Article by Jack Labens

As soon as the automobile was developed towards the end of the 19th Century, the first things engineers and enthusiasts alike wanted to do was to go faster. The need for speed on four wheels was born but it took Henry Ford to bring the automobile to the masses with the Model T, launched in 1913, and using what was then state of the art mass production techniques. While the Model T hardly fits anyone’s description of a “sports car”, it was the fastest mode of personal transport then available.

The trend towards faster cars emerged from the development of the motor car, but it also spurred on further advances and technology. As soon as the car was invented, people began to race them and technologies and advances in the racing field spilled over into the mainstream production of cars.

As a spectator sport, motor racing scored a hit from the very beginning too with many people flocking to see the new and innovative mode of transport as well as enjoy the thrills and spills of car racing. Manufacturers quickly saw the advertizing and marketing advantages for having their car brand competing and winning in the car racing circuits and car rallies which sprang up around the world. The Paris-Dakar rally, the 24 hour Le Mans and speed trials on Florida beaches from which Daytona Speedway emerged, all owe their existence to the development of the car and our fixation with competing and going faster.

Chevrolet emerged as a car brand using the name of Louis Chevrolet, a well-known car racing driver of the early 20th Century. Chevrolet as a car brand grew from a racing pedigree into the well-known car marquee we know today. This development is echoed by all the famous car brands we know today – Ferrari, Jaguar, Porsche, the Ford Mustangs (especially the Shelby’s) – all of these owe their existence to the racing pedigrees established by racing.

While the race car of yesterday and today are not suitable for everyday use, some of the design features were obviously attractive to mainstream consumers. Having a sleek, aerodynamic body shape lends a certain aesthetic but consumers also expected greater performance than a regular production car, not least because they were also looking to race the cars themselves. This brought the need for speed to the mass market, and many notable car racing drivers emerged from the amateur circuits established in Europe and North America.

During the 1980′s as the Japanese car manufacturers sought to establish a more up market reputation for their cheap car imports, one of the major sales tactics they used was to partner with established racing teams. By partnering with established companies with a racing pedigree, this allowed for the rapid adoption of technology which ultimately resulted in some Japanese and other Far Eastern manufacturers entering the racing circuits as competitors in their own right – Subaru is a very good example of this. Success on the race and rally circuits almost certainly ensured success in showroom sales, and this is as true today as it was back in 1913.

About the Author

Jack Labens works for Empire Covers, a leading provider of car covers, truck covers, and motorcycle covers. Empire Covers can be found online at: EmpireCovers.com or at their blog EmpireCovers-Blog.com.

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