D
Dinoforthe3
Guest
In 1981 Detroit sold just 6.2 million vehicles, the lowest number in
twenty years. The Japanese manufacturers agreed to voluntary quotas to
avoid congressional mandated limits.) The drivers by and large hated the
new cars and got particularly alarmed at Daytona when the cars showed a
tendency to go airborne for no apparent reason. Bobby Allison and team
owner Harry Ranier had pulled a fast one (literally and figuratively)
building a Pontiac LeMans. The Lemans was more of a sedan than a coupe
like the Pontiac Grand Prix which was also legal for racing that year.
The LeMans proved to provide excellent downforce and good speed without
quirky handling. All the other team owners wailed and wept to NASCAR
demanding spoiler concessions (sound familiar?) and NASCAR finally
rendered the LeMans un-competitive with nearly weekly rules changes.
NASCAR said they didn’t want everyone to build a LeMans making Winston
Cup a single car series. They did so anyway with the Buick Regal winning
22 of 31 points races run that season. Buick would go on to win 25 of
thirty races in 1982.
twenty years. The Japanese manufacturers agreed to voluntary quotas to
avoid congressional mandated limits.) The drivers by and large hated the
new cars and got particularly alarmed at Daytona when the cars showed a
tendency to go airborne for no apparent reason. Bobby Allison and team
owner Harry Ranier had pulled a fast one (literally and figuratively)
building a Pontiac LeMans. The Lemans was more of a sedan than a coupe
like the Pontiac Grand Prix which was also legal for racing that year.
The LeMans proved to provide excellent downforce and good speed without
quirky handling. All the other team owners wailed and wept to NASCAR
demanding spoiler concessions (sound familiar?) and NASCAR finally
rendered the LeMans un-competitive with nearly weekly rules changes.
NASCAR said they didn’t want everyone to build a LeMans making Winston
Cup a single car series. They did so anyway with the Buick Regal winning
22 of 31 points races run that season. Buick would go on to win 25 of
thirty races in 1982.
