1970 Trans-Am Championship

[Steve Holmes]

Other than a brief hiatus between 2007-09, the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Trans-American Sedan Championship has run non-stop since 1966. But, despite its longevity, the series has never quite managed to rediscover the giddy heights it enjoyed between 1967-70.

1967 saw a full-blown Ford effort through a two-pronged Ford Mustang/Mercury Cougar attack, while General Motors provided unofficial support to Roger Penske’s Camaro team. Mercury withdrew in 1968, but was replaced by a two-car American Motors Javelin team which produced some good results, if not race wins. Craig Fisher entered a Firebird fitted with a Chevy motor, and this became a quasi-factory effort when Canadian Terry Godsall became involved. Frustrated by the disastrous season he was having with Ford, ’67 Trans-Am champion Jerry Titus hopped into a second Godsall Firebird for the final 1968 race.

Ford stepped up their efforts in 1969, financing a pair of two-car factory Mustang teams for Carroll Shelby and Bud Moore, and along with factory efforts from Pontiac, Chevrolet, and American Motors, most Trans-Am races throughout the ’69 season boasted at least ten factory cars duking it out.