Today’s Top Pick is a 1945 Grumman American F8F-2 Bearcat.

Have you ever gotten your airplane going as fast as it will go, with power, prop, and mixture settings just right, and imagined you were Lyle Shelton setting a new speed record for piston-driven aircraft?

Or maybe you were thinking of Darryl Greenamyer, another record setter and SR-71 driver who strung together a bunch of consecutive wins at Reno. Perhaps you were performing your best impression of Mira Slovak, who won the first National Championship Air Races in 1964.

If any of these scenarios sounds familiar, this might be the airplane for you. After all, those pilots soared to glory in souped-up Grumman F8F Bearcats. If you long for a taste of what they experienced, this is a chance to start with the right hardware—a rare chance.

If warbirds make up a small segment of the general aviation market, then warbirds modified for air racing and airshows account for barely a sliver. And Bearcats, well, they are the hen’s teeth of the bunch.

Their rarity stems from their failure to enter service in time to see action in World War II. The bulk of production was canceled, and while many postwar squadrons flew Bearcats, new jet fighters soon eclipsed them. Obsolescence couldn’t keep the Bearcat down completely, though, because to many unlimited class air racers, it was a dream come true.

The compact fighter grew out of talks between Grumman officials and Navy fighter pilots early in the war—what we would call focus groups today. The pilots wanted a high rate of climb more than anything else, so Grumman trimmed weight and drag from the F8F. Its Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine took care of the rest.

While this potent combination did not go to war, it was a tailor-made racing platform.

This 1945 Bearcat has 992 hours since new on the airframe and on its R-2800 twin-row, 18-cylinder engine.

Pilots who are ready to move into the high-performance warbird community and prepared to become caretakers to a rare, renowned, nearly 80-year-old single-seat fighter should consider this 1945 Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat, which is available on AircraftForSale.

If you’re interested in financing, you can do so with FLYING Finance. Use their airplane loan calculator to calculate your estimated monthly payments. Or, to speak with an aviation finance specialist, visit flyingfinance.com.

• FLYING Magazine: Reno Air Race Gets Ready for Action
• FLYING Magazine: First Reno Air Race Winner Mira Slovak Flies West
• FLYING Magazine: In Memory of Howard Pardue
• AVweb: Record-Breaker Darryl Greenamyer Passes Away 
• Plane & Pilot: Bear 360: Living the Warbird Dream
• Plane & Pilot: Restored Bearcat Flies Again
• Plane & Pilot: Grumman F8F Bearcat

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