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

[SMKZ28]

Here are two photos showing the 1971 or 1972 AMC Javelin AMX that was used to pace the Trans Am Two-Five Challenge event held at Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California on October 3, 1971.  This is the same car that paced the larger class. 

They were found at the Peterson Auto Museum SEMA digitization project web site: https://archive.petersen.org/pages/home.php

Additional pictures of this pace car can be found in Replies #64, 65, & 66 on page 5 of this thread as well as Reply #119 on page 8 and Reply #216 on page 15.

[SMKZ28]

Here are two pictures of the 1970 Chevy Corvette convertible that paced the Trans Am race at Laguna Seca Raceway, in Monterey, California on April 19, 1970.

They were found at the Peterson Auto Museum SEMA digitization project web site: https://archive.petersen.org/pages/home.php

Additional pictures of this car can be seen in Reply #48 on page four of this thread as well as Reply #104 on page seven and Reply #219 on page fifteen.

[SMKZ28]

Check out this cool color photograph of the 1969 AMC AMX that was used to pace the Trans Am race held at Donnybrooke Internaitonal Speedway, Brainerd, Minnesotta on July 6, 1969.

I found it at worthpoint.com which mentions that it was an original 35mm slide sold on Ebay on May 12, 2018.

Additional photos and video of the AMX can be seen in Replies #35 & #36 on page three of this thread as well as Reply #141 on page ten.

[SMKZ28]

Thanks to CRG Member Swede70 we now know that the 1970 Ford Torino GT convertible that was used to pace the 1970 Trans Am Race at Bryar was painted blue.  The only other picture I have seen was in black and white.  The event was known as the Herald-Traveler Trans Am and it took place at Bryar Motorsport Park, Loudon, New Hampshire on May 31, 1970.  He posted the link in another thread to some newly posted footage of the event on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P3Fn6rnN9M  See the pace lap for the Bryar event between 4:35 and 4:45.

See additional photos of the Torino in Reply #137 on page 10 of this thread.

[SMKZ28]

Also thanks to Swede70 it can be confirmed that the 1968 AMC Jeffords AMX-R was used as the pace car for the 1968 Trans Am event held at Meadowdale International Raceway in Carpentersville, Illinois on Sunday, July 7, 1968.  This is the only Jeffords AMX-R ever built and more info on the car can be found in this article: http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/2009/11/01/hmn_feature7.html   The article states that, "Jeffords convinced AMC to provide him with a pre-production Caravelle Blue 1968 AMX--its 390-cu.in. V-8 carries a December 1967 build date--sometime in December 1967 or January 1968. Jeffords then swiftly shuffled that AMX over to Dave Puhl, the customizer whose name graced Puhl's House of Kustoms in Palatine, Illinois."  This shop would have been less than 15 miles away from the racetrack!  The article also states that, "After Puhl finished it, Jeffords took the AMX-R on the road, mostly to Trans-Am races, and apparently used it as a pace car for a few of those races--at one point, the AMX-R carried the lettering "Official Car" just below the driver's and passenger's windows."  The lettering onthe door can actually be seen in the footage!

Swede70 posted a link to some really cool color footage of the event posted on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltof03Knlm0

Additional pictures of the car can be seen in Replies #32 & #33 on page 3 and Reply #49 on page 4 of this thread.

[SMKZ28]

While it wasn't the pace car, one of the 1967 Cherokee Camaro concept cars also appeared at the Trans Am event held at Meadowdale International Raceway in Carpentersville, Illinois on July 7, 1968.  This date is 10 months after the last photographic evidence I have of the car being used as a pace car for the third Can Am event held on Saturday, September 13, 1967 at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada.  Notice the change in wheels to rally wheels with 1968 centers.  I'm not sure if Chevy/General Motors still owned the car in July 1968.  It is known that racing driver Augie Pabst purchased or was given the car by his friend Bill Mitchell but I'm not exactly sure when that occurred.  Either way the car appeared at Meadowdale in July 1968 as either a GM showcar or the personal car of racing driver Augie Pabst.

See the footage here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltof03Knlm0

See more pictures/history of the Cherokee Camaros on pages 7, 8, & 9 of another one of my threads here: http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=16296.0

[SMKZ28]

The first picture is a cool color picture of the 1968 AMC Jeffords AMX-R that was used as the pace car for the 1968 Trans Am event held at Meadowdale International Raceway in Carpentersville, Illinois on Sunday, July 7, 1968. 

The second picture shows a lineup of 1968 Javelins that were there to help promote AMC and the race.

They were posted on June 8, 2019 by Greg Long at the Historic SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series Fan Group on Facebook.  He posted 21 other great color photos of the event as well: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10215603764540759&set=pcb.2233655420004097&type=3&theater&ifg=1

Additional pictures of the Jeffords AMX-R can be seen in Replies #32 & #33 on page 3, Reply #49 on page 4 and Reply #259 on page 18 of this thread.

[crossboss]

Thanks to CRG Member Swede70 we now know that the 1970 Ford Torino GT convertible that was used to pace the 1970 Trans Am Race at Bryar was painted blue.  The only other picture I have seen was in black and white.  The event was known as the Herald-Traveler Trans Am and it took place at Bryar Motorsport Park, Loudon, New Hampshire on May 31, 1970.  He posted the link in another thread to some newly posted footage of the event on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P3Fn6rnN9M  See the pace lap for the Bryar event between 4:35 and 4:45.

See additional photos of the Torino in Reply #137 on page 10 of this thread.

Ahh, good 'ol Super 8 Kodachrome! Btw, if transferred/color corrected on a HD telecine, Super 8 has a 35mm quality to it. Thanks for posting stills from the film, and to the YouTube link.

[SMKZ28]

In another picture taken during the Trans Am race at Meadowdale you can see both the 1968 AMX-R pace car and the 1967 Camaro Cherokee lined up behind the guard rail along with a mid year Corvette and 1950's Mercedes SL Gullwing.  I had posted this picture years ago in the thread on the Meadowdale Trans Am race but never noticed the Cherokee because I didn't know until recently that it had made an appearance at the event.

The picture was originally posted to the Meadowdale International Raceway Preservation Association Facebook page years ago by Ronald Spannraft.

[SMKZ28]

Here are two more photos of the 1968 Shelby Mustang Gt500KR convertible that was used to pace the 1968 Bryar 200 Trans Am race held on August 4, 1968 at Bryar Motorsport Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.  They have recently been added to the Revs Digital Library https://library.revsinstitute.org/digital/

Additional black & white and color pictures of the yellow pace car can be seen in reply #30 on page 3 and replies #88 & #89 on page 6 of this thread.

[SMKZ28]

In addition to the yellow 1968 Shelby Mustang GT 500KR convertible used as the pace car for the Bryar 200, photos exist showing that a 1968 Shelby Mustang fastback was also used as an "Official Car."  This fastback was a GT 500, not a KR.  Since it appears to be a light color, this car might also have been painted yellow like the pace car, but I'm not sure.

These photos can be found at the Revs Digital Library: https://library.revsinstitute.org/digital/

[crossboss]

Interesting pictures from 1968. I never knew a Shelby was used for a 'pace car' before. Thanks for posting!

[SMKZ28]

Photos also document that a few 1968 Shelby Mustang convertibles were used prior to the 1968 Bryar 200 to lead several Mustang club members around the track in a parade of Mustangs.  A few of the Mustang Trans Am drivers even appeared in the Shelby Mustangs.

The first picture came from a Mustang group on Facebook and the others came from the Revs Digital Library.

[SMKZ28]

The first photo shows a Mustang GT with some lettering on the doors that states, "Eastern Director National Council of Mustang Clubs." 

All photos came from the Revs Digital Library.

[SMKZ28]

Interestingly, photos also show that AMC had a contingent of Javelins and AMXs go around the track prior to the 1968 Bryar 200 as well.  For some reason, a photo shows AMC Trans Am drivers Peter Revson and George Follmer riding around the track prior to the event in the back of an Oldsmobile with Miss New Hampshire.  Not sure why they weren't riding in the AMC convertible behind the Oldsmobile.

I wonder if there was a group of Camaros or Firebirds as well.  There is no photo evidence showing these.

Photos are from the Revs Digital Library,