1967 Trans-Am season review

[Jon Mello]

You're welcome, Mike.  Yes, I do have an extensive collection of "stuff".

[Jon Mello]

Daytona Paul Revere 250 was another unofficial "Trans-Am type" race but with a bit of a twist. It had the backing of SCCA and
Bill France of Nascar. It also was to feature Parnelli Jones driving one of Bud Moore's Cougars plus Jerry Titus in his Shelby prepared
Mustang. It was not an official Trans-Am event and did not have points that counted in that series. Here's a CP&A article in advance of
the race explaining Bill France's interest in this type of racing. It ultimately led Bill to get his own version of Trans-Am going for the
'68 season, which he called Nascar GT or Grand Touring. (Jon Mello Collection)

[Jon Mello]

Paul Revere 250 article as found in Competition Press & Autoweek. (Jon Mello Collection)

[SMKZ28]

Paul Revere 250    Has anyone "heard" this?  I found this Groovy song from 1967 by Randy & The Holidays entitled "Paul Revere 250."  If you listen, they mention Cougar, Barracuda, Mustang and Firebird, but there is no mention of the Camaro.  Not sure what the engine limitations were for this particular race but in the song they are talking about 390, 383 and 396 engines.  Were these size engines allowed in this particular race or were the writers of the song just unimformed?  Apparantly the bad was from Georgia.

Listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw58jv5RUr0

A little more info on the song: http://itsgreatshakes.blogspot.com/2006/08/randy-and-holidays-paul-revere-250.html

[69Z28-RS]

Going to that link, you find out about a '68 movie called 'Speed Lovers' with Fred Lorenzen.       the trailer is *interesting*..
I recall Fred Lorenzen (although I believe he was a Ford man), but I missed that movie at the time..     
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ej5v9b6LqU

[1109RWHP]

That sound track is truly awful!!!

[Jon Mello]

...Not sure what the engine limitations were for this particular race but in the song they are talking about 390, 383 and 396 engines.  Were these size engines allowed in this particular race or were the writers of the song just uninformed?

It was a 5-liter limit just like Trans-Am. The band was uninformed.

[SMKZ28]

...Not sure what the engine limitations were for this particular race but in the song they are talking about 390, 383 and 396 engines.  Were these size engines allowed in this particular race or were the writers of the song just uninformed?

It was a 5-liter limit just like Trans-Am. The band was uninformed.

Thanks Jon, that's what I suspected.

[SMKZ28]

Paul Revere 250
I have been able to find a few pictures taken during the race.  The first one shows Curtis Turner driving the Joie Chitwood Camaro on the track while the second shows the same car in the pits.  The third picture shows Bud Moore in the pits standing next to the Cougar of Parnelli Jones during a pit stop.  Since there are so many warnings about copying pictures from this particular site just click on this link to see the third picture: http://stockcar.racersreunion.com/photo/1967-paul-revere-250   

I found the attached pictures in the following locations:

1) http://www.floridastockcars.com/gallery3/v/Daytona/Curtis+Turner+driving+Joie+Chitwood_s+Camaro+in+the+1967+Paul+Revere+250___.jpg.html

2) http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/july-4-1967-curtis-turner-makes-a-pit-stop-early-in-the-news-photo/148961382

[Jon Mello]

Paul Revere 250 coverage from the August '67 issue of Riverside's "Raceway" magazine. (Jon Mello Collection)






Paul Revere 250 color images courtesy of Harry Hurst via Facebook 2022

Car #68 is the Camaro of Bill Boye. This is its first racing appearance and it is one of the two "Stormer" Z-28s built by Yenko Chevrolet.

[SMKZ28]

While I unfortunately didn't find any footage of the 1967 Paul Revere 250 while searching through Youtube, I did run across three different "color films" of the 1967 24-Hour Continental run at Daytona in early February.  One of them even features some footage of the 300 mile Trans Am race run on February 3, 1967 at Daytona.  I'm not sure how I missed this stuff when Jon was just starting this thread a couple of months ago but here it is now. 

This first film looks like it might have been professionally produced in some manner for Porsche although there is no soundtrack on the Youtube version.  It focuses on the Porsche race cars that participated in both the Trans Am 300 mile race as well as the 24-Hour Continental but there is plenty of other interesting stuff to see in this color footage.  The part with the Trans Am 300 can be seen from 1:23 to 2:20.  The rest of the film shows the running of the 24-Hour Continental.  See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNm3yuwdo3I

The second film is a silent, color home movie of the 24-Hour Continental.  In it you can catch several glimpses of the Camaros and Mustangs on the grid and on the track during the race.  See this film here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qQUT8BsYV4

The third film is also a silent, color home movie of the 24-Hour Continental.  Although it is short you can see the Camaros and Mustangs as they leave the grid.  See this film here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52yLkQASg0Y

Enjoy!

[Jon Mello]

Paul Revere 250 program with entry list, etc. (Jon Mello Collection)

[SMKZ28]

Fantastic!  Randy and the Holidays played their song at the track during the pre-race activities with nine beautiful Atlanta Go Go Girls!

Thanks Jon.  I'm not sure if I have asked you this before or not but does that program have a picture or any mention of what paced either the Paul Reveere 250 or the Firecracker 400?

[Jon Mello]

Scott, this ad was also inside the program.

[SMKZ28]

Cool!  Thanks Jon.  Another mystery solved.  Now the search is on to find a picture.  I wonder if it the same one they used in February for the Daytona 500??