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

[T/AracingFTW]

Hi CRG,

my name is Steve and although I've never raced a real T/A Camaro or any other make race car for that matter due to not enough finances and only being 40 (25 at heart...lol), Trans Am racing is my passion and hobby and I'm trying to do my part in keeping it alive in the gaming community and younger generation as well by founding/co-creating two "as close to real as possible" T/A race series' (Midnight Club LosAngeles and Gran Turismo 5) and am in the process of planning probably what will be the best representation of T/A racing, Forzamotorsport 4 (upcoming XBox 360 title) in the club I am "a" leader of called the Camaro & Classic GM club. (aka...MCLA Camaro Club).  I'm in no way here trying to advertise the club, I'm just explaining who I am and what I represent.

I know, you may be thinking, forget this guy because he's just into games and not the real thing but I want to share with you my story and what I'm about before you discount my genuine passion for the "best" racing series in history in my opinion.  I am a very good driver, and am pretty sure I'd be a good racer in real life but not only can I not afford to own or race these cars which would be my dream even if it was in the "more careful" more current "historic races" but I can't even afford to own a custom car anymore due to family issues I won't go into.  Ever since I was a kid, I've been into muscle and pony cars and recently even owned a '71 Camaro 350 4 spd. which is pretty much my dream car and I had to sell it after owning it for 5 years to my Dad for financial reasons.  In fact my 3 favorite pony or muscle for that matter are the '70-'73 Camaro, the '69 Mustang and the '70 - '72 'Cuda all original Trans Am race cars in their day.  Anyway, I turned to games to satisfy my custom car/hot rod/race car/speed needs as that is my passion and I can't just live without it and I really have no other way.  The difference between why I play racing games and why some others do is that I want "as close to real of an experience as possible" so I'll put approx. 20 hours into recreating T/A cars on MCLA (Midnight Club Los Angeles) or put weeks worth of work into creating realism in mine and my "Virtual Racing Association" friend & co-owner JadeCat95's multiple game Trans Am Racing series'.  I know I'm kinda going on and on but its because I want to make sure I prove that I'm a genuine T/A racing and Pony car lover (especially the Camaro).  I will provide links to our T/A race series web pages & videos and some of the T/A cars I have recreated or created to prove what I'm saying.


My question is, and again its because we want to properly represent the original T/A series and keep it known and alive among the youger generation as well, are there many pictures of the original T/A pace cars back then and if so could someone post some or guide me the right direction to find them? I've searched the internet like crazy because I don't have the money to go buying all the books I need (although I haven't tried the library yet) and all I've seen is a Javelin (can't see it all), a Camaro I think I found in this forum and now the yellow Shelby Mustang in here as well.  This latest Trans Am series in Forza 4 that we are planning allows very detailed paint jobs, engine sounds, handling and race modifications and includes the following accurate Pony Cars that if not the correct year/make are at least are close:  '69 Camaro, '70 Javelin, '70 Mercury Cougar, '68 Barracuda, '71 'Cuda, '73 Trans Am, '70 Boss Mustang, '68 Shelby Fastback Mustang, '65 Notchback mustang as well as the possibility of the under 2.0/2.5 liter class of the Porsche 911, Alfa Romeo Giulia Sedan, Datsun 510, Datsun 240Z, Toyota 2000GT and possibly more so I'm hoping to make this series as real as possible and "seriously" represent the original "real" one that deserves all the recognition and respect it can possibly get.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and hopefully believe I am as passionate as I say I am and there's nothing I would rather do than to race these cars in real life.  Here are a few links to prove I am who I say I am and I along with my good friend and co-owner Jade are serious about realistically representing the best race series in history! (my forum name and Play Station name is RaceGameNut)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFBkZhEVQw4&feature=mh_lolz&list=HL1310060160
http://www.camaroclub-ta.webs.com/
http://www.mccamaroclub.com/ccta-gt5.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLyD_Rodo-E
http://www.mccamaroclub.com/eliterules.php
http://www.mccamaroclub.com/forum-if.php
 

[Jon Mello]

Welcome. I have not done a whole lot of collecting of pace car photos but here are a couple. The first is from the 1967 Mid-Ohio Trans-Am.
It shows a pretty much unaltered Indy Pace Car Camaro.


Photo by Dave Arnold

The second is not from a Trans-Am but from an SCCA National event at Marlboro Raceway in Maryland.

Photo by Bill Dobbins

If I run across any more, I will post them here for you.

[Sixteen Grand Sedan #56]

I'm fairly certain I remember a 69 Camaro with an endura bumper leading the pack towards turn 2 at Laguna Seca in 1969. The picture must of come from Jon at some point. I'll see if I can find it.

[T/AracingFTW]

Thanks so much guys... any pics are greatly appreciated.   That's very interesting that they used other pace cars such as indys at times.   How often did SCCA use their own pace cars?   I've seen one Javelin pace car but not well in some original '69 T/A footage, a Camaro in an original photo and can't remember where. (probably here.. lol) and finally the Shelby convertible in the picture set that was posted here in the forum recently recently but that's it other than the two new ones in this thread.

Thanks again! 

[T/AracingFTW]

...I've seen one Javelin pace car but not well in some original '69 T/A footage, a Camaro in an original photo and can't remember where. (probably here.. lol) and finally the Shelby convertible in the picture set that was posted here in the forum recently recently but that's it other than the two new ones in this thread.

Oops, said the same thing twice...lol!  Sorry about that.  Is there any other good sites to find original Trans Am pics other than www.trans-amseries.com ?  I've been to many sites but they weren't very memorable or I would remember the names.  So far this site and the one I just mentioned are my main sources for everything Trans Am and would love more.  Hopefully this isn't too off topic because I still really badly want to find more T/A pace cars but any Trans Am pics are exciting to see and I've enjoyed every one that I could find on this forum..thanks!

[Jon Mello]

You might try looking through this website and see if he has any pace car photos...

http://gwadagone.fotki.com/trans-am-racing1966/

[T/AracingFTW]

Thanks again...I will!

[JoeC]

In 1967 Chevy used their 396 Camaro show car to pace the Can Am race at Road America. It is called the Cherokee and is still around today.
Chevy liked to bring special cars to Road America in the 60s.

I have read that they used the 1968 Z/28 convert built for Pete Estes to pace the Can Am race in 1968 but have not been able to find a pic of it.
may have been used as Trans Am pace car

This may be one reason why the 1968 convertible Z was built

pic is the 1967 Cheerokee Camaro show car built by Chevy with weber carb 396 and plexi glass hood scoop, hood tach, and other custom items

link is Cherokee auction
http://mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=SC0509-79381

[Jon Mello]

I can't make out the writing on the side of the car but at least you can tell that a '70 Mustang convertible
was the pace car for the 1970 Mid-Ohio Trans-Am race.


1971 Mid-Ohio Trans-Am program

[T/AracingFTW]

Sorry I haven't gotten back to anyone here lately.  I've been extremely busy with Family.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the Pace car pics and guidance to such an amazing collection of original Trans-Am pics.  Does seem like the pace cars are really hard to catch in the pics but I can at least see what they generally looked like.  I now own an XBox 360 and Forza motorsport 3 and due to there being pretty much as real as you can get paint job creations, I went looking for that one famous T/A car that nobody has really done an accurate enough job on paint job wise to do it justice.  I was quite shocked and amazed that there pretty much isn't one #6 or #9 '69 Penske Sunoco Camaro that anyone has taken serious time to recreate so I've done just that and have at this point about 40 hours or so already into re-creating the Mid-Ohio vinyl top version of the #6 Donohue Camaro and I'll post pics soon.  Thanks again guys for taking me seriously and helping me.  We (the club I mentioned above) are highly anticipating Forza 4 and have now learned that they are going to allow painting of headlights, removal of bumpers etc. to give a true classic race car look to those cars that apply.  I along with alot of help am going to set out as soon as the game comes out to recreate as accurate as possible the dual class Trans-Am race series that we all know and love!!!

[JoeC]

I am still trying to find a pic of the 68 Z convertible pacing the 68 Can Am race.
I remember seeing the pic somewhere but can't find it.

[T/AracingFTW]

Somehow, I missed your post Joe...sorry.  Thanks for trying but its OK, I was only hoping to see some if there were easy pics to find but if its hard work to find them, I would rather not put anyone through trying to.  The main thing is that I get the general idea of what they looked like...thanks guys!

Oh btw, I'll have to dig through those pics you gave me a link to Jon but I found another light blue first gen Cougar pace car in the actual pace lap and somewhere in one of the T/A videos I saw the first gen Javelin one a little better as well. 

[Jon Mello]

Glad to hear you are finding some things to help you out. Here is a shot of the '68 Daytona 24hr pace car (SS396) with actor James Garner driving and Nascar boss Bill France in the passenger seat. In 1968, the Daytona 24hr race was part of the Trans-Am race schedule. The upper body color is red, if I remember correctly, and the car does have a rear spoiler (although it is cut off in this photo). This car still exists.

[Jon Mello]

Another couple of pics of the '68 Daytona pace car. It was used all season long for the various races there.

[Jon Mello]

The 1969 Daytona pace car.