It took a massive track in Texas and the legendary right foot of AJ Foyt but the Oldsmobile Aerotech set the world’s closed course speed record at an insane 257.123mph back in August of 1987. On that same weekend, Foyt ran a flying mile with a speed of a completely bonkers 267 mph and it seems that 300mph would soon be on the radar of the engineering team behind the car.
While they never achieved those types of speeds and frankly we’re not sure the ever tried to, the car had a fantastic legacy that continued for years. In fact, using a 4.0L Olds Aurora power plant, the Aerotech would set an insane list of world endurance records during 1992. Those records were set by teams of drivers and crew working 24-hours a day for eight days straight!
Ed Welburn was the designer of the Aerotech and he was a rising star within the ranks of GM at this time. Welburn would later come up with the Art and Science look for Cadillac and would serve as the Vice President of Global Design for General Motors, a position of incredible scope and size. It’s pretty awesome that he had his hands on this project as well.
Interestingly there were a couple of versions of the Aerotech built. Two were short tail setups and one was long tail. As it turns out, the long tail and short tail were both good for different things. One being better on the banked oval and the other being better for the flying mile type stuff.
The turbocharged Quad Four engine used in the car was making more than 1,000hp and was a kind of wild testbed for the possibility to GM releasing a turbocharged Quad Four into the market. That never happened. Nor did the rumored Quad Eight engine that would have been two of the four cylinders joined together.
This is a great video and an even greater car!
