Rear  - Screw Adjustable Leaf Springs with Panhard Bar

During the early seventies, the 1970/71 Torino would become the backbone of the Hylton Motorsports Winston Cup stable.  There would be two Ford Torinos completed in the Inman, SC shops of Hylton Motorsports, both constructed from street cars.  The cars were similar with exception to rear quarter window shape and roofline.  The 1970 Torino 500, which would later be brought up to 1971 sheet metal standards, had a roof line similar to the Mercury Cyclone.  The 1971 Torino GT had a notch-back roof line / rear quarter window.

The 1971 Torino marked the first venture into car building for current Hylton Motorsports Crew Chief Terry Strange.  "The car came into the shop on a car hauler.  The bucket seats, air conditioner and radio were gone" states Strange "I stripped the interior of everything and I mean everything".  The two Torinos both received fabricated front chassis and suspension components from Banjo Matthews Performance in Arden, NC. 

The first appearance of the second generation Torino would be on August 6, 1970 at the Sandlapper 200 in Columbia, SC, where James Hylton would record a ninth place finish.  Five days later fortunes would improve as Hylton piloted the 1970 Torino to a second place finish in the West Virginia 300 at Ona, WV.  Together, the two Torinos would compete in 68 NASCAR Winston Cup series events, garnering 26 Top-Five finishes (38%) and an amazing 53 Top-Ten finishes (78%).  During the Torino's life span, Hylton would finish second (1971), third on two occasions (1970 and 1972) and fourth (1973) in the NASCAR Winston Cup Driver Standings.

The last appearance of the Torino would be on be on July 22, 1973, at Atlanta Speedway's Dixie 500, where Hylton would record a 23rd place finish.  By 1973, Ford's high performance products were beginning to dry up and Hylton Motorsports made the transition to Chevrolet by the end of the 1973 season.  The two Torinos were sold to sportsman drivers and finished out their careers on short tracks.

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