Recommended Reading

[Swede70]

Greetings,

Printed on newprint pulp paper, with attendant high-acid content, etc., but nevertheless out there to be found; i.e. period copies of what was then-titled Competition Press & AUTOWEEK. Imagine how many paper drives the copies seen below evaded!  Original text, original photos, whereas classifieds a study in themselves.  Some highlights to share then:



...'69 title clinched at Sears Point.


...'70 Laguna Seca.



...'70 Watkins Glen Vic Elford Chaparral Camaro victory.


...'70 Kent, '70 Riverside.  Both copies show up in print ads. spread across other publications promoting subscriptions to CP & AW.

Thanks...

M.K.

[Swede70]

Greetings,

Easy to overlook, but scattered copies of Stock Car Racing also feature discreet SCCA Trans Am coverage.  For a time SCCA Trans Am posed a threat to NASCAR, with the sanctioning body inaugurating a rival ponycar series known as the NASCAR GT to both accommodate demand and not allow manufacturer interest to bleed away into another series uncontested.  SCR hedged its bet, affording coverage of NASCAR, NASCAR GT, as well as SCCA Trans Am. Though such naive reportage is rare, appreciate that the Trans Am sedans were marketed as steel bodied 'stock cars' racing for the penny loafer, capri pants and madras shirt crowd; i.e. the '70 BOSS 302 print advertisements.  SCR's split focus didn't last long, but nevertheless, be alert to content that can creep in.


...the issue on the left in particular has a fine T/G Firebird 303 article, hopes for the effort, Titus quips, etc.  Article contained within issue seen at right has an unexpected review of Minter's upset victory at '70 Donnybrooke.

M.K.

[Bruce302]

Yes, the Stock Car Racing magazine had some pretty good T/A coverage, surprising as there was a gulf between the attitudes of the stock car racers and T/A (SCCA) who were viewed with suspicion and considered by many of the Soouthern racers as elitist.

I have both the above mags and more, The CP&A look very neat.

Bruce.

[Jon Mello]

I'm not sure why I hadn't thought to suggest the issues of Competition Press & Autoweek (CP&A) and Stock Car Racing (SCR) magazine but I'm glad you did Mike. They are both great resources of information. I guess I just had books on the brain when this thread first got posted. I have collected many issues of both CP&A and SCR and am glad I did. Some issues of Riverside Raceway magazine are also very good but they don't come up too often and they don't always contain Trans-Am information. You have to be choosy. One other thing which I started to collect was National Speed Sport News as it seemed to be like CP&A but it is much more of a Nascar and circle track publication and Trans-Am pickings are very slim in there.

[Swede70]

Greetings,

Most enthusiasts will already have these, but an alert for newcomers who may not be aware.  See the Vintage Motorsports Magazine Trans Am retrospective, with year covered spread across the following issues as recorded below.  The issue designation changed a bit across the run of the specific copies the features appeared within, hence the odd identification provided.  See:

#4 '95 July/Aug   1966
#5 '95 Sept/Oct  1967
#6 '95 Nov/Dec   1968
#1 '96 Jan/Feb    1969
#2 '96 Mar/Apr    1970
(3) '96 May/June  1971
1996/4 July/Aug   1972
1996/5 Sept/Oct  1973-1974



Vintage Motorsports Magazine back issue ordering link:
http://www.vintagemotorsport.com/onlinestore/subpage.asp?refresh=true&category_id=90

Thanks...

M.K.

[Swede70]

Greetings,

An obscure title that vanished near the end of 1971 I do believe.  Scant advertising revue, but heavily-laden with race reports as well as team and driver profiles.  They tried to do it all; F1, Can-Am, F5000, Tasman Championship, NASCAR, and towards the end of 1969 - SCCA Trans Am.  Collect from Feb. 1970 to April 1971 to gather what SCCA Trans Am is on offer, whereas the Sam Posey-penned race reports (usually four pages with photographs) stretching across the June 1970 issue to the Feb. 1971 issues are really quite fine.  Think 'Mudge Pond Express' recollections expanded out 60%, whereas if The Unfair Advantage is all that has been sampled before concerning 'behind the wheel' reportage, a veritable treat.  



...just sample copies with engaging covers.

Thanks

M.K.

[Swede70]

And lastly for this wave,

Car Life magazine, another casualty of the period, vanishing after the October 1970 issue.  SCCA Trans Am material starts to be seen in 1968, whereas race reports and homologation part information scattered across issues.  A very solid publication right to the end.  The issue on the right, being the January 1970 issue is something every enthusiast should have, essential as it is towards understanding the then-evolving Penske/Donohue mystique.  Thanks...

 

Mike K.

[Swede70]

Greetings,

If you have both The Unfair Advantage (1975) as well as Chevrolet = Racing? (1972) in your possession, consider collecting a copy of Paul Van Valkenburgh's Race Car Engineering and Mechanics which was first published in 1976.  Topic focus overlaps and elaborates upon all discussed across the first two books, whereas light photography scattered within includes images of the '70 Penske Javelin, the '73 and later Penske Matador, the earliest IROC Camaro effort as well as modest Champ Car focus.  Pre-carbon composites-era construction and brakes, hence a thoroughgoing old school introduction to racing vehicle design and dynamics.  Given that it was republished and revised with different photographs, try if you might to secure for yourself an early edition.



Race Car Engineering and Mechanics (ISBN: 0396072011 / 0-396-07201-1)
Van Valkenburgh, Paul  

[Swede70]

Greetings,

Mostly a compilation of articles and photographs from the Peterson Publishing family of automotive magazines, the earliest edition of The Complete Chevrolet Book seen in the foreground has material of interest to those here with diminishing interest and content witnessed across later editions.  No ISBN, but common enough online or via swap meet vendors who reliably stock such titles.  



M.K.

[Swede70]

Hello,

Dated 1980's cover design and titles notwithstanding, the Alex Gabbard-penned series of historical retrospectives feature multi-page interviews with important personnel of the period and hence contain insights that are atypical.  The standard written chapter content contains nothing so very profound, whereas let me emphasize that the interviews are quite good.  There exists a 'Hot Fords' title as well as a 'Hot Muscle' title out there as well - do not let the silly titles or presentation dissuade you! 



Fast Chevys (ISBN: 0962260800 / 0-9622608-0-0)
Gabbard, Alex

M.K.

[Swede70]

Hi,

A very inexpensive library addition to make, this being an unexpected thirty page Mark Donohue biography combined if you will with three other driver biographies neatly segregated into their own separate chapters/elements.  An interview with his family was staged to investigate his early childhood, and the voices heard are those of his siblings.  For his experience with polio and his setting flame to the family barn/garage, better than what is found within the recent Michael Argetsinger biography.  It is rather like being in the presence of those who knew and loved him most, and this is something.  Try to find it via abebooks.com or some such, and expect to pay not much more than $8.  



Great racing drivers (Tempo books) (ISBN: 0448057301 / 0-448-05730-1)
Larry Bortstein

M.K.

[1109RWHP]

Any update on Dan Lipetz's new book?

[Jon Mello]

Thanks for the further recommendations, Mike. I have not seen that last book before but like you I did get a lot of enjoyment out of the interviews found in Fast Chevys.

The update from Dan Lipetz as of this morning is the editing for the book by David Bull was not completed when it was originally scheduled to be. Then he (David Bull) was in a terrible motor cycle accident in late July.  Dan has not spoken with him since and it is unclear what his current condition is.  So, no book yet!

I had not heard about David Bull's accident and wish him well.

[1109RWHP]

I was not aware of his accident either. I have been getting emails fron David Bull publishing for new releases of other books though.

[Swede70]

Hello,

A silly expensive proposition as a first edition, the Donald Farr BOSS 302 book has been republished and expanded a bit.  Yes, Mustang stuff, but well done to the extent of including some early preseason test information (at least within my orange softcover copy from years back).  Race coverage cribbed from period race reports not cited (speaking here of the first edition), but still, value to discover for what will never be a very large (pity this) vintage SCCA Trans Am library we each possess.  See:

http://www.amazon.com/Mustang-Boss-302-Racing-Legend/dp/0760341419/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Get it while it lasts...

Mike K.