Author Topic: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?  (Read 245239 times)

SMKZ28

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Re: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #75 on: January 10, 2013, 02:19:36 PM »
Apparantly the info listed for the car during the 2011 auction was wrong.  I emailed RK Motors, those who are currently selling the car, to find out when the car was built.  I received a response from  Joseph M. Carroll, President & C.E.O. of RK Motors, LLC stating that the car was a special ordered car built in July.  This makes sense chronologically because in addition to the car appearing in front of the Trans Am grid in August, I also found a picture that shows the car in front of the race cars on the grid for the World Sports Car Championship 6 hour race on July 12, 1969 and a picture of the car driving down pit lane after pacing the Can Am race cars the very next day on July 13, 1969.  Mystery solved!

Both pictures are from the Dave Friedman Collection at The Henry Ford.  A larger and clearer version of the first picture (6 hour) can be seen here: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/options.pl?imageID=177531&ckon=thumb  Click on the picture to magnify.

A larger and clearer version of the second picture (Can Am) can be seen here: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/options.pl?imageID=177787&ckon=thumb  Click on the picture to magnify.

Here is the link to RK Motors: http://www.rkmotorscharlotte.com/sales/inventory/active#!/1969-Chevrolet-Camaro-SS/132256/110635.  Not sure why it won't go directly to the car, but if you search for "Watkins Glen Camaro" it should come up.
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: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #76 on: January 10, 2013, 07:44:02 PM »
Here's the link to the Watkins Glen pace car.
Jon Mello
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Jon Mello

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Re: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #77 on: February 10, 2013, 07:36:10 PM »
A photo of the '68 Daytona 24-Hour pace car prior to getting it's full pace car paint scheme applied.



A picture of Big Bill France behind the wheel of the car.

Jon Mello
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SMKZ28

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Re: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #78 on: February 11, 2013, 07:56:29 PM »
Great photos Jon.  I noticed that the second photo was in the program for the 1968 Daytona 24 hours.  Where did the ad for Spence Chevy come from?  Was it a local newspaper?
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: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #79 on: February 12, 2013, 03:56:27 AM »
Thanks, Scott. The Spence Chevrolet ad came from the 1968 Firecracker 400/Paul Revere 250 program and map of the 3.81 mile Daytona course came from that program as well. Everything else came from the 24-Hour program.
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SMKZ28

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Re: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #80 on: February 15, 2013, 10:36:20 PM »
In this photo you can just see the back of the light blue 1968 Mercury Cougar that paced the field during the Lime Rock 3-Hour Trans Am race at Lime Rock Park, Lime Rock, Connecticut on May 30, 1968.   Don Feeley posted it on the Historic SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series Fan Group Facebook page: http://www.hs.facebook.com/media/set/?set=o.109038482465812&page=1.   To see a picture of the whole car pacing the field, see my post on the 4th page of this thread.
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: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #81 on: February 16, 2013, 02:31:12 AM »
Here is a picture of the 1967 Mustang convertible that was used to pace the Continental Divide Trans Am at Continental Divide Raceways, Castle Rock, Colorado on August 27, 1967.  The picture appears on page 50 of the book entitled, "Trans Am: The Pony Car Wars, 1966-1972," by Dave Friedman and is credited to the HRM Archives, which stands for Hot Rod Magazine Archives.  I photographed the picture with my digital camera.
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: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #82 on: February 17, 2013, 06:27:51 PM »
Here are a couple of pictures of the 1970 Mustang convertible that pace the 1970 Trans Am race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio on June 7, 1970.  I paused some footage of the race and took these digital pictures.  You can find the footag on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kfK2Wj1WwE&feature=youtu.be  You can see the pace lap between 0:20 and 0:57.   

Jon Mello posted a black and white picture of the same car on the first page of this thread.
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: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #83 on: February 18, 2013, 07:58:30 PM »
I have finally figured out what kind of pace car was used during the Schaefer Trans Am race at Lime Rock Park, Lime Rock, Connecticut on May 9, 1970.  It was a 1970 Iso Rivolta.  The car combined Italian styling with a Chevy Corvette 327 engine.  Less than 800 were made between 1962 and 1970.  According to classicandperformancecar.com, "the Rivolta was an example of the Italo-American breed that proved popular during the 1960s and ‘70s and which allowed drivers to sample Ferrari-style glamour and performance without the price. The Rivolta had all the credentials to deliver the goods: Giugiaro styling; Bizzarini chassis and a 140mph top speed from its General Motors-sourced V8. Under the skin its box-section frame with de Dion rear suspension was a recipe for success, and indeed, the Rivolta sold nearly 800 examples during its eight-year production run."

More info on the car can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iso_Rivolta_IR_300

The first picture was taken by Dave Friedman and it is part of the Dave Friedman Collection at The Henry Ford.  A larger and clearer version can be seen here: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/options.pl?imageID=114876&productTypeID=62&ckon=imageThumb   Click on the picture to magnify. 

The second picture came from footage of the race found on Youtube.  I took a digital picture while it was paused.  You can see the car in the pits and on the pace lap from 3:24 to 3:50 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYnGb4fcn9w&feature=youtu.be  The first couple of minutes shows footage from the 1972 Trans Am race at Lime Rock but then the rest of the film is from 1970.

 
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: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #84 on: February 24, 2013, 04:02:59 PM »
Here is a fabulous picture taken by Dave Friedman that shows a 1969 Camaro RS/SS Indy Pace Car convertible pacing the Trans Am cars during a caution period in Les Trois Heures du Circuit at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant, St. Jovite, Quebec, Canada on August 3, 1969.  The picture is part of the Dave Friedman Collection at The Henry Ford.  A larger and clearer version can be seen here: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/options.pl?imageID=158732&productTypeID=62&ckon=imageThumb   Click on the picture to magnify.

The same car also paced the Labatt's 50 Can Am race at the same track a month and a half earlier on June 15, 1969.  The second and third pictures are from the Can Am race and they are also from the Dave Friedman Collection at The Henry Ford.   Larger and clearer versions of these pictures can be seen here: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/options.pl?imageID=157443&productTypeID=62&ckon=imageThumb
and here: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/options.pl?imageID=157330&productTypeID=62&ckon=imageThumb  Click on picture to magnify.

The third picture shows that the decal on the door was changed by removing the "Chevrolet Camaro" from the top of the door and the "53rd Annual Indianapolis 500 Mile Race May 30, 1969" from the bottom of the door.  They kept the "Official Pace Car" in the middle of the door and added "Le Circuit Mt. Tremblent" above it.  That is Denny Hulme sitting in the car with the checkered flag.  He won the Can Am race in his Chevy powered McLaren M8B.  You can also see Stirling Moss getting in the passenger seat. He is an ex-racecar driver and he drove both the 1967 Cherokee Camaro pace car during the Can Am race at Road America in 1967 and the 1968 Camaro Z28 convertible pace car during the Can Am race at Road America in 1968. He might also have driven this car during the pace laps, although I don't have any pictoral evidence to confirm it.

« Last Edit: February 24, 2013, 05:11:11 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: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #85 on: February 24, 2013, 11:10:38 PM »
Here is a picture showing the pace lap for the last race of the 1970 Trans Am season.  The picture shows that a 1971 AMC javelin was used to pace the Mission Bell 200 at Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California on October 4, 1970.  Interestingly, the car looks like it was just a Javelin SST not the top of the line Javelin AMX as raced in the Trans Am.  I found the picture on a thread about the 1970 Trans Am Championship here: http://www.theroaringseason.com/showthread.php?218-1970-Trans-Am-Championship   It was posted by Steve Holmes.
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: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #86 on: February 25, 2013, 06:05:44 AM »
Thanks for your efforts, Scott.
Jon Mello
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SMKZ28

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Re: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #87 on: March 02, 2013, 07:54:02 PM »
I found this picture on this website on the thread entitled, "1969 Mid-Ohio Trans-Am photos" (http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=8485.0)  It was taken by Ron Lathrop and it shows the pace lap for the Trans Am race that took place at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio on June 8, 1969.  You can barely see the back of a 1969 Mustang convertible that was used to pace the race.

The second picture shows the front of a mustang in the pits during the Can Am race held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course a few months later on August 17, 1969.  I think they used this 1969 Mustang convertible to pace all the races held at Mid Ohio during the 1969 race season.  You can see it in the background on the right side of the picture.  People are standing all around it.  The picture was taken by Dave Friedman and is part of The Dave Friedman Collection at The Henry Ford.  A larger and clearer version can be seen here: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/options.pl?imageID=118852&productTypeID=62&ckon=imageThumb  Click on the picture to magnify.

The third picture shows Denny Hulme and Stirling Moss inside the 1969 Mustang after Denny won the race in his Chevy powered McLaren M8B.  It was also taken by Dave Friedman and is part of The Dave Friedman Collection at The Henry Ford.  A larger and clearer version can be seen here: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/options.pl?imageID=118643&productTypeID=62&ckon=imageThumb  Click on picture to magnify.
« Last Edit: March 02, 2013, 08:53:25 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: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #88 on: March 02, 2013, 08:43:49 PM »
Here are two pictures within magazine articles that show the 1968 Shelby GT500KR Mustang used to pace the Bryar 200 Trans Am race at Bryar Motorsport Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire on August 4, 1968.  Both pictures were posted on this web site by Jon Mello.  You can see the car heading into pit lane in both pictures after releasing the Trans Am cars for the green flag at the conclusion of the pace lap.  The first picture was taken a few seconds after the second picture.

The third picture was taken by Ron Lathrop and shows the Shelby parked next to the entrance to pit lane during the race.  It appears on this website in the thread entitled, "1968 Bryar Trans-Am photos" (http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=8309.0).
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: Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?
« Reply #89 on: March 02, 2013, 08:52:46 PM »
Here are two more pictures taken by Ron Lathrop at the 1968 Bryar Trans Am showing the 1968 Shelby GT500KR Mustang covnertible pace car in pit lane during the race.  They can also be seen here: http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=8309.0
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

 

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