Larry Wilson's 1969 Ford Torino Talladega
Rescued from rust, this Torino Talladega hits the salt with NASCAR power.
A former road and oval-track racer, Larry Wilson decided to move to a racing discipline with less wheel-to-wheel contact. Land speed racing seemed appealing and, as a fan of ’60s muscle, he decided to search for a classic car that could scratch his racing itch and get his family involved as well. Having grown up owning Falcons, Mustangs, and Corvettes, Wilson was quite familiar with compact performance cars. Although he admired Ford’s larger performance and muscle cars, he’d never owned one. For this venture, though, they seemed like the perfect cars.
Wilson is old enough to remember Ford’s NASCAR homologation cars and Mopar’s winged response. The pointed noses and tall wings of the Superbird and Charger Daytona may have brought superspeedway success, but they didn’t win over the hearts and minds of new car buyers. That’s where Wilson thinks Ford got it right.
Ford’s Torino Talladega and Mercury’s Cyclone Spoiler both had stretched fenders and flush grilles to offer the OEMs’ NASCAR teams a more streamlined body to push the envelope at speeds near 200 mph. Wilson thought it would be appropriate to use one of these as a race car, but he knew purists would be up in arms if he hacked into a pristine Talladega. Still, he wanted the real thing.
(photo credit: Brandan Gillogly - Hagerty)
