Author Topic: 1967 Trans-Am season review  (Read 261034 times)

SMKZ28

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #90 on: November 10, 2013, 10:00:34 PM »
It's also interesting to read that Leslie was definately not in favor of the LeMans type start that he had just experienced at Green Valley and earlier in the year at Sebring.  You can tell in his comments at the end of the article that he was worried about the safety risks in this type of start.
Scott
I don't have a 1st Gen but I have 1971 Z28 RS 4-spd, 1997 Z28 Z4C 6-spd, 2000 SS Convertible, 2010 RS 6-spd

1109RWHP

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #91 on: November 11, 2013, 02:07:09 AM »
Half the guys did not have their seat belts on untill the second lap.

Jon Mello

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #92 on: November 11, 2013, 05:16:20 AM »
The first Camaro road racing win at an SCCA National event was at Cumberland, MD on May 13, 1967.
Johnny Moore was the driver of the car owned by Hugh Heishman. The National events have stiffer comp-
etition and get you points that count toward the national championship (ARRC) run-off at the end of the year.






Here's Johnny Moore standing alongside his Z-28 after winning the Cumberland race.

Hugh Heishman Collection
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Jon Mello

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #93 on: November 13, 2013, 06:00:21 AM »
The first Camaro road racing win at an international event was at St. Jovite (Mt. Tremblant) on May 21, 1967. This was not
an official SCCA Trans-Am event in 1967. The track wanted to be part of the Trans-Am series in 1967 but other tracks were
chosen instead. None of the factory teams made the trek to Canada for this race, however many good drivers and cars that
were regulars in the Trans-Am series did run in it. The race was won by Dick Guldstrand in his Dana-sponsored Camaro.
CP&A coverage of the race courtesy of Ron Lathrop.





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SMKZ28

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #94 on: November 13, 2013, 12:44:38 PM »
Some great pictures of Les 4 Heures du Circuit Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant, held on May 21, 1967 can be seen here: http://www.autocourse.ca/photos/saison1967/transam/transam/transam.html  The photos are courtesy of Yves St-Jean and the CASC Archives.

Several Camaros participated in this event and I have attached a few of the best pictures of them.

The first photo shows the start of the race.  You can see the flag man about to waive the green flag for the standing start.  The light blue #56 Camaro is the winning car of Dick Guldstrand/Tom Payne.  It completed 118 laps.

The second photo shows the #24 Camaro of Don Yenko and Jerry Thompson.  The car did not finish due to a suspension problem on lap 103.  You can also see the white Yenko Stinger Corvair just behind the Camaro in this picture.  It was driven by Donna Mae Mimms but failed to finish due to ignition and clutch failure on lap 18.

The third photo shows the #1 Camaro of Joie Chitwood.  Did Chitwood drive this car or was it Corwin/Lynd, the only other Camaro drivers mentioned in the article race recap to finish the race?

The fourth photo shows the #777 Camaro of Craig Fisher.  This car did not finish due to an engine failure on lap 51.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2013, 01:14:44 PM by SMKZ28 »
Scott
I don't have a 1st Gen but I have 1971 Z28 RS 4-spd, 1997 Z28 Z4C 6-spd, 2000 SS Convertible, 2010 RS 6-spd

SMKZ28

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #95 on: November 13, 2013, 12:50:11 PM »
Here are a few more photos from Les 4 Heures du Circuit Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant, held on May 21, 1967.  They can also be found here: http://www.autocourse.ca/photos/saison1967/transam/transam/transam.html

1) Winning Camaro #56 of Dick Guldstrand/Tom Payne
2) Camaro #5 of Bob Brown.  This car did not finish due to engine failure on lap 104.
3) Three Camaros fighting for position
4) Nearly stock RS Z28 Camaro with front license plate!  Is this the Camaro of Corwin/Lynd or the Camaro of R. West?  These are the other two Camaros listed in the race recap clipping posted by Jon Mello. 
« Last Edit: November 13, 2013, 01:07:26 PM by SMKZ28 »
Scott
I don't have a 1st Gen but I have 1971 Z28 RS 4-spd, 1997 Z28 Z4C 6-spd, 2000 SS Convertible, 2010 RS 6-spd

SMKZ28

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #96 on: November 13, 2013, 01:42:44 PM »
On the autocourse.ca website this Camaro is credited to Richard Hoffman but in the race recap clipping it states that R. Hoffman finished in 12th place driving a Mustang.  Was this a misprint in the clipping or is this someone else?
Scott
I don't have a 1st Gen but I have 1971 Z28 RS 4-spd, 1997 Z28 Z4C 6-spd, 2000 SS Convertible, 2010 RS 6-spd

Jon Mello

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #97 on: November 13, 2013, 02:41:49 PM »
Thanks for posting those, Scott. Roger West was the driver of the Joie Chitwood Camaro. The Z-28 with the front plate was driven by Corwin/Lynd
and the #48 in the last photo was driven by Dick Hoffman, a GM Proving Ground engineer. He was not in a Mustang.

Also, Donna Mae Mims' Corvair was pink, not white. There is some glare in that picture which threw you off.
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SMKZ28

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #98 on: November 13, 2013, 03:47:18 PM »
Thanks for posting those, Scott. Roger West was the driver of the Joie Chitwood Camaro. The Z-28 with the front plate was driven by Corwin/Lynd
and the #48 in the last photo was driven by Dick Hoffman, a GM Proving Ground engineer. He was not in a Mustang.

Also, Donna Mae Mims' Corvair was pink, not white. There is some glare in that picture which threw you off.

Thanks for the info Jon.  I should have known about the pink Corvair.  Brain cramp!
Scott
I don't have a 1st Gen but I have 1971 Z28 RS 4-spd, 1997 Z28 Z4C 6-spd, 2000 SS Convertible, 2010 RS 6-spd

Jon Mello

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #99 on: November 14, 2013, 02:16:09 PM »
Another report on the St. Jovite 4hr. race from the Canadian publication "Track & Traffic". (Jon Mello Collection)






A page from the '68 St. Jovite Trans-Am program showing pictures and results from the '67 4hr.

« Last Edit: November 15, 2013, 04:58:07 AM by Jon Mello »
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SMKZ28

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #100 on: November 14, 2013, 04:06:12 PM »
Jon, I have two questions for you.

1) At the bottom of page 47 in the July 1967 edition of Canada Track & Traffic there is a picture with a caption that states, "Winner, race one, Peter Roberts in his Ginnetta."  Is this picture referring to the sports car races held at St. Jovite on June 12, 1967?  Is there an article on the race on the next page?That Ginnetta looks like the one in the first attached picture from autocourse.ca.  I was just wondering because of the 1967 Camaro RS in the background.  As you know I am always on the look out for pace car, safety car, and official track car pictures, especially Camaros.  Other pictures from that web site demonstrate that these races began with a standing start, so I know that it didn't pace the field prior to the start but it might have been used in the safety car capacity and I'm trying to pin down which race it was.

2) Does the program for the 1968 Trans Am race at St. Jovite mention anything about or show a picture of the 1968 Camaro RS/SS convertible that I presume was used as the pace car or safety car during the 1968 Trans Am race and subsequent races at St. Jovite.  The second attached picture from autocourse.ca shows this particular car before or after the supporting 3 hour race for sports cars.  This same Camaro also appears in the background of movie footage taken during the Trans Am race.

It's funny that both the 1967 Camaro and the 1968 Camaro seem to be parked in the exact same spot on the track in the pictures, only seperated by a year.

Thanks as always for any info you can provide.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2013, 04:28:27 PM by SMKZ28 »
Scott
I don't have a 1st Gen but I have 1971 Z28 RS 4-spd, 1997 Z28 Z4C 6-spd, 2000 SS Convertible, 2010 RS 6-spd

group/7

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #101 on: November 15, 2013, 03:09:16 AM »
SMKZ28,as for question #2 for jon, I have in my hot little hand the program for the '68 trans-am a tremblant. I went through it twice, but didn't see any mention of the official car or any G.M ad surprisingly ! I may have missed something, always a possibility.

  mike in canada

SMKZ28

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #102 on: November 15, 2013, 04:24:10 AM »
SMKZ28,as for question #2 for jon, I have in my hot little hand the program for the '68 trans-am a tremblant. I went through it twice, but didn't see any mention of the official car or any G.M ad surprisingly ! I may have missed something, always a possibility.

  mike in canada

Thanks for looking Mike.  I appreciate it.
Scott
I don't have a 1st Gen but I have 1971 Z28 RS 4-spd, 1997 Z28 Z4C 6-spd, 2000 SS Convertible, 2010 RS 6-spd

Jon Mello

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #103 on: November 15, 2013, 04:41:06 AM »
Scott, I have somehow misplaced my '68 St. Jovite program but I also do not recall anything about a pace car photo or ad being in there so I
would agree with what Mike (group/7) says.

As for the Ginetta in that '67 race, I think it was the winner of a support race before the 4-hr event that same weekend of May 21st.
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Jon Mello

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Re: 1967 Trans-Am season review
« Reply #104 on: November 15, 2013, 05:07:08 AM »
Lime Rock Trans-Am pre-race reports from CP&A, courtesy of Ron Lathrop.






Lime Rock Trans-Am report from Riverside's Raceway magazine. (Jon Mello Collection)






Race results as shown in Competition Press & Autoweek.

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