Trans Am racing pace car pics...are there any?

[Jon Mello]

Darrell, I think that's a '70 Ford Torino.

[cook_dw]

Ahhhh man...!!!!...  





 

[janobyte]

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608014129215441948&w=98&h=108&c=8&pid=3.1&qlt=90&rm=2

LOL !

[SMKZ28]

Even though it is not a Camaro it is still a cool picture.  It does have some connection to the 1970 Trans Am season since Penske/Donohue used the race to test their new Javelins so it fits into this thread just fine!  That is definitely the 1970 24 hours of Daytona and it is a 1970 Ford Torino GT convertible.  Just like in 1969 with the Camaro, NASCAR had Ford build them 9 to 12 1970 Torino GT's (both convertible and fastback) to be used at the major NASCAR races for the late part of the 1969 season as well as 1970.  Here are a few more vintage pictures of the cars.

The first one shows the same car pacing the 24 hours of Daytona. 

The second one shows two of the cars used by the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The third one shows one of the North Wilkesboro Speedway cars as it looks today.

[janobyte]

Agreed, just picking on Darrell a little

[SMKZ28]

Speaking of Ford pace cars, I ran across this picture of a white 1972 Ford Mustang convertible being used to pace the Trans Am race held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio on June 4, 1972.  It appears on page 161 of the publication entitled, "The Cars of Trans-Am Racing: 1966-1972," by David Tom.

[SMKZ28]

I just found a couple of great color pictures that show the 1972 AMC Javelin AMX that was used to pace the Mission Belle 200 Trans Am race held at Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California on October 3, 1971.  The pictures were posted to Flickr by "Carrera RSR."  I'm not sure if this person took these photos or not but I know I have never seen them before.

Other pictures of the car can be seen on page 5 of this thread in replies #64-66 and reply 19 on page 8.  In a few of these earlier posts I mistakenly identified the car as a 1971 model, but since the race took place in October of 1971, it is probably a 1972 model since new car model years usually start in the fall.

The first picture shows the Javelin AMX on the pace lap for the over 2 liter class event while the second picture shows it pacing the under 2 liter class race.

[klvn8r]

Very minor differences between 71 and 72 Javelin AMXs.....mainly the taillight lenses (plain red in 71, chrome 'cross-hatch' in 72) and early 71 AMXs had a silver grille (like this picture) and I believe 72 it became black.  But again, tomato, tomAto...

klvn8r

[SMKZ28]

I posted this picture on the 3rd page of this thread but I mistakenly identified it as the 1971 Watkins Glen Trans Am 2.5.  In reality this picture depicts the start of the 1970 Trans Am U2 event held at Watkins Glen on August 16, 1970.  You can see the 1970 Corvette convertible pace car heading into pit lane just before the cars get the green flag to start the event.  If this Corvette was used to pace the U2 event than it is a safe bet that it was also used to pace the O2 event as well.  The picture came from here: http://transamracing.blogspot.com/2011/02/watkins-glen-trans-am-2.html

[SMKZ28]

I just found this fantastic color photo of the 1970 Corvette roadster pace car for Laguna Seca at the Revs Digital Library.  While I realize as it sits it is lettered up for the Can Am race it just might be the same Corvette that paced the Trans Am race earlier in the year.  Notice in the black and white picture there is a Corvette pace car with the standard turbine wheel covers.  Those wheels could have easily have been removed and the wheels in the color picture could have been added.  Speaking of the wheels, notice the tires on the car.  They are called "Trans-Am Delta 60"  Pretty cool!  More info and magnification tools for the color photo can be found here: https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/zv032zv4813

[Jon Mello]

Thanks for posting that, Scott. It certainly seems like it could be the same car.

Regarding the tires, my first car (back in the '70s) was a '69 Z and it also had Delta 60 Trans-Am tires on it. My brother's first car was a '68 Z, also with the same tires.

[SMKZ28]

I just found a few more fantastic photos of the 1969 Camaro RS/SS 396 Indy Pace Car Convertible (Z11) that was used to pace the Trans Am race at Bridgehampton Race Circuit, Bridgehampton, New York on June 22, 1969.  I found them at the Revs Digital Library.  More pictures from this race have been added recently.  Other pictures of the car can be seen in Reply #151 on page 11 of this thread. 

In the fourth picture you can see the Camaro Pace Car in pit lane way up in the left corner of the picture.  Click on the following links to use the magnification tools for these pictures:

1) https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/zh443qf0095
2) https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/cp104sy9259
3) https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/vc316mw0174
4) https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/dc800kc1016

[SMKZ28]

I found a couple of pictures of the 1967 Ford convertible that was used as the pace car for the Marlboro Double 300 Trans Am races at Marlboro Speedway in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.  The first picture shows the car leaving the track as the the big iron gets the green flag on August 13, 1967 while the second picture shows the pace car ahead of a Porsche 911 in the under 2 liter event held the day before.  They came from the Revs Digital Library.  Click on the following links for magnification tools:

1) https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/cn178hx8708
2) https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/jn885kb9440

[Jon Mello]

Thanks, Scott.  I appreciate your efforts in trying to get all the various pace cars identified.

[firstgenaddict]

Are those American Daisy "Coke Bottle" wheels on the 69 396 pacer @Bridgehampton?