[Amc-list] Re; Trans AM Stuff

["John Elle" <johnelle@xxxxxxxxx>]

Armand
 
Snip
John,
Thanks for the tidbit on the "new" Trans Am series. I hope to attend one
someday. I would love to see them.
Did you manage to get any photos of the # 6 car??
Snip
 
At the time I did, and I may even be able to find them + the program, 
how some ever a decade plus and a divorce may make the location a bit 
obscure. In any case as my memory seems to recall (-senior moments) 
the "then" owner had purchased the car from some museum in Pennsylvania
where it had been since the 1970 series and it was in the configuration 
that it had been raced in, including a shock absorber mounted rear axle 
differential that was supposed to control axle wrap conditions but 
apparently had little to no affect on what the rear axle did. Also what 
was interesting to observe was that the bodies of these cars seemed to 
have been supplied as "Bodies in white" and built into the floor pan 
and rockers was the routing for the side exhaust in order maximize
ground
clearance to the exhaust system. 
The owner (and others) they appeared to be quite knowledgeable of the 
history of their particular car and the nuances that were unique to them
including a fair amount of knowledge of the TRACO engine company. I was 
lead to believe at the time that there were very few of the "factory" 
sourced AMC cars available any more but there were a number of privateer

cars floating around. In addition there were 2 1971 cars campaigning out

of Southern California, one of which was there, that were re-bodied 1970
cars that had a bit of history about them that after their stint in 
TRANS AM, went south of the border and spent a number of years in the 
bull ring circuit that existed at the time. (And maybe still does).
These 
cars were located, restored and re-sold and ended up owned by current 
owners that raced them at hobby races of this type. 
 
I was aware of at least one privateer owned '70 Trans AM Javelin that 
a bit of (arguable) history that was painted up as a number 6 car. The 
owner had a paper trail on the car that seemed to support that it
initially
was a factory backed '70 Trans AM car that had been prepared for a
different owner for the '70 series but when Penske became the official 
factory outlet for 1970, all existing cars were sold or scrapped and all

new ones were prepared. The questionable part as I understand or
remember
at this time was the very first race run under the Penske banner
included
left over previous owned cars hurriedly prepared and prepped as the new
ones were not ready yet and the car in question was one of those. The 
paper trail had quite a few legitimate references and in my opinion was 
supporting of the story. There was no indication as to what number the 
car was campaigned under or who drove the car at the time however the 
car appeared to be legitimate even if the ravages of time had not been 
kind to is existing (at the time) configurations. The owner found the 
car through an ad and was able to trace serial numbers etc. that were 
still visible on some of the "race" modifications to the car although
you might say that there were a lot of parts that were beat to blazes
and
fixed with a torch and a hammer. The car number and paint scheme at the
time I saw the car was strictly owner preference with no attempt to 
defraud the public as that information had been lost to history. 
And the saga goes on. 
John. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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