1978 Turból Darlington
How a NASCAR homolagation special tranformed into a world-class GT car
In 1969, Turból looked to achieve dominance on the ovals of NASCAR, and as other manufacturers modified existing models into more aerodynamic machines, Turból dropped a bomb on the NASCAR aero wars in the form of the Cypress Darlington. Rather than making the existing Cypress more aerodynamic, the 116.1" wheelbase intermediate would be rebodied entirely, in an aerodynamic, European shape made of fiberglass. With a pointy nose, a curved windshield, a kammback liftgate tail, and large front and rear spoilers, it was capable of incredible speeds on the Super Speedways. However, due to delays in preparing the fiberglass molds, the model was not homologated until the 1970 season.
By 1970, Chairman and CEO of NASCAR Bill France was openly displaying is distaste for the increasingly extreme vehicles in NASCAR coming from the aero wars, the Cypress Darlington in particular, famously stating “They’ve put an aeroplane wing on a damned canoe and are calling it car. This is getting completely out of hand.” Subsequesnt rule changes in 1971 limited aero specials to a maximum of 305ci, and though Turból made an effort with it’s ZR 305ci Trans-Am engine, it was decided that Turból would cease factory efforts in NASCAR, instead providing support for private teams running 427ci standard Cypress models.
Being outlawed from NASCAR was not a deathknell for the unusual Cypress Darlington. With it’s spoilers uninstalled, which were themselves shipped uninstalled to the dealers, the rakish European design applied to a vehicle large enough to meet American tastes made it a popular personal luxury car, exceeding expected demand despite it’s high cost.
So, in 1972, Turból reworked the car, now known just as the Turból Darlington, to move it further upmarket and serve as a flagship for Turból’s sport-oriented models. Independent rear suspension, a reworked and greatly stiffened chassis, a considerably more opulent interior placed the car beyond the price of personal luxury machines and more in line with exotic European GT cars. While the big block 420-69 was the most common engine option domestically, the all-aluminum ZR Trans-Am engine was available for those looking for a lighter car with better weight balance, or for export markets where larger displacement engines were prohibitively taxed, and could be ordered with fuel injection. With big American V8 power, the aerodynamic shape, and lightweight fiberglass body, the Darlington was one of the fastest production vehicles in the world. The model would receive a minor facelift in '74 to meet US impact bumper regulations, and power would be severely reduced in the face of emissions regulations, but export models were often re-tuned without emissions equipment by their importers.
This 1978 model is a Fruinian export model with the 305ci ZR V8 and a 3 speed automatic. With more lax emissions regulations, the Fruinian importer took the liberty of replacing the exhaust manifolds and catalytic converters with tubular headers. In this configuration, the car is extremely fast, with 301hp, a top speed exceeding 165mph and reaching 100kmh from a standstill in 6.4 seconds.
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This is the first challenge I participate. Lets see if dont end up on the last place 
Let the adventure begin 
