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

[group/7]

scott, I am not the best ! but thanks , I apologize ! jumped the gun on that one. it's a colour shot of the start I think. but the pace car does not show. sorry about that.

  mike

[SMKZ28]

Jon Mello recently posted these two items on the ninth page of the 1967 Trans Am season review thread and I wanted to include them here as well.  The following two attachments show the 1967 Camaro RS/SS convertible (possible Indy Pace Car replica) that paced the Trans Am race at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio on June 11, 1967.

The first one appeared in a pictoral retrospective on page 6 of the official program for the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) National Races held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio on July 15/16, 1967.

The second one must have been taken at nearly the same time as the one above but from the otherside of the track. It appears in the July 1967 edition of the Mid Ohio track Newsletter.

See them both here: http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=11290.120

A close up view of the first picture appears in post #2 on the first page of this thread and a picture of the car during the pace lap appears in post #63 on the fifth page of this thread.

[Jon Mello]

It looks like the car has a black nose stripe and a blue interior. It has the 396 emblem on the side and the door decal looks like the
Indy Pace Car decal with the date of the Indy race removed.

[SMKZ28]

That's the conclusion the pace car guys came up with as well over at the Camaro Pace Car web site.  They also believe that the placement of the decals on the doors is off compared to the parameters set for factory placement on the Indy Pace Car replicas.  They also pointed out that it is crooked compared to those cars as well.  The thing they can't figure out is if it was just a regular white SS with a black nose stripe, how did whever provided the Camaro to the track get the decals?  Some have claimed that the decal was available to any Chevy dealer and that they would have received a special flyer on how to order them but nobody has seen this special flyer or knows the part number.  Can anyone here shed more light on the subject?  Thanks.

[SMKZ28]

That Cherokee is a sharp looking car. I always liked it. Thanks for posting the pics, James.

I guess there is some question as to whether they made more than one since the interior color is not the same as seen in some of the vintage shots. Did you hear anything further on this at the show?

Here is a cool video taken at the recent Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals featuring the Cherokee Camaro as well as the man who restored it, Charlie Hutton.  In the video he gives a lot of cool information behind the restoration and he also states that the interior is original to the car.  They only replaced the carpeting.  See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wCGLVc3hj0

[SMKZ28]

While the jury is still out on what paced the 1967 Daytona 300 Trans-Am race at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, February 3, 1967 these pictures show that there was a 1967 Pontiac Bonneville convertible used during the pace laps prior to the 24-Hour Continental the next day as well as a darker colored 1967 Ford Galaxie 500.  Several Trans Am cars participated in the 24 hour race, so I thought we should include the pace car pictures for this particular race and while I have yet to find any photographic evidence that one of these cars paced the Daytona 300 Trans-Am race, it is probable that one of them did.

The first two pictures show a white Bonneville while in the third picture you can see the back end of a darker colored car, perhaps black or dark blue.  I'm suggesting that the white Bonneville carried photographers in the backseat on the first pace lap with the darker colored car in front of it.  Then by the second pace lap the white Bonneville headed off the track leaving the darker colored Galaxie 500 to pace the field prior to the green flag.  The famous photo of the front row (4th attached) must have been taken by someone in the backseat of the white Bonneville.  See the following post for a picture of the Galaxie 500 at the head of the field on pit lane.  The trim at the bottom of the rear quarter panel is different from the Bonneville and the name of the car appears above that.  Bonnevilles did not have either of these items.

The were taken by John Losee and can be found here: http://www.thevrl.com/photo/albums/daytona-24-hours-1967-1?test-locale=&exposeKeys=&xg_pw=&xgsi=&id=1465153%3AAlbum%3A223088&groupId=&groupUrl=&xgi=&commentPage=&page=1

The second photo came from www.gettyimages.com

I found the fourth photo here: http://www.quincylist.com/1967-daytona-pace-lap

 

[SMKZ28]

Here is one more picture of the grid for the 1967 Daytona 24 hour Continental and it shows the 1967 Ford Galaxie 500 at the head of the front row.  This must be the darker colored car seen in the previous post.  The picture is for sale on ebay here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Rare-8X10-Auto-Racing-Photo-1967-Daytona-24-Hours-Starting-Grid-/180801149951#ht_430wt_693

[SMKZ28]

I just watced some footage of the Trans Am race that took place at Bridgehampton Race Circuit, Bridgehampton, New York on June 23, 1968 and it shows that this race was also paced by a red Toyota 2000 GT.  This must be the same car that paced the Trans Am race at the same circuit in 1970 because they only produced a total of 351 regular production cars and out of these only about 60 came to North America.  What are the odds that the same track would employ two different Toyota 2000 GT's.  You can see the footage on a site dedicated to a Trans Am Porsche 911 race car here: http://kzmotorsports.com/911L-Race-History-Overview.html     Scroll down to the bottom of the page to watch the footage.  The Toyota 2000 GT appears between 0:07 and 0:10.

To see a similar picture of the same car pacing the 1970 Trans Am race at Bridgehampton go to reply #153 on page 11 of this thread.  I know this looks like the same picture but look at the race cars, these are 1968 Trans Am machines.

[Jon Mello]

Thanks for the links to John Losee's photos from the Daytona 24-Hour race. It was interesting to see his photo of
Lorenzo Bandini entering the track driving a '67 Camaro, even though the caption says he is driving a Ford. In the
race of course, he drove the race-winning Ferrari. Sadly he was killed at the Monoco Grand Prix a few months later.

[Jon Mello]

Riverside's "Raceway" magazine (May '67 issue) had a road test of the 390 GT Cougars that were used as
their pace cars all year long, including the Trans-Am race in September. I wonder if any of the three cars
still survive. (Jon Mello Collection)

[SMKZ28]

Very cool article!  Thanks for posting it Jon.

Jon also posted another picture of one of the Cougars at the 1967 Riverside Trans Am race in Reply #50 on page 4 of this thread.

In addition, here is a picture of one of the Cougars on the pace lap for the 1967 Motor Trend 500 NASCAR Grand National race at Riverside International Raceway on January 22, 1967.  The race was won by Parnelli Jones in a Ford.  The picture appears in the Dave Friedman Collection at The Henry Ford.  A larger and clearer version can be seen here: http://thehenryford.artehouse.com/perl/magnify_popup.pl?imageID=127382&staticImage=C&ckon=image&alt=0

The Cougar was not used as the pace car for this race but it appeared in front of the 1967 Mercury Cyclone convertible pace car on one of the pace laps.

[Jon Mello]

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.

Here's that photo, Robert. I knew I had a copy somewhere and finally ran across it last night.

[SMKZ28]

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.

Here's that photo, Robert. I knew I had a copy somewhere and finally ran across it last night.

What a great shot of the Camaro at the head of the field.  Thanks for posting it Jon.  Did it come out of the 1970 Laguna Seca program?

Additional pictures of this Camaro pace car appear on page two, replies #28 and #29; page seven, replies #99 and #100 and page nine, reply #121.

[Jon Mello]

What a great shot of the Camaro at the head of the field.  Thanks for posting it Jon.  Did it come out of the 1970 Laguna Seca program?

I suspect it came from that program but don't know that for a fact.

[SMKZ28]

Here are a couple of pictures taken by Stu Brennan at the Schaefer Trans Am events held at Lime Rock Park, Lime Rock, Connecticut on May 6, 1972.  Both pictures show that a 1972 Datsun 240Z was used as the pace car that day.  The first picture is of the pace car in front of the big iron and the second picture shows it pacing the 2.5 challenge cars.  These and several others pictures from both races appear here: http://www.pbase.com/sb_photos/lrtransam72

On the top, right side of the second photo you can see a grabber blue 1970 Boss 302 Mustang Trans Am race car.  Is this the #81 car of Ed Hinchcliff?