Cross Ram Hood - Fiberglass -

[DONCZ28]

These fiberglass  hoods had to be expensive to produce, when compared to the steel hoods.

[Jon Mello]

I have no knowledge about the cost of making either hood but with the financial resources of GM and the desire to give the Camaro racer the parts deemed necessary to be competitive and win, I'm sure they didn't sweat the cost in the least.

Regarding the weight of the hoods, Frank relays the following to me...

"I never weighed the hoods, but I remember the fiberglass hood was definitely lighter than the steel hood. Wayne Guinn talks of the weight savings in his 'Camaro Untold Secrets' book on page 98: fiberglass hood 35 pounds vs. steel hood 50 pounds; and then factor in hood springs 8 pounds, ZL2 hood plenum valve 5 pounds, upper and lower latch mechanisims 2 pounds = 30 pounds weight reduction."

[Jon Mello]

A copy of the original instruction decal. The size is 2.75" x 5".


Courtesy of Frank Dihartce

[Jon Mello]

The original hood from the Wiggins-Teape '68 Camaro. This is the first '68 Penske Camaro, which was later driven by Sam Posey, was sold to Posey after he left the team and then was sold back to Penske so he could use it as a backup car (for emergency purposes) during the '69 season. After that, the car went to England. This hood is owned by Jeff Barley and he was kind enough to provide me with these pictures to post.

[Jon Mello]

The Camaro was raced very successfully by Brian Muir in England before being sold to others and eventually, many years later, being returned to the U.S. where it is currently restored as the '68 Penske car and being raced in Historic Trans-Am by Don Lee.

Here's a shot of the underside of the hood.

[Jon Mello]

A close-up of the '72 decal.

[Jon Mello]

A close-up shot of the (secretive) Sunoco blue, which is still evident. Many thanks for sharing these with us, Jeff!

[cuda48]

Jon,   I thought that car was rebodied as a 69"?

[Sixteen Grand Sedan #56]

Jeff, thanks for letting us see these COOL pictures. It's a privilege to view pieces of Camaro racing history such as this.

[Jon Mello]

Jon,   I thought that car was rebodied as a 69"?

Mike, I have seen it written where it is sort of implied that the car was turned into a '69 but that was not the case.
It was just updated with whatever upgrades were made by the Penske team for '69 but stopped short of being
reskinned as a '69-bodied car. Thanks for asking.

[Steve Holmes]

Hi there Jon, those pics of the Wiggins-Teape Camaro hood are wonderful! Do you know if the whole car survived in this original condition, or just the hood? Is this the same car (pictured) that hood came from? Sorry, I don't know who took this pic, its just one of many random images I seem to have collected over the years.

[Steve Holmes]

Its interesting to note the date on the Wiggins Teape hood decals relate to 1972, when Malcolm Gartlan Racing/Wiggins Teape ran a RS2600 Capri for Muir this season. I wonder if the Camaro was retained as a back-up, and had the '72 decals applied so it could be pressed straight into duty should there be a problem with the Capri. Or did they enter it for another driver?

[Jon Mello]

Steve,

The car got very modified later in the '70s with a tilt front end, round tail lights, huge flares and other mods.
The hood appears to have been taken off in '72 to make way for the hood in your photo. I suppose more
height was needed for some different carburetion or injection. Someone kept the hood as is but it is unknown
who got it right after it was removed from the car. Two or three decades passed before Jeff got it. As stated
earlier, the car has been returned to the States and is restored as the first '68 Penske Camaro, which Donohue
drove at Daytona that year. It is currently owned by Don Lee. It think the car was being raced by Terry Sanger
in your photo and not Brian Muir. Below is a photo of the car from '71 as raced by Brian Muir and in Wiggins
Teape livery.

[Jon Mello]

Here are some Chevrolet issued installation instruction sheets and part of a blueprint for the fiberglass hood, all courtesy of Warren Malkin.

Thanks for sharing these with us Warren!







A closer look...

[Jon Mello]

Here is a thread showing Warren Malkin's very cool '69 Z equipped with an authentic GM fiberglass hood, 1x4 adapter plate, snorkel-less air cleaner and other very cool pieces.

http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=17798.0