Australian Trans-Am Association

[Steve Holmes]

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The original Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Trans-Am series first began in 1966, and although discontinued briefly in 2006, was reinstated three years later. For much of its history the Trans-Am has catered to space-frame race cars with replica fibreglass or carbon-fibre bodies mounted on top, but in its formative years, it was actually based on factory production cars.

Even to this day, the Trans-Am's most famous era was that of 1966 - 1972, when it was bolstered by heavy factory involvement, big-name drivers, and when the cars were actually closely related to what could be bought off the showroom floor. Many of the cars from this era still exist, and although they demand a premium, their enthusiastic owners are happy to get them out and exercise them on a regular basis. More info on Historic Trans-Am can be found at: www.historictransam.com

However, on the other side of the world, in Queensland, Australia, in more recent years another series that celebrates that period of the Trans-Am has also been created; the Australian Trans-Am Association (ATA). The ATA is open to 2-door, 4-seat, rear wheel drive, V8 powered American production vehicles built from 1963 - 1974. ATA rules are based on those of the original SCCA Trans-Am, though with some tweaks to help retain costs, such as a Hoosier cross-ply control tyre, and several engine restrictions to keep horsepower levels down, and preserve the life of drivelines and other components. Wheel size limits are 15" x 8.5". Just as in the SCCA Trans-Am, all ATA races have a rolling start.

With several people from the ATA either members or regular visitors to The Roaring Season, I felt it time we created a dedicated thread for this fast growing category, for anyone interested in the class. So here it is guys.

In the meantime, check out the ATA website: http://www.transamracing.com.au/

[DewiAusTransAm]

MOTOR sport enthusiasts will be treated to thrilling, high speed action when the Tenkate Plant Hire Australian Trans Am Championship roars into action for round four of their series at the Queensland Racing Drivers Championship (QRDC) meeting at Queensland Raceway (QR) this weekend. Although there will be a limited number of competitors on track compared to preceding rounds, spectators should still expect to see plenty of exciting racing coupled with sideways action, smoke and fire.

Current series leader and president of the Australian Trans Am Association, John English attributed a packed calendar as the reason why some competitors are sitting out this weekend. ‘There will be limited numbers at QR this weekend as we have had 3 race meetings in 6 weeks with many cars suffering mechanical and panel damage. Therefore a number of guys have had to park their cars until the next race meeting.’ said English.

Australian Trans Am driver and engine builder, Ian ‘Woody’ Woodward commented that although some drivers will be missing, this round will see some drivers returning to the fold. ‘The 3rd race meet in 6 weeks with a quality field to entertain this weekend at QR. This meeting will see the debut of John Samios’ Ford Mustang which will be another strong runner in the Australian Trans Am series. Martin O’Kane is back with his Chevrolet Camaro along with Terry Carter in the AMC Javelin. In all there are 5 Mustangs, 3 Camaros, a Javelin and a Firebird taking part this weekend. This is still quite a healthy field after all the racing of late,’ said Woodward.

Australian Trans Am regular John Lord is letting his son, Tobias take the wheel this weekend in the ‘Channel Nine’ Camaro. Lord is confident that Tobias can match his performance from his previous outing. ‘The Channel 9 tribute Chevrolet Camaro is back at QR this weekend with Tobias behind the wheel. He’ll be pressing the front runners again, having made 5th overall for the whole weekend at the Lakeside outing. He’s also keen to push up in the standings of the Fataz [Sportsman Series] Competition Trophy too, having won the Lakeside round and now running 4th overall. Tobias is doing well despite this being his fourth race meeting ever,’ said Lord.

The Tenkate Plant Hire Australian Trans Am Championship aspires to celebrate the rich history and tradition of the 1960′s – 1970′s style U.S Trans Am Racing Series, while providing motorsport fans with exciting door-to-door racing action. The Australian Trans Am is one of the more exciting motor racing categories in Australia and is a crowd favourite among spectators. For more information on the Tenkate Plant Hire Australian Trans Am Championship, head to their website at http://www.transamracing.com.au/ or the Australian Trans Am Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SELECTFAB for all updates. If you are interested in seeing photographs from the Tenkate Plant Hire Australian Trans Am Championship head to the Dewi Jones Photography Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/DewiJonesPhotography

Written by: Iwan Jones

[John McKechnie]

I never realized that the Australian Trans-Am was for American production vehicles only

[Steve Holmes]

Yes thats right John, even though the Under 2 litre class cars (which included Porsche's, Lotus Cortina's, Alfa's etc) ran with the Over 2 litre cars up until and including the 1969 season, the ATA was created as a tribute to the O2 class.

[Steve Holmes]

MOTOR sport enthusiasts will be treated to thrilling, high speed action when the Tenkate Plant Hire Australian Trans Am Championship roars into action for round four of their series at the Queensland Racing Drivers Championship (QRDC) meeting at Queensland Raceway (QR) this weekend. Although there will be a limited number of competitors on track compared to preceding rounds, spectators should still expect to see plenty of exciting racing coupled with sideways action, smoke and fire.

Current series leader and president of the Australian Trans Am Association, John English attributed a packed calendar as the reason why some competitors are sitting out this weekend. ‘There will be limited numbers at QR this weekend as we have had 3 race meetings in 6 weeks with many cars suffering mechanical and panel damage. Therefore a number of guys have had to park their cars until the next race meeting.’ said English.

Australian Trans Am driver and engine builder, Ian ‘Woody’ Woodward commented that although some drivers will be missing, this round will see some drivers returning to the fold. ‘The 3rd race meet in 6 weeks with a quality field to entertain this weekend at QR. This meeting will see the debut of John Samios’ Ford Mustang which will be another strong runner in the Australian Trans Am series. Martin O’Kane is back with his Chevrolet Camaro along with Terry Carter in the AMC Javelin. In all there are 5 Mustangs, 3 Camaros, a Javelin and a Firebird taking part this weekend. This is still quite a healthy field after all the racing of late,’ said Woodward.

Australian Trans Am regular John Lord is letting his son, Tobias take the wheel this weekend in the ‘Channel Nine’ Camaro. Lord is confident that Tobias can match his performance from his previous outing. ‘The Channel 9 tribute Chevrolet Camaro is back at QR this weekend with Tobias behind the wheel. He’ll be pressing the front runners again, having made 5th overall for the whole weekend at the Lakeside outing. He’s also keen to push up in the standings of the Fataz [Sportsman Series] Competition Trophy too, having won the Lakeside round and now running 4th overall. Tobias is doing well despite this being his fourth race meeting ever,’ said Lord.

The Tenkate Plant Hire Australian Trans Am Championship aspires to celebrate the rich history and tradition of the 1960′s – 1970′s style U.S Trans Am Racing Series, while providing motorsport fans with exciting door-to-door racing action. The Australian Trans Am is one of the more exciting motor racing categories in Australia and is a crowd favourite among spectators. For more information on the Tenkate Plant Hire Australian Trans Am Championship, head to their website at http://www.transamracing.com.au/ or the Australian Trans Am Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SELECTFAB for all updates. If you are interested in seeing photographs from the Tenkate Plant Hire Australian Trans Am Championship head to the Dewi Jones Photography Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/DewiJonesPhotography

Written by: Iwan Jones

Wow, busy schedule guys! Still a good field though.

[DewiAusTransAm]

4th round of the Tenkate Plant Hire Australian Trans-Am Championship at QR this weekend, a depleted field of 10 cars.. due to the kiwi's trip over, and being the third race meet in six weeks... great day's racing none the less... Tobias Lord, driving his father's Channel 9 Chevrolet Camaro, in his fourth ever race meeting, got pole and two wins today... not a good day for toploaders, with two cars sidelined due to gearbox problems... photos will be posted below

[Steve Holmes]

Here are Dewi's photos from the Saturday ATA action:

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[Steve Holmes]

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[Steve Holmes]

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[DewiAusTransAm]

Great weekend of racing for Round 4 of the 2013 Tenkate Plant Hire Australian Trans-Am Championship at Queensland Raceway.. great racing, with drivers giving racing room to each other, with no major incidents! Also, there was a 100% finishing rate this weekend.. everyone who started the weekend finished it! apart from John English, however he still crossed the finish line in the last race despite gearbox problems.. today's photos will be posted below.. followed by a video later in the week

[Kiwiboss]

Great weekend of racing for Round 4 of the 2013 Tenkate Plant Hire Australian Trans-Am Championship at Queensland Raceway.. great racing, with drivers giving racing room to each other, with no major incidents! Also, there was a 100% finishing rate this weekend.. everyone who started the weekend finished it! apart from John English, however he still crossed the finish line in the last race despite gearbox problems.. today's photos will be posted below.. followed by a video later in the week

Well done Dewi, and thanks for keeping us updated over yonder!!!

Dale M

[DewiAusTransAm]

Photos from today:
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[DewiAusTransAm]

And More:
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[DewiAusTransAm]

And More:
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[DewiAusTransAm]

More photos at 'Dewi Jones Photography' on Facebook.. video coming soon!!

[Steve Holmes]

Photos from today:
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Great work Dewi, these photos are awesome! I like this Mustang, is this new to the series?

[DewiAusTransAm]

Great work Dewi, these photos are awesome! I like this Mustang, is this new to the series?

Yep Steve, John Samios' mustang debuted his stang this weekend, had some toploader problems, but so did many other cars, including john english.. and JE said he needs to get it fixed up by this weekend coming, he is off to the leyburn sprints!!

I think he got down to a 1.23.05 at QR.. but it was his first weekend, still getting used to the car etc.. will be very quick in the future!

[DewiAusTransAm]

Well done Dewi, and thanks for keeping us updated over yonder!!!

Dale M

Thanks Dale.. ready to send off CD's now, just waiting for stickers from woody! sorry to keep you waiting!

[Murray Maunder]

Wow, Dewi is still in final year at school and he's the photography and report guy for ATA. Better make sure he can get over to HD next year for the Ferrari celebration with the Aussie competitors. Let's hope there's still money in people's pockets to do this great reciprocal support deal. Or is it going to be a biannual thing?

[Ellis]

Waiting with bated breath to see if the Trans Am virus spreads down the East Coast of Oz and maybe across to Tassie....can only dream .
Might have to retire the old Humpy and get with the strength...we have a few Mustangs and the odd Camaro running in Tas so maybe should convert /divert them from Grp N to Trans Am spec.
Have a K Code and Boss 302 in shed...might have to go to work on one of them.......:):):D:D

[Steve Holmes]

Yep Steve, John Samios' mustang debuted his stang this weekend, had some toploader problems, but so did many other cars, including john english.. and JE said he needs to get it fixed up by this weekend coming, he is off to the leyburn sprints!!

I think he got down to a 1.23.05 at QR.. but it was his first weekend, still getting used to the car etc.. will be very quick in the future!

Are the stronger Jerico and Tex Racing boxes now allowed in ATA Dewi?

[Frosty5]

Hi Murray, have sent you a PM

[DewiAusTransAm]

Waiting with bated breath to see if the Trans Am virus spreads down the East Coast of Oz and maybe across to Tassie....can only dream .
Might have to retire the old Humpy and get with the strength...we have a few Mustangs and the odd Camaro running in Tas so maybe should convert /divert them from Grp N to Trans Am spec.
Have a K Code and Boss 302 in shed...might have to go to work on one of them.......:):):D:D

Wakefield Park has been cancelled due to a lack of numbers for entrants we had about 8 or 9 confirmed but we needed 12 to have our own grid... once the group further expands, we will have a bigger group to take overseas... stay tuned, the Historic Trans-Am Challenge is only getting bigger.. just search Australian Trans-Am on YouTube and you can see what its all about!

[DewiAusTransAm]

Are the stronger Jerico and Tex Racing boxes now allowed in ATA Dewi?

Was just confirmed by Woody, Jericho transaxle gearboxes are now in!!

[DewiAusTransAm]

here is the highlights video from the 4th round of Australian Trans-Am, the first since the kiwi's visit, at Queensland Raceway.. had a few issues with audio but will fix that for next round in October


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NtCW5fzxEM

[DewiAusTransAm]

Was just confirmed by Woody, Jericho transaxle gearboxes are now in!!

Transmissions** not transaxle hahahaha, just a typo

[Steve Holmes]

Was just confirmed by Woody, Jericho transaxle gearboxes are now in!!

Yeah I can understand this decision. Jerico's are more expensive, but not so much more than a top loader or Muncie, but they're far more reliable.

[TonyG]

http://www.theroaringseason.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=20269&d=1376218848

Love the way this one looks and is presented. Awesome shot Dewi. Would be good on the wall.
Cheers
Tony

Need help please Steve. Suffering from "Old Farts" this morning. Cant get the pic to show. It is the yellow Mustang in the pits.

[Steve Holmes]

Here you go Tony.

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[Ellis]

Parnelli is 80 this year....he would approve no doubt...I know I definitely do....:)


http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/falcongtho/ParnelliBossNo15_zpse172591d.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/user/falcongtho/media/ParnelliBossNo15_zpse172591d.jpg.html)

[TonyG]

Looks awesome

[John McKechnie]

Yeah I can understand this decision. Jerico's are more expensive, but not so much more than a top loader or Muncie, but they're far more reliable.

Thats just Jerrys propaganda. Get the right b b bloke to rebuild them properly.

[John B]

here is the highlights video from the 4th round of Australian Trans-Am, the first since the kiwi's visit, at Queensland Raceway.. had a few issues with audio but will fix that for next round in October

Great video coverage - thanks for sharing. But shame about the atrocious, bloody annoying music (I think it's called music)!

[GD66]

Yeah, unfortunately Dewi I have to agree re the music. I am a frequent griper to other forums (fora?) when for some reason the Poms in particular mix naff music over fruity exhaust tones : their favourite is to defile the music of the V12 Merlin with computer pop : tragic.:mad: For what it's worth, I reckon music works over the intro and even the interviews, but when we're in the car or trackside during the race, the engine noise does it all, for me anyway.
I feel like a bit of a curmudgeon whinging about this, because your camera work and editing, and even more so your enthusiasm for the task, are clearly top-drawer, so please accept this as a constructive criticism, rather than a gripe.
And keep the vids coming, apart from this they tick all the boxes and the TransAm guys are lucky to have you on board.
Well done. :D

[STG69]

I'd agree with the music comments so far, but more importantly applaud your enthusiasm for these cars Dewi.

This car you and your father are building sounds like a fantastic project. You said it would qualify for Nc as well. Does this mean u r running cast heads and are sticking to Nc rules for the brakes etc? I like the idea of being able to run multiple classes but it will make being competitive in trans am hard work. Not impossible though if u look at Russell's 68. He'd be at the pointy end of trans am going by his lap times.

Agree with Steve on the new 69. Looks great and good to see its competitive in its first run.

Cheers
Kyle

Thanks for posting all the pics etc...

[Steve Holmes]

The idea of the Trans-Am/Nc Mustang is a great idea. Means the car can be raced anywhere in Aus, and although ATA is a rapidly growing category, its still predominantly Queensland based. I know part of the reason to build it to Nc spec is so it can race at Bathurst, which is obviously a good reason!

[Steve Holmes]

Parnelli is 80 this year....he would approve no doubt...I know I definitely do....:)


http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/falcongtho/ParnelliBossNo15_zpse172591d.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/user/falcongtho/media/ParnelliBossNo15_zpse172591d.jpg.html)

This is a great photo. What an awesome car! I love those Firestone Indy tyres. They're still available, but very expensive.

[Ellis]

This is a great photo. What an awesome car! I love those Firestone Indy tyres. They're still available, but very expensive.



The Parnelli 70 Trans am cars were Schoolbus Yellow and not Grabber Orange which is often thought and were the old 69's with upgraded sheetmetal to 70 specs...and to top it off were not Boss codes . They were factory M codes which =390 as was Moffats.

Edit....make that 390 read 351 4V...see below

[STG69]

The Parnelli 70 Trans am cars were Schoolbus Yellow and not Grabber Orange which is often thought and were the old 69's with upgraded sheetmetal to 70 specs...and to top it off were not Boss codes . They were factory M codes which =390 as was Moffats.
Correct on the colour and 69/70 upgrade but M stands for 4v 351 not 390 which had reinforced shock towers like the bosses and cobra jets.

[STG69]

Parnelli Jones has often said they (ford) would have won the 69 series if on equal rubber to Donohues Camaro. Firestone must have got something sorted for 70 because the cars had to weigh 3200 lbs up from 2900 lbs in 69.
I guess that's an advantage of control tyres in our current trans am HMC and CMC classes.

[John McKechnie]

The Camaros won because they introduced 4 wheel disc brakes, Ford still had drums on the rear

[STG69]

The Camaros won because they introduced 4 wheel disc brakes, Ford still had drums on the rear

Hi John. I think you may be referring to the 68 season. In 69 they ran Lincoln Continental discs all round.

[John McKechnie]

Aw heck, installed 4 wheel discs and still cant beat those pesky Chevs, tsk, tsk.
There is always a reason why some one wins.
Ford had a hard time with tyres, look at Bathurst and the GTHOs

[Steve Holmes]

Chevrolet didn't need to beat Ford in the 1968 Trans-Am. Ford did a pretty great job of beating themselves, with their powerful but chronically unreliable tunnel-port 302 motors. Shelby Crew Chief Lew Spencer was quoted years later as saying every weekend in the Trans-Am for the factory Mustangs was a 6 engine weekend. The two factory cars would each blow an engine in practice, qualifying, and the race. That was a bit of an exaggeration, they did finish races, but you get his point.

[Ellis]

Correct on the colour and 69/70 upgrade but M stands for 4v 351 not 390 which had reinforced shock towers like the bosses and cobra jets.

Not sure why I wrote 390....knew it was 351...thanks for the correction

[Steve Holmes]

The Parnelli 70 Trans am cars were Schoolbus Yellow and not Grabber Orange which is often thought and were the old 69's with upgraded sheetmetal to 70 specs...and to top it off were not Boss codes . They were factory M codes which =390 as was Moffats.

Yep, the two Bud Moore Mustangs in the '70 Trans-Am were Schoolbus Yellow. I'd be interested to know if Bud Moore got a say in what the colour schemes would be, or if the decision was made at Ford. I've been researching various articles for an upcoming story on the factory Plymouth Cuda's and Dodge Challenger's that ran in the 1970 Trans-Am, and it was Chrysler who told Autodynamics they would run the green coloured Challengers that year. The manufacturers had the final say, and it all came down to marketing.

[STG69]

Steve,
My understanding is that Ford wanted a colour that stood out more for colour TV than what they ran in 69. The rational behind school bus yellow was that it was cheap and stood out! I believe this was Bud Moore's decision.
Look forward to the upcoming article. Those Mopars often qualified well but had more reliability issues than Ford, GM or AMC.
When u say the fords kept blowing engines. Do u know specifically what was letting go? I know the rocker gear was a weak point even in 69/70.

[DewiAusTransAm]

Great video coverage - thanks for sharing. But shame about the atrocious, bloody annoying music (I think it's called music)!

Can completely agree John, that is what I wanted! I tried to put the music in only as a background, so you can hear the tones but the movie program was lagging heaps and it wasn't working.. well definitely have it fixed for last time!!! i'm getting a lot of feedback from different people, will try something different for the next round, which i'm sure you will all like!!!!

Next round was to be Wakefield Park in September but that has been cancelled, it is likely to be replaced by a Lakeside round, but i'm not sure if that is a replacement in september, or an additional round in November or December.. keep checking this thread for more news!!

[DewiAusTransAm]

Yeah, unfortunately Dewi I have to agree re the music. I am a frequent griper to other forums (fora?) when for some reason the Poms in particular mix naff music over fruity exhaust tones : their favourite is to defile the music of the V12 Merlin with computer pop : tragic.:mad: For what it's worth, I reckon music works over the intro and even the interviews, but when we're in the car or trackside during the race, the engine noise does it all, for me anyway.
I feel like a bit of a curmudgeon whinging about this, because your camera work and editing, and even more so your enthusiasm for the task, are clearly top-drawer, so please accept this as a constructive criticism, rather than a gripe.
And keep the vids coming, apart from this they tick all the boxes and the TransAm guys are lucky to have you on board.
Well done. :D

Thanks for that!!, that's basically what the majority of the feedback has been, I've been messing around a bit (with the longer videos + interviews when the HMC was over for QR and Lakeside, to shorter ones... am trying something different again for the next one, which is in september or october, so stay tuned!!

I think the problem for the videos so far is that i'm making it as if I was at the round, heard all the engines roaring, and want to see a review, but I should be (and will be from now on) thinking as if I wasn't there at all, and with these muscle cars.. the noise is what attracts the fans!!!

Your feedback was great!! I first started doing these because I thought.. "i'm going to be at the track anyway (helping out Dad racing his Mustang last year.. we weren't racing this year, but have been building another one to race next year or year after), so I may aswell do something productive while the car is on track and I have nothing to do!!"

[DewiAusTransAm]

I'd agree with the music comments so far, but more importantly applaud your enthusiasm for these cars Dewi.

This car you and your father are building sounds like a fantastic project. You said it would qualify for Nc as well. Does this mean u r running cast heads and are sticking to Nc rules for the brakes etc? I like the idea of being able to run multiple classes but it will make being competitive in trans am hard work. Not impossible though if u look at Russell's 68. He'd be at the pointy end of trans am going by his lap times.

Agree with Steve on the new 69. Looks great and good to see its competitive in its first run.

Cheers
Kyle

Thanks for posting all the pics etc...

That's exactly right.. it was an idea that just popped up about racing Trans-Am and group N... but Dean Neville has proved that to be a success, in a ex Grant Wilson 69 Camaro, he won two races in Trans-Am in one weekend last year (the only weekend it raced) and then dominated the whole Group N field this year at the Bathurst Motor Festival!! I think he got a 2:26 around Bathurst!!

We are still weighing up the option, to be competitive in Trans-Am.. or have the option to race around Australia.. but with the Trans-Am series expanding, who knows, maybe there will be a Trans-Am round at Bathurst in the future!!

[DewiAusTransAm]

Tenkate Plant Hire Australian Trans Am Championship Points (End of Round 4)

1st – John English – 1972 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 - 364 points
2nd – Ian Palmer – 1970 Pontiac Firebird - 220 points
3rd – Tobias Lord – 1974 'Channel 9' Chevrolet Camaro - 169 points
4th – Shane Wilson – 1970 Parnelli Jones Replica Ford Mustang - 165 points
5th – Anthony Tenkate – 1967 Ford Mustang Coupe - 144 points
6th – Nick Paradissis – 1966 Ford Mustang Fastback - 107 points
7th – Shane Cowham – 1967 Ford Mustang Coupe - 81 points
8th – Col Warrington – 1964 Chevrolet Camaro RS - 75 points
9th – Martin O’Kane – 1972 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 - 65 points
10th – Andrew Knight – 1967 Ford Mustang Coupe - 62 points
11th – Johno Hourigan – 1972 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 - 43 points
12th - Harry Charalambous – 1966 Ford Mustang Coupe - 40 points
13th - Michael Grimes – 1969 Chevrolet Camaro LT - 30 points
14th – John Samios –1969 Ford Mustang Fastback - 26 points
15th – Craig Harris – 1970 Ford Mustang - 6 points
16th – John Lord – 1974 'Channel 9' Chevrolet Camaro - 5 points
17th – Mike Collins – 1965 Ford Mustang Coupe - 4 points
18th – Ross Grimes – 1969 Chevrolet Camaro LT - 4 points

[STG69]

That's exactly right.. it was an idea that just popped up about racing Trans-Am and group N... but Dean Neville has proved that to be a success, in a ex Grant Wilson 69 Camaro, he won two races in Trans-Am in one weekend last year (the only weekend it raced) and then dominated the whole Group N field this year at the Bathurst Motor Festival!! I think he got a 2:26 around Bathurst!!

We are still weighing up the option, to be competitive in Trans-Am.. or have the option to race around Australia.. but with the Trans-Am series expanding, who knows, maybe there will be a Trans-Am round at Bathurst in the future!!

Hey Dewi,

What year Stang are you and your father building? I know the ex Wilson mustang you talked about but have not seen it run against Russell Wrights 68 or Fraser Ross's 67. The times these cars can do show there's more than one way to skin a cat so to speak.
Quite impressive really when you think about the added weight compared to transam. Seeing the transam class grow year by year is really positive.
I've spoken in the past to the organiser of the muscle car masters about them being on the grid for one of their meetings. I think there's the usual red tape but he agreed that they are the type of car the crowd want to see..

Wouldn't that be great to have the Transam / Kiwi cars at the MCM and then run Bathurst a few weeks later....

Cheers
Kyle

[John McKechnie]

This what I said in a post on HMC- a real Tasman Cup for real cars.I would be a starter

[DewiAusTransAm]

Hey Dewi,

What year Stang are you and your father building? I know the ex Wilson mustang you talked about but have not seen it run against Russell Wrights 68 or Fraser Ross's 67. The times these cars can do show there's more than one way to skin a cat so to speak.
Quite impressive really when you think about the added weight compared to transam. Seeing the transam class grow year by year is really positive.
I've spoken in the past to the organiser of the muscle car masters about them being on the grid for one of their meetings. I think there's the usual red tape but he agreed that they are the type of car the crowd want to see..

Wouldn't that be great to have the Transam / Kiwi cars at the MCM and then run Bathurst a few weeks later....

Cheers
Kyle

It was a camaro, here are some pics of it: One is him leading the group N field at this years' Bathurst motor festival.. and then leading John and Woody at QR at the end of 2012

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We will probably build to Trans-Am spec, as we originally planned, and wait for Australian Trans-Am to expand.. which it definitely will!! It's only just the beginning, there are big things planned for Trans-Am!

[Rod Grimwood]

Good work Dewi. Young fella, you just keep on doing what you been doing, good on ya. You will get the vids sorted, along with your home work, and helping dad with new car. Don't let your guard down and look sideways at all those girls that will be hanging around, plenty of time later for them to tie you down.

[STG69]

Thanks Dewi, great pics again. I was thinking of a red 69 fastback that used to race transam. I have seen the 69 camaro race in the past with transam. Tough looking car! Look at the size of the field at Bathurst!

[zombie289]

The Camaros won because they introduced 4 wheel disc brakes, Ford still had drums on the rear
Actually 1968 was the first year the T/A Mustangs ran 4 wheel discs....

[John McKechnie]

Discussion started about tyres letting Ford down on post #41.
Just quoting this source-
.camaro-untoldsecrets.com/articles/rpo_jl8.htm
*As it turned out, the four wheel disc brake system is recognized as being one of the largest contributing factors responsible for establishing the Camaro as the 1968 and 1969 TRANS-AM champion and forever into the hearts and minds of Camaro enthusiasts..*
And zombie 289 is correct on 68 T/A running 4 wheel discs, in fact research shows some were being built in December 1967
Just a shame they never fitted rear disc brakes to HK Monaros

[Steve Holmes]

Steve,
When u say the fords kept blowing engines. Do u know specifically what was letting go? I know the rocker gear was a weak point even in 69/70.

It seems to depend on who is telling the story. Vintage Motorsport magazine ran a brilliant multi-part series on the Trans-A series, and said this of the tunnel-port motors in 1968:

".....The general layout of these new heads was derived from the heads Ford supplied for the 427ci big blocks raced in Nascar.

"Instead of curving around the pushrod holes, the intake ports went straight from the manifold to the cylinders. The pushrods were housed in tubes that literally went through the intake ports, ie, a tunnel through the port. This tunnel-port design created less restriction, plus allowed larger intake valves. Topped with a new dual-quad intake manifold, the tunnel-port produced a useful 440hp on the dynamometer.

"Unfortunately, when you raced the tunnel-port V8 on a curvey track and subjected it to high lateral loads, the new heads trapped oil and the engines seized".

However, Lew Spencer, Shelby team manager, when interviewed in the same article, tended to lay blame at the feet of Ford, rather than the design. Thats not to say he liked the design, or thought it could work in a road-racing environment, but he appears to lay blame for the poor reliability on the set-up that Ford and Shelby had going. He said:

"1968 was a bad year. We didn't have any engines. Well, we had the tunnel-port engine, which was a disaster. The tunnel-port engines were built by Ford in Dearborn and shipped to us in a crate. We were not allowed to open the crate without a Ford engineer present. If an engine blew - and the engines blew every time we ran them - it went back in the crate and back to Ford. In 1967, we built our own engines and had not one failure. In 1968, we used Ford's engines and had failures at every race. It was very frustrating".

He later went on to say:

".....even though our paychecks came from Shelby, we felt we were Ford employees. We had Ford engineers working right with us in the Shelby shop. Whenever there was a failure, the Ford guys would run to the phone and call their boss. If the engine failed, the engine engineer would call the engine vice-president and say, "The engine failed, but it was the transmission's fault".

"If the transmission failed, the transmission engineer would call the transmission vice-president and say, "The transmission failed, but it was the engines fault!" We all thought it was pretty funny. But of course, since nobody from Ford ever admitted there was a problem, no problem ever got fixed. So that was kind of sad".

So, reading what Spencer said, it sounds like Shelby were caught in typical large corporation politics, where the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing, and everyone is guarding their own back. Whether Shelby's own guys could have got the tunnel-port motors to run reliably will never be known.

[zombie289]

Lew Spencer also spoke of getting a "Ready to run" engine in a crate from Ford that were missing it's rocker arms! Apparently at the end of the season, Shelbys team built a TP engine behind fords back and It was fine...( I even think IIRC that Kwech won a race with said engine)

[STG69]

Cheers Steve,

Interesting attitude by Ford given the growing importance of winning these races at the time. You'd think reliability would be top of their list seeing the race duration. Hard to win while sitting in the pits!
Thanks for the info.
Zombie - Hard to believe no rocker arms! It must have been assembled late on a Friday afternoon....

[Ellis]

In 68 they (Shelby) were contracted to Ford ,and were not allowed to touch the engines...

Quote Bobby Boxx from from Dave Freidman Trans am Book........

"and we blew 57 of those pieces of junk over the course of the season"

"I had an engine (ford built) hot off the press sitting on the floor and I pulled the valve covers off
and I called one of the engineers over and said...am I supposed to run this piece of shit?. He said Yes
..I said ..There aint any pushrods in it, does that matter any ?

The start of another 6 engine weekend as they used to call them.
The Crew ran bets on which lap the engines were going cut themselves in half.


No wonder they snuck in an in house Shelby built one in the end.

[Steve Holmes]

History has shown that a dedicated race team with factory funding but the freedom to get on with the job is more effective than when an auto manufacturer tries to get directly involved. Even when Ford started out on the GT40 program, they just kept spending money until they achieved success, but there were a lot of mistakes made.

[Ellis]

History has shown that a dedicated race team with factory funding but the freedom to get on with the job is more effective than when an auto manufacturer tries to get directly involved. Even when Ford started out on the GT40 program, they just kept spending money until they achieved success, but there were a lot of mistakes made.

That is so true Steve
With the Mustang Tunnel Ports is sure proves having a great heap of horsepower (up the top end) and little torque leads to having to rev the engines to bits..

One tongue in cheek quote years later was that with a tunnel port on the dyno doing 4000 rpm you could grab the harmonic balancer and stall it.

[zombie289]

That is so true Steve
With the Mustang Tunnel Ports is sure proves having a great heap of horsepower (up the top end) and little torque leads to having to rev the engines to bits..

One tongue in cheek quote years later was that with a tunnel port on the dyno doing 4000 rpm you could grab the harmonic balancer and stall it.
Ive always been mystyfied at why the 302TP was considered so bad, driveability wise... I'm no engineer or race engine guru, but I always thought a BOSS 302 would be heaps worse (for lower & mid range torque) than a TP engine because they have so much more port volume... What am I missing here?// Dale?? Maybe the Boss 302 design just worked a whole lot better. Also the TP race block was basically the same as a Boss 302 IIRC (4 bolt mains etc) , so why were they more prone to exploding at high RPM??

[zombie289]

Cheers Steve,

Interesting attitude by Ford given the growing importance of winning these races at the time. You'd think reliability would be top of their list seeing the race duration. Hard to win while sitting in the pits!
Thanks for the info.
Zombie - Hard to believe no rocker arms! It must have been assembled late on a Friday afternoon....

My bad, Ellis had it right, no pushrods.... may as well have had no rockers though! Its been a while since i thought about TP stuff..sorry

[Murray Maunder]

Now after much shilly-shallying here's a video of the Lakeside weekend - "Thunder By the Lake" to follow up on Dewi's excellent effort.
I can't recall a weekend of motorsport I have enjoyed more, great setting and a camaraderie absent in most forms of motorsport these days. Thanks to the Jones boys of Qld for their help with downloads and in-car cameras and to all the HMC and ATA guys who couldn't have been more approachable and helpful - you guys rock! Thanks also to legend JR and Mike of HealthHouse and anyone else I have forgotten.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3oHPyHQxBs

[DewiAusTransAm]

Quick Trans-Am Update:
Brilliant video by Murray from Lakeside.. I will be posting a video soon.. a bloopers video from the first half of the 2013 trans-am season (including Hampton Downs in January and Queensland Raceway with HMC.. the lakeside round will be included in the 2nd half of the year).. Muscle Car Masters at Eastern Creek this weekend, many trans-am members going down to watch.. one of our association members Dean Neville (His #69 Camaro pictured on this thread already) racing in both Group Nc (in his camaro) and in Touring Car Masters (in a different camaro).. For those on Facebook, the Australian Trans-Am Championship has a new facebook page that will be updated just as regularly as this thread.. because of the same person posting updates (hmmmm).. so if you are on facebook give a like to https://www.facebook.com/pages/Australian-Trans-Am-Championship/473355822762856?fref=ts ... Next round is scheduled for 19/20 October at Queensland Raceway..

[DewiAusTransAm]

Here is the Bloopers Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHZ_ElnmcD8

[DewiAusTransAm]

Below is a preview for the next round, got some new cars debuting next weekend 19/20 October at Queensland Raceway, and John English's Son, Sean taking the wheel of the 72 Camaro with John driving the Barkley-Griffin #43 Mustang.

AFTER a quiet period, the Tenkate Plant Hire Australian Trans Am Championship will be back louder and faster than ever before at round five of their series at the Queensland Racing Drivers Championship (QRDC) meeting at Queensland Raceway on Saturday October 20th and Sunday October 21st, 2013. Compared to the previous round there will be more competitors on track with more than fourteen beautifully prepared American muscle cars set to grace Queensland Raceway with their presence.

Series sponsor, Anthony ‘Ace’ Tenkate is itching to getting back behind the wheel of his 1968 Ford Mustang. “With no racing for almost two months I’m having severe withdrawal symptoms such is my passion for our Trans-am racing series,’ said Tenkate.

Geoff ‘Famous’ Fane is confident that he can take it to series leaders John English and Ian Palmer. ‘The GFR Industries Mustang is back from the wreck at Lakeside and hopefully we can go one or two better this time at Queensland Raceway and push up for a win. After coming from dead last in the third race to third we should be competitive. A good strong qualifying should put us in the right place this time enabling us to compete head to head with English and Palmer,’ said Fane.

Series leader and category president, John English is handing over the controls of his championship car to son, Sean while he will take the wheel of the 43 Barkley-Griffin Mustang. ‘There may [also] be a guest driver in the Craig Harris Mustang. At present we have entries for fourteen cars with a few more expected,’ said English.

The Tenkate Plant Hire Australian Trans Am Championship aspires to celebrate the rich history and tradition of the 1960′s – 1970′s style U.S Trans Am Racing Series, while providing motorsport fans with exciting door-to-door racing action. The Australian Trans Am is one of the more exciting motor racing categories in Australia and is a crowd favourite among spectators.

Written by Iwan Jones

[Steve Holmes]

Nice new website for Australian Trans-Am. Check it out here: http://www.australiantransam.com.au/