Topics

16

Trans-Am Camaros / Gorries Black Panther Camaro

« on: June 14, 2014, 03:49:08 PM »

Gorries Black Panther Camaro road test from the May '67 issue of Canada's Track & Traffic magazine, courtesy of Mike Scott (group/7).
The Black Panther package was available on any V-8 model, although I'm not sure about a convertible. There were even two '67 Z-28s
converted into Black Panthers. The car in the article is 427-powered although, for some odd reason, the engine shown is a small block.

17

Trans-Am Camaros / 1967 Z-28 articles and road tests

« on: May 31, 2014, 05:26:27 AM »

Here is an article from the April '67 issue of Speed and Supercar magazine, courtesy of Robert Lodewyk. There is some
information in the article that is obviously wrong, such as the notion that the off-white cream color was the only color
available. Also, it was not a "Camaro Z-28 Super Sports", just simply a Camaro Z-28. Since this was a bi-monthly pub-
lication and it says the June issue was coming out March 23rd, I assume this "April" issue came out in late January '67.

18

Trans-Am Camaros / Sig Hansen A/Sedan '68 Camaro

« on: May 12, 2014, 04:10:04 AM »

Sig Hansen built a '68 Camaro for West Coast A/Sedan road racing back around 1970 and, luckily, the car still exists. This thread has been started so that Sig can fill us in on the history of the car as he knows it from back in the day. I've attached the only picture I have of Sig's car but we'll see if he might have some others that he can share.

19

Trans-Am Camaros / Car & Driver Blue Maxi Camaro

« on: April 11, 2014, 01:40:44 PM »

Many thanks to Mike (group/7) for sharing his copy of the original Car & Driver "Blue Maxi" feature article with us.

20

Trans-Am Camaros / Rest in Peace Ronnie Kaplan

« on: March 03, 2014, 05:38:10 PM »

Trans-Am racing icon Ronnie Kaplan passed away on Saturday 3/1/14 at 87 years old. I had the pleasure of meeting him in person at the Petersen Museum Trans-Am tribute a few years ago. What a wonderful and talented man he was. He will be missed. My condolences go out to the Kaplan family.

21

Trans-Am Camaros / The Vince Piggins Camaro

« on: December 01, 2013, 05:59:44 AM »

Nice feature from Super Chevy on the only Camaro that Vince Piggins owned, which happened to be owned
at that time by Vince's eldest daughter, Diane Sorensen. Interesting that Vince chose a '69 SS396. Anyone
out there know Diane Sorensen and know if she still has this car? It sure would be nice to talk with her and
hear some of the stories she has about her famous dad.








Jon Mello Collection

22

Trans-Am Camaros / 1967 Trans-Am season review

« on: September 24, 2013, 01:49:37 PM »

September 24, 1966 news tidbit in Competition Press & Autoweek indicates Chevy will build a suitable car to run in Group 2
(Trans-Am) and A-Sedan competition. Also interesting to note Firebird name had not yet been chosen for Pontiac's "F" body.
The 283 was the early engine choice but was soon ruled out in favor of a new 302 cubic inch displacement engine.


Jon Mello Collection

23

Trans-Am Camaros / 1969 Laguna Seca Trans-Am photos

« on: August 28, 2013, 05:17:14 AM »

Many thanks to Delmar Evans for sharing his photos from the 1969 Laguna Seca Trans-Am with us. This first
batch of photos is from the practice session on the Saturday before the race.

A look at the short straight between the old turn 8 and turn 9. Turn 9 makes an acute LH turn onto the main straight and is just out of the photo on the mid-RH side.

Photo by Delmar Evans

A closer look at the paddock and pit area.

Photo by Delmar Evans

Scooter Patrick's Porsche 911

Photo by Delmar Evans

Jerry Grant in front of Ron Grable's #4.

Photo by Delmar Evans

Mark Donohue's Camaro heading down toward turn 8.

Photo by Delmar Evans

Peter Revson's Shelby team car.

Photo by Delmar Evans

Ron Grable ran the #3 Javelin earlier in the '69 season but switched to the #4 by the Laguna Seca race.

Photo by Delmar Evans

George Follmer's Bud Moore Boss Mustang.

Photo by Delmar Evans

Ed Leslie in the second Penske Camaro.

Photo by Delmar Evans

Mark Donohue coming down out of turn 7.

Photo by Delmar Evans

Ron Grable and Jerry Grant.

Photo by Delmar Evans

An old map of the original layout of the track, circa the 1969 race.

Jon Mello Collection

24

Trans-Am Camaros / Jim Bowman's "Monterey High School" '68 Camaro

« on: August 07, 2013, 05:00:09 AM »

Pretty neat story about Jim Bowman's Camaro at the following link...
http://www.streetlegaltv.com/news/the-musclecar-place-podcast-jim-bowman-and-the-comeback-camaro/

Besides the article in print at that link, there is an audio podcast with more details about how Jim found the car
and eventually got it back. Not only did he get the car back but the original SCCA log book as well! It was entered
in the 1970 Riverside Trans-Am but did not make the race. Tune into the podcast to hear why.

Hopefully we might get Jim to share some more photos of the car and tell us more about the history. Jim also was
a crewman and later crew chief for Frank Search in the 1970s. Frank was a very accomplished racer from the SF/Bay
Area who also raced a '68 Camaro (as well as other cars).

25

Originality / Which is the correct assembly line gas pedal for 1967?

« on: July 27, 2013, 09:22:30 PM »

I've got three different gas pedals sitting in one of my parts cabinets and am not sure which one is correct for '67.
The left and middle one are all plastic and the one on the right is metal with what seems to be a hard rubber over it.

26

Trans-Am Camaros / Penske Camaros racing in Europe

« on: June 12, 2013, 05:12:48 AM »

This is a thread intended to discuss the Penske Camaros that got sold and went to Europe to race. The first Penske Camaro
from '67, the one that Mark Donohue drove at Daytona, Sebring and other tracks early in the season, was taken by Penske
crew member Peter Reinhardt to Europe where he raced the car for McNamara Racing.

"Racing the Sunoco Camaro in Europe" report comes from Sun Oil's Jerry Kroninger via Wayne Guinn.

27

Trans-Am Camaros / Sonoma Historics, May 2013

« on: May 20, 2013, 05:06:38 AM »

Randy Peterson brought out this #3 Camaro on Saturday for display. It was quite a surprise as it was nowhere in sight
on Friday. It looks like no expense was spared and it turned out beautifully. (Jon Mello photos)

28

Trans-Am Camaros / John Ware Trans-Am Camaro

« on: May 08, 2013, 04:39:52 AM »

Here are some recent photos of the original John Ware Camaro that ran in the Trans-Am series at Riverside back in 1970 and 1971.
The car has been running with the SVRA group in the East Coast events for a number of years and the current preparation of the
car reflects that. New owner Karman Cusack is from Colorado and is wanting to restore the car more accurately to how it was back
in the early '70s so that he can run it with the Historic Trans-Am group in the West Coast events. It will be nice to see another first-
gen Camaro running around with that group. This car was a real British Green rally sport Z/28 when bought new and did some drag
racing and slaloming before being turned into a full-time road racer after the first year or so.

29

Trans-Am Camaros / JL8 / J56 4-wheel disc racing brakes

« on: May 04, 2013, 10:30:19 PM »

Beginning in the 1968 racing season, the Camaro was homologated (passed the criteria for acceptance) with the SCCA to be able
to use a 4-wheel disc brake package in Trans-Am and A-Sedan events. This brake equipment was adapted primarily from already
existing Corvette brake components. The calipers were the cast iron Delco-Moraine Corvette units and these were the heavier duty
J56 pieces that had 3/4" thick heat insulators on the brake pistons and that used two cotter pins to retain the brake pads rather
than the single pin in the middle. The top of the caliper was milled down to remove the single pin boss because it interfered with
the top of the flanged brake pads and was unnecessary. The inner half of the front calipers had a single brake hose inlet boss where
Corvettes (typically) had two bosses. Here are some of the rare front calipers from Robert Lodewyk's collection.

30

Trans-Am Camaros / JL8 vs HD service package 4-wheel disc 12-bolt rear axle

« on: May 04, 2013, 03:57:07 AM »

Because of some discussion that was starting to take place in the Heavy Duty GM 12-bolt axles thread, I was asked to get a new topic of discussion going comparing the production JL8 rear axle assembly used in 206 Camaros built in '69 to the Heavy Duty service package 4-wheel disc axle sold over the GM parts counter. Consider this thread the proper place for that discussion.

Here is a small bit of rear axle part number data, courtesy of Bob Morton.