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

[SMKZ28]

Mike, thanks for adding those cool color photos.  The photo of the orange 1969 Shelby GT 500 convertible is great.  It looks like it was taken on the driver introduction parade lap since the car looks to be filled with people, probably Ford drivers.  Although it looks to be going along at a pretty good clip so maybe it's a fast ride around the track given to some lucky VIP's.  If it is the Trans Am race it was held at Donnybrooke Internaitonal Speedway, Brainerd, Minnesotta on July 6, 1969.   A 1969 AMX was used as the pace car for this event.  Pictures and film footage of the AMX can be seen in Replies #35 & #36 on page three of this thread, Reply #141 on page ten and Reply #257 on page 18.

Unfortunately it's too blurry to make out what the crudely applied sign on the side of the car says.

[crossboss]

Mike, thanks for adding those cool color photos.  The photo of the orange 1969 Shelby GT 500 convertible is great.  It looks like it was taken on the driver introduction parade lap since the car looks to be filled with people, probably Ford drivers.  Although it looks to be going along at a pretty good clip so maybe it's a fast ride around the track given to some lucky VIP's.  If it is the Trans Am race it was held at Donnybrooke Internaitonal Speedway, Brainerd, Minnesotta on July 6, 1969.   A 1969 AMX was used as the pace car for this event.  Pictures and film footage of the AMX can be seen in Replies #35 & #36 on page three of this thread, Reply #141 on page ten and Reply #257 on page 18.

Unfortunately it's too blurry to make out what the crudely applied sign on the side of the car says.

Thanks for posting! Interesting choices SCCA made on the pace cars. Btw, that color, Grabber Orange is very rare (around 11 made!). I used to own a '70 GT-500 with that color….yeh, I know, shouldn't have sold it.

[SMKZ28]

Another piece of the puzzle has fallen into place.  Recently added photos to The Petersen Automotive Museum Digital Project demonstrate that a 1971 Porsche 914, probably the rare six cylinder version, was used to pace the Trans Am and Formula 5000 events held at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin in July 1971.  This photo shows the pace lap of the Trans Am race that was held on Saturday, July 17, 1971.   

It came from here: https://archive.petersen.org/pages/home.php

[SMKZ28]

These photos show the Porsche 914 (914-6) at Road America on Sunday, July 18, 1971.  The first two show the car in front of the Trans Am Two-Five Challenge on the grid and the 3rd & 4th show it on the pace lap for the F5000 race that took place on the same day.

https://archive.petersen.org/pages/home.php

[SMKZ28]

Here is another photo showing the yellow 1970 Corvette convertible that was used as the pace car for the Trans Am race held at Laguna Seca Raceway, in Monterey, California on April 19, 1970.

I found it at The Petersen Automotive Museum Digitization Project: https://archive.petersen.org/pages/home.php

Additional pictures of this yellow Corvette can be seen in Reply #48 on page four of this thread as well as Reply #104 on page seven, Reply #219 on page fifteen, Reply #256 on page eighteen and Reply #275 on page nineteen.

[SMKZ28]

It seems the Laguna Seca Raceway kept the white 1969 Camaro SS convertible they used as a pace car during their 1969 season because it appears in a picture taken at the Trans Am race held the following year at the track on April 19, 1970.  The Castrol Oil decal on the rear quarter panel behind the wheel demonstrates that this is the same Camaro.  You can see the car with its convertible top up in the background directly behind the 1970 Chaparral Camaro.

I also found this photo at The Petersen Automotive Museum Digitization Project: https://archive.petersen.org/pages/home.php

Additional pictures of this 1969 Camaro SS convertible pace car appear on page two, replies #28 and #29; page seven, replies #99 and #100; page nine, reply #121, page twelve, reply #176 and page fourteen reply #202..

[SMKZ28]

Here are a few pictures of the Porsche 911 Targa that was used as the pace car for the under 2.5 Trans Am event held at Laguna Seca Raceway, in Monterey, California on Saturday, October 16, 1971.  The under 2.5 race was a support race for the Can Am event held the following day.  I believe that the over 2.5 Trans Am cars were never scheduled to run at Laguna Seca Raceway during the 1971 season.

The photos were found at The Petersen Automotive Museum Digitization Project: https://archive.petersen.org/pages/home.php

[SMKZ28]

While I still haven't been able to find a definitive picture of the car that paced the 1972 Trans Am races held at Watkins Glen International Raceway in Watkins Glen, New York on Saturday, June 17, 1972, I have found a few pictures of a 1972 Corvette convertible pacing the L&M Formula Continental Race held the next day on Sunday, June 18, 1972.  It stands to reason that the same car would have been used as the pace car throughout the weekend.

I'm not sure where I found the first two color photos but the third photo came from The Petersen Automotive Museum Digitization Project: https://archive.petersen.org/pages/home.php

[SMKZ28]

I just came across a treasure trove of vintage pictures taken at racing events run at Sebring Circuit in Sebring, Florida.  Several of these pictures show multiple different "Official Cars" being used in official capacities during these racing events.  Of particular interest are the pictures taken in March of 1966 showing one of two white 1965 Ford Mustang Convertibles, a black 1966 Shelby Mustang GT 350H, a red 1966 Ford Fairlane, a gold 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado and two 1966 Mercedes-Benz 230SL convertibles.  These "Official Cars" were also featured prominently in advertisements inside the souvenir program for the event.

While most of these pictures were taken during the running of the 1966 12-Hours of Sebring held on Saturday, March 26, 1966, some of them show the cars during the pre-race technical inspection held in a parking lot in the town of Sebring.  However they were used during the 12-hour race is more than likely how they were used during the Trans Am race held at the track from noon to 4:00 pm on Friday, March 25, 1966.  This first ever Trans Am event was known as the Sebring Four Hour International Touring Car Race.  Neither the Trans Am race or the 12-Hour endurance race used a rolling start to begin the race, so none of these cars were used to actually "pace" the race.   

These pictures show one of the two white 1965 Mustang convertibles used as the "Official Car" of "America's Greatest Road Race."  These cars also appeared at the 1965 running of the 12-Hours of Sebring the year before.  Prior to that, it is believed that these two were among the three pace cars used at the 1964 Indianapolis 500.  The third picture shows Alec Ulmann, founder of the 12-Hour race, talking to Florida Governor William Haydon Burns.

Additional pictures can be seen in Reply #136 on page ten of this thread.

These pictures came from: https://sebringrace.com/index.html

[SMKZ28]

More pictures of one of the two 1965 Mustangs...

https://sebringrace.com/index.html

[SMKZ28]

Here are photographs of the black and gold 1966 Shelby Mustang GT 350H used in some official capacity during the events held at Sebring in 1966.  The first photo shows the car at the pre-race technical inspection held in the town of Sebring, the second shows it on the race track prior to the 12-Hour race and the third is the advertisement inside the souvenir event program.

1 & 2) https://sebringrace.com/index.html
3) ebay

[SMKZ28]

Multiple photos show a red 1966 Ford Fairlane GTA convertible being used by "The Clerk of the Course" during the events held at Sebring Circuit in 1966 as well.  The first two photos show the car at the pre-race technical inspection held in the town of Sebring.  The others show it prior to the 12-Hours of Sebring.

https://sebringrace.com/index.html

[SMKZ28]

More photos of the red 1966 Ford Fairlane GTA convertible prior to the 12-Hours of Sebring.

https://sebringrace.com/index.html

[SMKZ28]

Here you can see the Fairlane parked in pit lane during the 12-Hours of Sebring.

https://sebringrace.com/index.html

[SMKZ28]

Here you can see the Fairlane at the site of the fatal accident involving the Ford GT 40 of Bob McLean.  The car "hit a telephone pole and burst into flames. McLean was trapped in the car and perished. Near the crash scene was a fire truck but they only had water and no foam which would have been more effective. Also they only had two 10-pound dry chemical extinguishers which were quickly used up. The car had just made a pit stop right before the accident and was fully loaded with gas. The heat was so intense that the magnesium wheels ignited and burst into white hot sparks. The fire drew a ghoulish crowd of 2000 and police had trouble controlling the mob and the police roughed up some people including a television cameraman."

https://sebringrace.com/index.html