Goes alongside the Brabham BT46B, SVT Cobra and the "Sliding Sweeper Operation" at Tsukuba and "The Flying Corkscrew Maneuver" at Laguna Sega in the annals of, "JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD!" Ethically questionable decisions that lead to race victories.

See also: Daytona Cobra Coupe, Lotus L101 (I think that's right), and the "Glashopper" (Fiberglass Baja truck Mickey Thompson drove to... Permaban. Victory, but, permaban

fatalvenom: Jedekai: SVT Cobra

Please explain...

(I'm quoting, here):

"The SVT Cobra R was the fastest, lightest, most powerful rationed (power-to-weight -Jedekai) American homologated vehicle made for pure racing at it's release in 1993. While it "only" had 235hp, it boasted 280lb-ft at 4,000rpm - beating the Porsche 911 (964) Turbo 3.6 in a head-to-head road trial for Road & Track magazine. The Cobra's MSRP was a ludicrously cheap $26,000-ish base price ($48,000 AFI 2020 -Jedekai) versus the $85,000 ($155,000 AFI 2020) Porsche. Its legend continued by trouncing the Dodge Viper Team Oreca at the 12 hours of Daytona, despite being down nearly 200 horsepower and weighing 300 pounds more, setting an "unbreakable" record: The first year, first model, first race victory. The "impossible" 'L'enfant terrible' - and it only got more dominating... (Skipping)"

"...Its most famous victory, however, is considered "cheating" by some, "cunning" by others, and "genius" by none other than their victim-in-sights: NISMO. A loophole gray area allowed Ford to ship seven SVT Cobra Rs to Japan disassembled in crates, and reassembled by MazdaSPEED (actually, John Coletti, the Cobra's father and a select team of engineers from "The Skunkbox" of SVT/SVE -Jedekai), but the difference was that since these were 'homologated' Japanese vehicles, passed and rated, they entered the All-Japan GT in the Open class in 2002 with only three makers fielding teams: Honda's Spoon, Toyota's "Nihon-Camaro" clone Supra RZ... and Godzilla - the Nissan Skyline GT-R NISMO. What happened next is legend." (Skipping)

"...at the Tokyo Megahighway open-road course known not for it's name, but the highway itself, Route 5, Mazda made an allegation that the other cars could not mathematically be pushing any less than 400 horsepower (SAE), and engineers issued a complaint for post-race inspection to the FIA. After the announcement came over the teams commsets, all hell broke loose: Nissan regaled the GT-Rs into a closed tent immediately pre-race, as did Ford and Toyota - only Mazda made no adjustments. By the end of the first lap, officials were becoming skeptical - the Cobra was listed at 340hp (wheel) 374lb-ft torque. The GT-R 325/360. Mazda's RX-7 a modest 276/288, and the NSX 276/290.

The cars by those ratings should have, by weight, been able to keep up in the corners against Godzilla and the Cobra... but that's where this race goes from famously infamous, to shocking. (End of Chapter, skipping)

Within no less than two hours into a 12-hour race, the Cobra and GT-R were all but victorious, having lapped not only the lower classes, but all vehicles from Honda and Mazda. By the mid-point, the GT-R had revealed it's fatal flaw; the RBDETT34R engine was more than capable, but the cooling system was garbage. Each lap it lost tenths of a second, while the Cobra only increased it's lead by the same difference - which is where we find the fly in the ointment: the GT-R was using a modified (highly illegal) twin-turbo system that was the same in form, but not in function, of the road car. The Cobra had the advantage of a natural aspiration engine, and a short-long-arm (SLA) independent rear suspension- something even the Ferrari 348, Enzo's final prancing horse, didn't have.

As such, the vehicle had the unique ability to both accelerate and use the torque of the wheels to "push" against the curve, greatly increasing grip and reducing it's key apex by full feet instead of inches. Burning through corners had eaten the power adder systems on the Skyline, but the Cobra had only increased in speed as its iron-block engine was designed to "shrink" under duress and heat. "She's not your woman, she's your nemesis, fight her or die in the wall" Tran, the Thai developer of the engine, repeatedly told the team. By the end of the race, all competitors had retired, and the Cobra sailed to victory unopposed it's last ten laps.

Then, the prayers and sweating began...

...FIA inspecting all the cars were furious. Every single safety system, firewall, fire control device, down to removing a single bolt from each body panel had been physically removed from the Skyline, and it's twin-turbo setup bore no resemblance to list. The Honda was running illegal "clone" tires with a soft-soft compound made of latex and silicone, and only the Mazda came out clean. Feeling betrayed, Mazda retreated from the rest of the AJGT and took their Wankel Miracles back home for an automobile Viking funeral. The RX-7 program was dead. FIA gave Mazda the victory and the appeals began with force, but the dust was settled - the AJGT had just turned into the Wild East. Kicking all vehicles out meant the end of the season, but there were twoteams shortlisted that FIA believed could give equal competition to the monsters that had just gutted Japan.

Ferrari and Porsche.

The FIA had finally surrendered - although named "GT3", the series took on the atmosphere of a combination techno-rave and hardcore punk show. Drifting, intentionally leaving the track and gaining time, roughing, pushes, and a few cases of tempers and fighting had cast, to Japan, a shadow over the events. Europe and America, however, saw it as something akin to Perry's Ultimatum, "This is the future. You are not part of it." The standings were close, the Cobra holding a slight edge, and the Skyline team playing the "Banzai Kamikaze" card by intentionally choosing a "bash" car to block the lead Cobra and the Ferrari team using (ALLEGEDLY -Jedekai) Ethanol-based 110 octane racing fuel, a no-no. Porsche had gone into overdrive and placed a skirted sheet of metal completely covering the undercarriage, adding weight, making it slower, and was allowed entrance post-inspection. This wasn't meant to protect the car, this was meant to send it like a sniper rifle's bullet - as aerodynamic as a hard-boiled egg, and as strong, the final race at Tsukuba was for all the marbles as the races had become a combination of tuner events, celebrity shindigs and impromptu advertising for Sega's arcade titles through Ferrari, and a small studio named Polyphony analyzing everything they could.

(NOTE: You, cognoscenti, are watching the rebirth of World Class racing, torn from the hands of millionaires buying victories to companies designing asphalt-eating weapons of track destruction. This was the cry of thunder that created the modern motoring world. Author)

Tsukuba was not complying. Famously difficult at speed, and featuring a large sweeping turn with a reducing apex, it was famous for sending vehicles everywhere. The Porsche and the Cobra were neck-and-neck, Nissan and Honda had landed in striking distance and Ferrari were issuing complaints about anything and everything. The race started without a hitch.

...(skipping)...

By the last two hours of the race, it was apparent that Porsche's flat-bottom "ballsplate" (John Coletti, Esparda so-named it) was allowing it to ride the wall and use the suction to accelerate through the apex, and only coast without braking to a relative speed upon reaching Amy's (Amaterasu's) Hall. Ford/SVT realized that they had an ace up their sleeve - and it was time to use it.

Coletti told the driver, "Little knob goes all the way left. Tran says the transmission doesn't have a 6th gear anymore. You know what to do."
by the time a scant 30 laps remained, Porsche and Ford had taken off the gauntlets and were either trying to win the most outlandish race series in history, or kill themselves.

Then, Porsche decided it was time to end it. Grinding against the Cobra's air barrier, the Porsche forced two against the wall, and slid down and away, leaving the SVTs to founder in their wake. It is still not know who said the fated words, but the statement was:

"Krauts wanna die in Japan, they better try that again. Their money won't stop my fists after this shiatshow is over!" Gunning hard, and nearly blowing their engines, staying limited to 5th Gear for acceleration, and their fuel reserves depleting, Porsche's famous flat-6s were tracing white smoke in the last laps, and Ferrari was nearly on the heels of the SVT.

Then, the Porsche went ape. Stuart, breaking loose twice, held the wall through the reducing apex once again, never slowing, and sliding through the whole way, thin black tracks on the path. It was the first time (now common -Jedekai) a vehicle had held a positive-G turn in excess of the "2C", only for a tire blow-out to flip the car at over 200 mph end-over repeatedly and rest on the wheels with Stuart climbing out and screaming profanities at the Ford and Ferrari teams.

Porsche was out. The Cobra sailed to victory and after a post-race inspection, the complete Director's Association of The FIA gave their immediate decision.

"Grand Touring, Third Class IS DEAD."

The fallout led to Ferrari realizing the Cobra wasn't beatable with the Modena, and killed it's program to work on the F355. Porsche gutted the 911. Ford saw the writing on the wall, and the Legend Ends There.

The SVT Cobra was labeled by FIA and USGT as "Overbuilt and Non-Competitive". They didn't merely defeat their opponents; unquestioningly, they created the single most important vehicle since, well, the 1964 1/2 Mustang...

...a supercar you could BUY.No snooty Frenchmen denying you a Venturi because your blood isn't blue enough, no Ferrari dealership filled with the wealthy and those pretending to be, no Porsche dealership eyeballing you with icy consideration...

..."Did you know that Godzilla was killed by an American wild horse?" was one headline.

"The insanely ridiculous waste of racing, and the disrespect to the Earth" by some tree-hugger in Harper's, fervently demanding the world address him as a messiah.

"Veni, Vidi, Vici" said Sports Illustrated. And just like that, the world of no TCS, no DSC transmission with floppy basset hound ears dangling off the column like a broad-lapeled leisure suit, no "piped engine noise". No alcantara. No carbon fiber. No titanium. No computer overriding your every decision as though Erasmus was a chaperone on a first date.

Man. Machine. Wheel. Tires. Pedals. Brakes. Mirrors.

"How far do I go?" The driver asks in a state of awe at the noise of the engine. The spartan, cheap, plasticky cockpit. The seeming fragility of this roll cage, with only aluminum body panels and some Plexiglas to keep you inside your 5-point (weight, of course, my dear Watson) and the knowledge that THIS PIECE OF GLORIOUS AMERICAN REDNECK GARBAGE destroyed Maranello, Stuttgart, Yokohama and Tokyo.

...then the voice comes on sweetly sinister, dripping with venom, and it only says one sentence...

"Until I'm in your rear-view, baby."

/NOTE:The books these sections came from are: "Powered by SVT" (The Legendary Jim Campisano). "Lead Fist, Iron Foot - the inside story of John Coletti and The Terminator." (The equally legendary Frank Moriarty) "Godzilla Has Died" -Speedest (Japanese, translated).
//I have broke my WALL-OF-TEXT record. It's been 3 hours. I'm going to bed.