1967 Green Valley Trans-Am photos

[OCTARD]

408 photos from the Dave Friedman Collection, of the 1967 Green Valley Trans-Am, courtesy of The Henry Ford museum, can be seen here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/sets/72157631175084150/

A note to some of my friends on this forum....  Be prepared to set aside a few hours here.

-Chad

[Jon Mello]

Thanks for letting us know, Chad. Those are terrific and I'm glad Dave Friedman is making those available for enthusiasts to review and purchase.

[Jon Mello]

Probably one of the hardest programs to find is the one for the Green Valley Trans-Am race. 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

[BULLITT65]

Hey Jon how come your car wasn't competing at that race? To far to go?
Interesting the camaros didn't run bumpers, and most of the Mustangs didn't but the Cougars who were pretty dominant ran front and rear bumpers.
Also it wouldn't have been easier for that Z/28 to swap out a gas tank than locate plastic balls to put in there? they would have had to pull the tank to get the plastic balls out anyways right?

[group/7]

do I remember a story, that those plastic balls were made of something that dissolved, and wouldn't clog fuel systems ? also sound like something they'd try in NASCAR.

mike

[Jon Mello]

Hey Jon how come your car wasn't competing at that race? To far to go?
Interesting the camaros didn't run bumpers, and most of the Mustangs didn't but the Cougars who were pretty dominant ran front and rear bumpers.
Also it wouldn't have been easier for that Z/28 to swap out a gas tank than locate plastic balls to put in there? they would have had to pull the tank to get the plastic balls out anyways right?

As far as I know, they felt it was too far of a drive to take my car to Green Valley. The Cougars ran fiberglass bumpers and only for the first few races of the season, then they eliminated them like most everybody else. For the '69 season, the SCCA reversed their rules and mandated that the bumpers needed to be retained. Some people acid dipped them and others like Penske made them out of aluminum.
I'm sure in hindsight Craig Fisher's team would have not gone with the plastic balls idea but they did and it cost them by melting and clogging up the whole fuel system.

[group/7]

well, I guess I got that story turned around in my head,maybe something melted and clogged up my system !

mike

[zman1969]

Thats Cool! I raced my first 69 RS/Z there -like 13.70s? and was spinning every gear change the track was blacktop  I also went to a early Super Chevy at Green Valley around 1980 and those pics brick back memories!

[Jon Mello]

That's great. I'm glad you enjoyed reading this thread. If you have any pictures from the track, please post them.

[F68]

As mentiond in my hello thread --i was there  --5 yrs old and it imprinted on me ir-reversably,  pretty faint memories,  I knew what a mustang was--and of course a couger car was new,  but i know i remembered the blue penske  camaro making the impression on me.

[Jon Mello]

Neat that you were there to see the race. We are fortunate to have these photos thanks to the kindness of Jerry Melton.

[Steve Holmes]

Interesting looking wheels on the Dale Wood Mustang. They look like Cragar SS wheels from this angle.

Also interesting to see how flat the Penske Camaro sits through the corners compared to the Mustangs and Cougars which were much more softly sprung.

Thanks for the compliments, guys.


Close up of Horst Kwech in the Alfa GTA. He and John Pauly's Porsche had a hard fought duel for the win in the second half of the race.

Photo by Jerry Melton

Horst Kwech's teammate Monty Winkler. This looks like it might be the car Kwech usually drives due to the kangaroo on the door.

Photo by Jerry Melton

Bob Johnson has the throttle buried on his Mustang as he blasts down the main straight.

Photo by Jerry Melton

Here's Jim Kaufman behind the wheel of Milt Minter's Mustang after relieving him for heat exhaustion.

Photo by Jerry Melton

Dale Wood's Mustang did not make it to the finish.

Photo by Jerry Melton

Fred Baker has John Pauly's white Porsche breathing down his neck. Pauly would go on to win the U-2 class.

Photo by Jerry Melton

Freddy Van Beuren's Mustang ran well. Finished 8th overall.

Photo by Jerry Melton

Tony Adamowicz finished 7th in U-2, 14th overall. The highest placing of the Ford Cortinas.

Photo by Jerry Melton

Charlie Barnes was 8th in U-2, 16th overall.

Photo by Jerry Melton

Craig Fisher's car did not finish the race but made it to lap 115 before the fuel system got clogged.

Photo by Jerry Melton

Here's our race winner, Dan Gurney.

Photo by Jerry Melton

Another shot of Dan with the trophy.

Photo by Jerry Melton

Parnelli Jones, post race. Possibly signing an autograph.

Photo by Jerry Melton

Gurney and Jones finished 1-2 in a dominating performance that had been expected in the first two races but never materialized.
Because of the grueling heat and the pressure from Parnelli, Gurney called this one of the most satisfying wins of his career.

Photo by Jerry Melton