First Ever Winged Racecar

The racecars we see today is fully equipped with tons of aerodynamic wings. Could hardly imagine such lap times being posted without any assistance from the downforce-generating parts on cars.

We have raised a question 'What is the first racecar ever to be winged?' and will try to answer it. After hours of research, 3 points of aerodynamic birth in Motorsport were found. Aerodynamics weren't a new thing to those living in 1930, as streamliners were beating speed records and being faster than flying machines. One drawback for such cars were the lift they generated. It wasn't much of a problem when in a straight line, but a real pain when driving on a circuit with corners.

First ever car to be winged (not for circuit racing) was the Opel RAK2, back in 1928. It was a speed record attempt by Opel, powered by a lot of rockets.

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Another in line is the Porsche 550 RS Spyder. Debuted at the 1953 Paris Auto Show, the Porsche was described as a creation, specifically built for racing. The concept was so successful that it won it's first race at Nurburgring and got 95 wins, as well as 75 class wins during the 1953-1965 period of time, at American and European soil.

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The third, but possibly the most important one is the Jim Cushman's first ever winged Sprint car. As all innovations, it was joked about in the beginning, but when it finally started delivering, all the mocking was shut. A huge wing on top of the car and huge rudders at the back made it unbeatable in Sprint racing in 1958, Columbus Motor Speedway.

Despite running slick tires in the dirt, very often mixed with oil, the car won races, thanks to the huge downforce of over 900kg (2000lb) at 100kph (60mph).

Here is a cool video showing how all the racers followed Cushman's wing design. Very few were engineered, mot of them were built on the ''It looks quite good to me'' or ''It is similar to the #910 (Jim Cushman's number), let's put it on'' principle.

The most important part of the car's aerodynamics was the rudders (in our opinion). It shed a light for the birth of moving aerodynamic parts in auto racing, which increased your chances of overtaking everyone in the corners. The rudders on the Sprint car were later removed, simply because they were too heavy to bring some kind of an effect. In later years, we started seeing air braking, which is basically a rudder. Le Mans Prototypes used those, Formula 1 cars used those. As for nowadays, there is plenty of moving aerodynamic parts hidden somewhere in the car body. When done correctly, it can bring huge benefits to both, straight line speed and cornering speed.

Now it is fairly easy to think of some good aerodynamic solutions as we see all those wings on today's cars. But back then, to think of something effective and useful was a ground-breaking discovery. First wings on a car going in a straight line - 1928, first wing on a car driving on a circuit - 1953, first moving aero on a car - 1958. Later we saw the Wing Mania on Chaparral cars, F1 followed shortly after and then the whole Motorsport was infected. Racecars became faster than ever, bringing an amazing spectacle to the fans and letting loose all the drivers with a death-wish.