1967 Trans-Am season review

[SMKZ28]

Dave Friedman took over 400 photos of the 1967 Green Valley 300 Trans Am race held at Green Valley Raceway, Smithfield, Texas on April 16, 1967.  The pictures are part of the Dave Friedman Collection at The Henry Ford.  You can see all of them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/sets/72157631175084150/  Click on this link to see many fabulous pictures of the Mustangs, Cougars, Darts, Porsches, Alfas, Minis, and Cortinas that participated along with four Camaros.  There are also several color photos that can be seen on the bottom of page five and all of page 6.  Enjoy!

I am posting a few of the best pictures of each of the four participating Camaros.  Enjoy!  Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of each picture.

These four pictures feature the #75 Camaro driven by Vic Campbell.  He was running at the end of the race and finished 15th. 

1st: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=94883&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
2nd: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95089&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
3rd: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95100&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
4th: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95114&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0

[SMKZ28]

These four pictures feature the #3 Camaro driven by Craig Fisher at the 1967 Green Valley Trans Am race.  He did not finish the race.  He retired his Camaro on the 115th lap.

Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of each picture.

1st: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=94873&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
2nd: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95003&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
3rd: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95118&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
4th: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95128&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0

[SMKZ28]

The first two pictures in this post are the only two pictures that feature the #54 Camaro driven by Charlie Kolb during the 1967 Green Valley Trans Am race.  Unfortunately, he also did not finsh the race.  His Camaro retired after completing 89 laps.

The third picture is an ineresting one that shows the Shelby team "Race Assistance" Ford van and trailer.  The fourth picture shows the Firestone Tire set up in the paddock.

Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of each picture.

1st: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95025&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
2nd: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95068&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
3rd: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=94918&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
4th: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=94913&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0

[SMKZ28]

These four pictures feature the #16 Camaro driven by Mark Donohue at the 1967 Green Valley Trans Am race.  He finished in fourth place, six laps down to the winner Dan Gurney.

Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of each picture.

1st: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=94869&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
2nd: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95084&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
3rd: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95102&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
4th: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95117&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0

[SMKZ28]

Here are four more pictures featuring the #16 Camaro driven by Mark Donohue at the 1967 Green Valley Trans Am race weekend.  They were probably taken during practice.

Click on the corresponding link to see a larger and clearer version of each picture.

1st: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=94909&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
2nd: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95026&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
3rd: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95042&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0
4th: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95029&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0

[SMKZ28]

I believe this last picture is an interior shot of the Penske Camaro driven by Mark Donohue at the 1967 Green Valley Trans Am race.  Notice that it says "THINK" in the middle.

Click on the link below to see a larger and clearer version of the picture.

http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=95024&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0

[Jon Mello]

Thanks for posting those, Scott. There are more pictures from the Green Valley 300 at this CRG link.

[Jon Mello]

Green Valley 300 coverage from Riverside Raceway magazine. (Jon Mello Collection)

[group/7]

question, back in post #77 by smkz28, the first shot of kolb in the miami speedway car. are those standard disc brake wheels on the car ? they do look a little wider to me.

mike in canada

[Jon Mello]

Mike, I would agree. They're not the standard 15x6 wheel but are probably 15x7s. If you look at this car when it ran as car #22 at Sebring, it was running 14" diameter American mags so I'm somewhat doubtful that it began life as a Z-28. Probably a converted SS or 327 car. When I spoke with Charlie Kolb in person shortly before he passed away several years ago, he mentioned that his car had DNF'd in this race and he was hanging around in the pits when Donohue came in and was really suffering from heat exhaustion. Mark would only give up the car if Charlie would agree to drive it and according to Charlie, that's what happened. The race reports don't indicate that but that doesn't mean it's not true.

[SMKZ28]

While it was produced by Mercury and obviously focused on the Bud Moore Cougar race team, the documentary entitled "Cougar Caper" is a must watch for anyone interested in seeing color film footage of the 1967 Trans Am season.  Races covered in depth include Daytona, Sebring, Green Valley, Marlboro and Kent

Part One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Epz2Ari5SEM

Part Two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVp5LZN-ksk

Part Three: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TexJQfWCM1Q

I took a couple of shots of some of the Camaros that appear throughout the film while the footage was paused.  (These are from Daytona in Part One)

[Jon Mello]

Green Valley 300 Trans-Am race report from Sports Car Graphic magazine, July 1967. (Jon Mello Collection)

[Jon Mello]

Green Valley 300 Trans-Am program, probably one of the hardest programs to find. It is curiously described on the cover as
a "stock car" race and, as a whole, is fairly amateurish. With that being said, it is a neat piece of Trans-Am history. Many thanks go
to Craig Wheeldon for sharing his copy with us.










































Entry list, front



Entry list, back



_________________________________________________________________________________________

Brief Road & Track coverage of the first three Trans-Am races of 1967. (Jon Mello Collection)

[Jon Mello]

The first road racing win for Camaro came in an SCCA Regional race at Stardust Raceway in Las Vegas
on 4-23-67. Dick Guldstrand was the driver in his Dana Chevrolet sponsored car. (Jon Mello Collection)







Bud Moore Cougar driver Ed Leslie has a high opinion of the Trans-Am series and
what he believes it will do for street cars.

[MO]

It was pretty groovy too!