1970 Plymouth Superbird

The theory of aerodynamics is simple: A bullet passes through the air easier than a brick. But in practice, it has taken decades for the study of aerodynamics to evolve to where it is today. Chrysler was one of the first manufacturers to apply aerodynamics to automotive design with their technically interesting but poor-selling Airflow cars of the ’30s. Then, 30 years later, aerodynamics inched — literally — into the world of NASCAR.

The slick advantage

Back in an era when stock cars were more than 75% factory stock, it took either a manufacturer’s new design, or outright cheating, to create a large competitive advantage.

The sleek, new 1966 Dodge Charger looked like a bullet with its flush, headlight-free grille and long fastback roofline, but the roof generated a few hundred pounds of unstable lift at the rear, so NASCAR allowed a one-inch plexiglas spoiler to be mounted on the tail in the interest of safety. David Pearson captured the championship that year with his Hemi Charger, and was untouchable on the long, high-speed ovals.