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FEATURE INTERVIEWS:

Carlisle Winged Cars History Presentation:

Have you ever thought that it would be cool to be a fly on the wall at significant moments in automotive history? The 2025 Carlisle Chrysler Nationals featured a presentation by Chrysler Wing Car Program engineers at this years event, discussing the history and development of these iconic vehicles. I sent Kirk Hansen out to Pennsylvania with his recording gear to preserve the audio of this special event!

There are hundreds of stories regarding the Winged Car Program and most are from people that had nothing to do with it. This was a once in a lifetime chance to listen in as the remaining development engineers talked about the trials and first hand recollections of how different aspects of the Superbird and Daytona vehicles were created. They talked about details from the wing design, to suspension geometry, and even the little rules that got broke to get the project done on time were all on the table for this discussion. The engineers that attended were Dave Buchesky, Gino Raffin, Gordon Rinschler, Bill Surber, and John Wehrley.

John Wehrley started the talks by recollecting some of the men that are no longer with us. The engineers that worked on the program have not been together in such a gathering in over fifty years and the odds are this will not happen again. The beginning of the Winged Cars program was in response to Richard Petty winning everything and had recently switched from Dodge to Ford. Chrysler wanted to make sure that he did not beat them on the track so they pulled some advertising money to develop a new racing car to do this but did it under the radar and very quickly. The entire thing was done funded by the Marketing Department!

The engineering team was not actually given many direct resources so they had to beg borrow and steal to get the job done. Thankfully, they had a secret weapon: The Chrysler Aerospace division! Aerodynamic engineers worked hand in hand with the automotive engineers to create – for the first time – and aerodynamic package to something that previously was just mechcanil only.

Earlier changes to other vehicles like the Charger 500 showed that minor aerodynamic changes to the body, like moving the grille out flush to the bumper, or bumping out the back window to make for a cleaner air stream reduced the 1MPH gain on the track from 30 more horsepower needed….down to just 5! The further changes with the pointy nose wing cars increased it even more.

There was a lot of work done regarding the nose development and wing angles at the proving ground five mile oval. That track was banked and was designed for cars to travel at one hundred and thirty miles per hour. The winged car team was told not to exceed one fifty mph or they would get fired. This rule was almost immediately broken and either no one noticed, or looked the other way. The team was searching for downforce pressures and what changes the spoilers made to the car. At the higher speeds they found it pushed so hard down that the right tire rubbed on the tops of the fenders. They had to add “vents” are on the tops of the fenders to cover up the holes they made to make clearance for the tire in the turns. In fact, the ones on the left fenders are completely unneeded for tire clearance at all (it’s just so it looks symetrical).

The panel discussion contained so many stories and snippets of Nascar history that you may have to listen to it a few times to get all of the details. This gathering of MOPAR engineers is a gift to NASCAR fans and winged car enthusiasts alike. They were able to give a great backstage view to what it took to make a new race car back in the heyday of racing and the start of modern aero development. Sit back, relax, and listen in on the discussion as the remaining team of Chrysler engineers reminisce about the time they created history in the lab, at the proving ground, and on the race track.

By the way, we would LOVE to do this same event again for the Ford and GM Nationals. This type of living history is important to capture!

Thanks for the stories!

-Rob Kibbe

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This interview sponsored by our pals at National Parts Depot – your premier source for muscle car restoration parts!