These Are The Best Automotive Underdogs Of All Time

Jim Hall and his Chaparrals.

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While everyone else was working either for Manufacturers in their offices, (Factory Teams) or closely with them for parts and help, (Such as Shelby American and Ford) Jim Hall and his crew just had high asperations and a simple garage.

Yet they kept creating cars that not only held their own against the “Big Teams”, but in many ways, were far ahead of them in technology and innovations.

Aero Wing? The 2E had one before anyone else knew what it was for.

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Or the extremely nimble 2J, known as the “Fan Car”.

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And, long after they hung up the helmets, Hall didn’t sell everything else and move on to the next thing. He kept every car. Hall never sold any of his race cars. For years, they sat in his garage right off Rattlesnake Raceway. They could be worth untold millions to collectors, but he didn’t care. It was never about money.

It wasn’t until 2004, a Museum took over the Chaparral collection, and promised Hall, they would keep all of them in full working, and in running condition as per his wishes.

This was a man who simply loved cars and loved to race. Nothing more, nothing less.

Without deep diving into historical brands or vehicles, I’m just going to go ahead and say, the Korean OEMs. All it takes is to look at what Hyundai / Kia were doing about 15-20 years ago, to how far they’ve come now in terms of variety, design, development etc. Kia even makes a damn good looking / performing minivan that’s hard to ignore, in a segment that is almost dead. Hats off to the Koreans for truly cleaning up their act and making cars that people actually want, along with giving a proper fight to the Japanese, American and even European brands (sometimes surpassing them all). What an underdog !

We forget about how much of an underdog the Japanese were.

My siblings are Boomers (I’m 10+ years younger and Gen X). They grew up where the crappy toys that fell apart were made in Japan. They even had a song for stuff that broke that was made in Japan. They also grew up with the generations before them HATING Japanese.

If you think the reputation of Chinese made stuff is bad, it was 100x worse in the late 60s/early 70s for Japan.

The Japanese were massive underdogs.. that got insanely lucky.

1. Emissions control which hurt the Big 3 engines more than the Japanese ones that were cleaner burning to begin with (CVCC didn’t need a converter to pass emissions)

2. The Oil Embargo where the small engine Japanese cars thumped the Big 3 cars in fuel economy.

3. The Big 3 completely losing the plot when it comes to QC.

Now Toyota and Honda are the alpha wolves of the automotive world. But back in the early 70s, they were massive underdogs.. that got lucky and exploited their luck.

i wouldn’t call superior engineering and an amazing product luck

[...] Now Toyota and Honda are the alpha wolves of the automotive world. But back in the early 70s, they were massive underdogs.. that got lucky and exploited their luck.

Luck had zero to do with it. Work ethic and pride, and a desire to be the best in the world at what they did is what did it. Even without the global energy crisis, the increasing quality of Japanese engines and automotive technology would not have gone unnoticed. But yes, I agree with the sentiment of what you’re saying in regards to them being the ultimate underdog. They went from being America’s bitter enemy in WW2, to a premium supplier of the best made cars in the country in about two generations.

People raced SAAB Sonetts!

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I love them and wish I had the space and money for an old Sonett.

https://www.mini.co.uk/en_GB/home/mini-news/monte-carlo-won.html

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[On 21 January 1964, the Mini Cooper S won the Monte Carlo Rally for the first time. It was the pairing of Northern Ireland’s Patrick (“Paddy”) Hopkirk and his co-driver Henry Liddon that pulled off the big surprise, resisting the supposed superiority of significantly more powerful rivals in their small British car. Its faultless run over country roads and mountain passes, ice and snow, tight corners and steep gradients laid the foundations for the underdog-turned-giant-slayer to cement itself in both the hearts of the public and the annals of motor sport legend. Indeed, the classic Mini’s dominance of the Monte Carlo Rally continued over the years that followed, Hopkirk’s Finnish team-mates Timo Mäkinen and Rauno Aaltonen adding two further overall victories – in 1965 and 1967 – to the British manufacturer’s collection.]

The fairytale story of Brawn GP, the team was purchased by Ross Brawn from a the failed Honda efforts of the late aught’s for a $1. Showed up to the season opener with a plain white car with no sponsors and on debut landed a 1-2 finish . Went on to win the constructors and drivers championship and morphed into what we know now the Mercedes-AMg factory team

Lee Iaccoca:

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There he was: Ford’s golden boy with Iaccoca pushing for the sporty Mustang to be slapped together out of Falcon parts in order to capture the youth market and he was successful beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

But since Henry Ford II didn’t appreciate the limelight not being on him, Iaccoca was shown the door. Iaccoca jumped to Chrysler, a company in such bad shape that they were teetering on bankruptcy longer than anyone thought possible, and pulled the invalid back. He introduced the minivans that saved Chrysler. He had the foresight to buy AMC in order to get his hands on the Jeep brand—a move that has nothing but benefits to Chrysler/Stellantis to this day. He paid off the bailout loans faster than scheduled.

So yeah, booted to the curb as an underdog and came back with a vengeance—Lee Iaccoca.

Tucker Automotive’s, Tucker 48 (“Torpedo”), of course.

Mazda IMO. They had to battle the big boys (Toyota, Honda, Nissan) for years and still are relevant. They have a sports car and some really nice SUV’s for the price.

Plus they won Le Man’s with a motor that everyone thought was a POS.

I’m gonna roll with the OG NSX. It kicked the super car brands in the nuts as they were lazily resting on their laurels. It wasn’t crazy impressive on paper but we all know how the NSX is considered in automotive history

Really, the Italians ought to thank Honda for putting a boot up their arses.

Imagine: a supercar you can daily! Or leave sit for a month, come back, turn the key, and it’ll start!

Craig Breedlove and the Spirit of America. From funding to functioning, it’s amazing how well he did with how little he had.

Also, Mickey Thompson legacy is unreal, and needs a movie.

Lancia O37 rally car. It was a mid engine, rear wheel drive car going up against the audi quattro, and won the WRC in 1983. The last 2 wheel drive car ever to do so.

What about the Lancia Stratos’ rear wheel driving racing in a field of all wheel drive cars and winning... even if it took a little extra to do it.

LS400.

We all know just how much that car changed the luxury market.