todays stuff so they got pissed and we argued then the big 300lb guy told my little 120lb ass i best get to stepping so stepping i did.

[kubota]

Working as a porter at a Ford Lincon Mercury dealership just south of Awesome Bill from Dawsonville Ga I got to drive a bunch of bling-bling back and forth to ATL Ford executive head office. Back then I couldn't figure out why the pimpest ride wasn't being raced. Now I know. Thanks, guys for finally solving a long-ago mystery for me. There certainly would have been a cup with Mark's name on it!

[racingcowboy]

Kranefus/Haas also built a Mark VIII but kept the Continental rear deck with the rear spoiler following the contour of the hump. It put the spoiler higher in the center and gained downforce. This same idea was used on the later "Intimidator" Monte Carlos with great success obviously. The team unloaded it at Charlotte in full Kmart livery on purple paint and John Andretti drove it. IIRC, it was as fast as the current Thunderbird right out of the box. I believe this would have been a very successful car and again, if memory serves me, NASCAR was good with it. Then Ford changed their corporate mind and decided to keep Lincoln as its luxury division. A missed opportunity IMHO.

[jasonfields]

By gosh Mitch you keep knocking it out of the park with these interviews.. Don Miller a legend during the Miller Lite days should've asked him about the legendary "midnight car" driven by Rusty Wallace... keep up this kinda great work

[keithennis]

quite a few years back my family and I got to meet Mr. miller while we were on vacation there. He gave us a little tour around the museum. and brought us outside to show us the drag car that he was going to run one last time if his wife did not find out lol. I wonder if he got to run that car? I May have to go back down there and find out. great guy and awesome museum. we enjoyed it a lot more then the hall of fame.

[SBAJA]

Back in 1997, I was working at a car rental office on Sharon Amity Boulevard in Charlotte, NC (Branch 5311 for any old-school “E” folks). We received a reservation from a NASCAR team for a Ford Taurus. As a race fan...I spoke with the guys that were sent to retrieve the car. They said they were going to use it to make some templates...which I thought was pretty cool. They loaded the rental Taurus on an open trailer...and returned it a few days later (with the same mileage...they didn’t even put a mile on the vehicle).

[garycsfunlife]

Growing up and watching Winston cup and having that curiosity of how these men were doing what they did how these cars went so fast just the little things of yes you did this but how does it work why does it work that's how these men directly influenced me to get into mechanical engineering so to actually see and hear some of the stuff that went on behind the scenes is just amazing for me and I would imagine for anybody that grew up in that time frame this is just thank you it's really all I can say to you and them for sharing their stories this is just amazing

[socaldatsun]

Absolutely awesome information, thank you for doing this interview!