Riverside: 1969 Camaro RS/SS 396 Conv. Pace Car for NASCAR Motor Trend 500 1969

[SMKZ28]

The white 1969 Camaro RS/SS 396 convertible was again used to pace the Motor Trend 500 NASCAR Grand National event held at Riverside International Raceway on Saturday, February 1, 1969 (51 years to the day as I'm writing this).  I believe it says "Camaro Official Pace Car" on the doors.  This race was originally scheduled for Sunday, January 19, 1969.  It was supposed to take place the day after the Permatex 200 for early model stock cars but torrential rains postponed it nearly 2 full weeks.  Richard Petty would win the race in his Ford Torino Cobra.

The first photo came from the Petersen Automotive Museum Digitization Project: https://archive.petersen.org/pages/home.php  The 2nd photo is a cropped version.

I found the first color picture of the pace lap at pinterest.com.  The second photo is a cropped version. 

[SMKZ28]

More from the Petersen...

[SMKZ28]

These photos show the car parked during the race waiting to get the call to be used during a caution period.  They also came from the Petersen.

[SMKZ28]

More photos of the car parked during the race.  These came from the Dave Friedman Collection at the Henry Ford Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/albums/72157662963847560

[SMKZ28]

One more of the Camaro pacing the field on the pace laps from the Dave Friedman Flickr page.

[SMKZ28]

Getty Images has some color footage of the NASCAR events that took place at Riverside.   

Skip through the footage of the Permatex 200 to 1:00 in the following film to see the Camaro on the pace lap: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/stock-cars-racing-in-riverside-500-at-riverside-news-footage/127958068?adppopup=true

[SMKZ28]

Local Chevrolet dealers used the race as a promotional tool to sell more Camaros.  This photo of a brand new 1969 Camaro Z28 at Tom Carrell Chevrolet in Sepulveda, California features a sign on the windshield that says, "Motor Trend Riverside 500 January 19 OFFICIAL PACE CAR" I'm not sure what the last line says. The Official Pace Car is not this Z28 but the white 1969 Camaro RS/SS 396 convertible featured in this thread. The event was the NASCAR Grand National race known as the Motor Trend 500 and it was held at Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California on February 1, 1969. The discrepancies in race date on the card comes from the fact that the race was originally scheduled to run on January 1, 1969.  It was postponed twice by rain.

The picture came from a huge repository of over 1,800 ads placed in High School Yearbooks from the 1950's to the 1970's. See this picture on this page of the blog here: http://annualmobiles.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2015-10-16T07:12:00-07:00&max-results=15&start=435&by-date=false

[SMKZ28]

Here are images of the souvenir program cover and an event ticket both showing original scheduled date.  Both came from worthpoint.com

3) The Argus (California) November 21, 1968 (newspapers.com)

[SMKZ28]

Correct me if I'm wrong but this picture demonstrates that the 2nd silver prototype 1969 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am made an appearance at Riverside during the Motor Trend 500.  February 1, 1969 is too early for a production model to have been purchased by the public and it looks to be painted silver and devoid of the twin racing stripes seen on the production car.  It also has the hood, side air extractors and rear spoiler that would only be available on the Trans Am.  It also looks to have the "Firebird" emblem on the front fender that would not be seen on production Trans Ams.

Perhaps it was in the middle of being evaluated by an enthusiast magazine at the time.  It has been confirmed that, "this silver prototype was featured in multiple magazines (Hot Rod March 1969, Motor Trend June 1969, Car Life April 1969 and Car Craft March 1969) prior to the production release in March 1969."  Since it was the Motor Trend 500 I bet it was the test drivers for Motor Trend Magazine that brought it there.  This would make sense for the time frame leading up to a June issue.

The picture came from the Dave Friedman Collection on Flickr.

See info on this 2nd prototype here: http://musclecarfilms.com/1969_Firebird_Engineering_Cars_2.html

If this is the same car, it still exists and it was sold at Barrett-Jackson back in 2015: https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1969-PONTIAC-FIREBIRD-TRANS-AM-PROTOTYPE-180191

[group/7]

SMKZ28, here are a couple of photos I have in my files, marked as prototype '69 Firebird T/A, the front end shot, looks like it

could be at Milford ? early or late in the year, trees are missing foliage. What is going on at the base of the windshield, some

sort of reverse scoop ? Also interesting has Royal Pontiac license surround.

The rear 3/4 photo, early in the year ? looks like snow still around, there is a sign behind says "welcome race fans" could

this be at Michigan International Speedway ? don't know where I found these it was ages ago !

You do a great job, lot of time and effort go into your posts, thank you !

Mike, in Canada

[SMKZ28]

Thanks Mike, I appreciate it.  Those are great photos of the prototype Trans Am.  Good catch on the "Welcome race fans" sign.  That obviously shows that that particular picture wasn't taken at the GM Milford Proving grounds.  I'll have to look at it closer and do more research in order to try to figure out where it could be.  It could be Michigan International Speedway like you suggest because it had just opened and it is geographically close enough to Detroit to be used as a test site. 

I wonder if the item you are referring to is some type of early hidden windshield wiper system being tested on the car for aerodynamics or something.  I noticed that the item appears in the sketches done by designers Gene Winfield and Harry Bradley referred to in the following paragraph:

"In the Fall of 1967, designer Gene Winfield and designer/artist Harry Bradley approached Pontiac with a proposal they called the
"Firebird Can Am". Gene Winfield was actually a consultant under contract for the plastic model company AMT, and therefore had
advance notice as to what the 1969 Firebirds would look like long before they were introduced to the public. Since the Pontiac
Special Projects Group were still involved in refining the suspension for the 1968/1969 Firebird, and had gained tremendous
experience on the race track racing their SCCA 1968 Firebird, the Winfield/Bradley drawings were the first designs to seriously be
considered by Pontiac as a possible look for their new "ultimate Firebird"." (http://musclecarfilms.com/1969_Firebird_Engineering_Cars_2.html)

Interesting that the car has Royal license plate surrounds.  The hood scoops and side scoops look to be a little different as well.  To me they look more angular, not as rounded.

[KurtS]

Here's a 67 Camaro with a hidden wiper design (courtesy of Jon Mello).
I question that is what is on the silver TA.  That's conflating two design issues in one car.

[group/7]

Thanks KurtS & Jon, that wiper system on the '67 is a new image to me, isn't that similar to what was on the C-3 Corvettes ?

SMKZ28, thanks for your answer, always well researched and explained.

Mike

[SMKZ28]

Here is a great photo showing what is probably the same 1967 Camaro with the concealed wipers.  It was part of report by Chevrolet Engineering Research and Development which can be seen and read here: http://www.pilotcarregistry.com/prototype-engineering-reports---rare-documents.html

[KurtS]

Yes, Jon donated that to GM which is presumably where they got it from.