Zink Cars is a former constructor of

Formula Vee Formula Vee (Formula Fau Vee in Germany) or Formula Volkswagen is a open wheel, single-seater junior motor racing formula, with relatively low costs in comparison to Formula Ford. On the international stage, Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi ...

cars among other racing cars. Zink Cars was formed in 1962, as of 1974 all manufacturing of the Zink racing cars was taken over by Citation Engineering.

History

Ed Zink started his auto racing career at the dirt ovals of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in the 1950s. In 1962, Zink designed and built his first road racing car, the Zink Petit. The Zink Petit was a racing car built according to

SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, High Performance Driver Education, HPDE, Time trial, Time Trial, Road racing, Road Racing, Regularity rally, R ...

H-Modified class. The car was powered by a

DKW DKW (''Dampfkraftwagen'', – the same initials later also used for ''Des Knaben Wunsch'', ; ''Das Kleine Wunder'', and ''Deutsche Kinderwagen'', ) was a German car- and motorcycle-marque. DKW was one of the four companies that formed Auto U ...

engine. The car made its debut at the

SCCA National Championship Runoffs The SCCA National Championship Runoffs is the end-of-year championship race meeting for Sports Car Club of America Club Racing competitors. Divisional champions and other top drivers from the SCCA's 116 regions are invited to participate at the ...

in 1960. Tommy van Hoosier failed to finish at

Daytona International Raceway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening e ...

. Bill Greer won the most prestigious SCCA race in the H-Modified class in 1963. After a short stint in sportscars with the Zink Z-4 the Tennessee constructor introduced the Zink Z-5 Formula Vee. The car was introduced in 1965 and was dominant in its class until 1970. The Z-5 won the Formula Vee race at the Runoffs for five years in a row. In 1967 the Zink Z-5s finished in the first five places. As a measure to counter Zink's dominance the SCCA outlawed stressed-skin metalwork in 1967. Zink's dominance was broken in 1971 with Lynx winning the Runoffs. Zink also joined the

Formula Super Vee Formula Super Vee was an open-wheel racing series that took place in Europe and the United States from 1970 to 1990. The formula was created as an extension of Formula Vee, a racing class that was introduced in 1959. Formula Super Vee in Europe w ...

market. With steep competition from Royale,

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lol ...

and Zeitler, John Finger was the best driver in a Zink in the 1971 US Formula Super Vee championship. Finger scored one podium finish and ended in fifth place in the championship. Harry Ingle finished second in the same championship the following year. Ingle won the 1973 Formula Super Vee Runoffs. It proved to be the only Formula Super Vee Runoffs win for Zink. Tom Bagley was successful in the Zink Z-11 winning three races in the US Formula Super Vee championship. Bagley was second in 1975 and winning the championship in 1976. Later Formula Super Vee cars were less successful. Zink also competed in the highly popular

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

category. Bruce MacInnes won two consecutive Runoffs pole positions in 1975 and 1976. MacInnes finished second in 1975 and suffered a penalty in 1976 preventing his win. Dave Weitzenhof won the Runoffs in the Formula Ford class in 1977 finishing in front of David Loring and

Dennis Firestone Dennis Firestone (born 22 July 1944 in Townsville, Australia) is a former CART driver who raced from 1979 to 1987. He was the 1980 CART Rookie of the Year in finishing 12th in season points, his best season. His best finish in a CART race was a ...

driving a Zink Z-10. The Z-10 was the first car designed by Zink but manufactured by Citation Engineering. Weitzenhof also ran the Zink Z-16 Formula Ford winning the Runoffs in 1981. Zink entered Formula 440 with the series inception in 1984. The Zink Z19 was highly successful in Formula 440 winning the Runoffs in 1984, 1986, 1987 and 1996. Ed Zink died in 2003.

Racing cars

References

{{reflist American racecar constructors Companies based in Knoxville, Tennessee Automotive motorsports and performance companies Sports car manufacturers Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1962 1962 establishments in Tennessee