Photos: The Bill Sutton Collection

[Steve Holmes]

OK, moving on now, to the 1968 Bryar Trans-Am race. This photo is from the pre-race driver parade, with the various manufacturers getting to showcase their latest showroom offerings.

Its really hard to make out exactly who these two drivers are. I just can't get in close enough to accurately make them out. However, they're riding in the back of a beautiful brand spanking '68 Shelby GT500KR, so I'm guessing they're the two Shelby factory drivers Jerry Titus and Horst Kwech. Actually, that does look a lot like Titus nearest camera.

[Steve Holmes]

Another of the parade lap images from 1968. Nice looking Oldsmobile 88 appears to be carrying AMC Javelin drivers Peter Revson and George Follmer.

[Steve Holmes]

Here is the pace lap, just prior to the rolling start. All Trans-Am races featured rolling starts.

At the head of the queue is factory Mustang driver Jerry Titus, followed by Mark Donohue in the Penske Camaro. Horst Kwech is next in the #2 factory Mustang, with the nose of Peter Revson's factory AMC Javelin just coming into frame.

[Steve Holmes]

This is Peter Revson in one of the two factory AMC Javelins. The AMC project was treated as a bit of a joke by the competition when it was announced they'd be entering the Trans-Am. They weren't known for building performance cars. But Ron Kaplan was in charge of the build and preparation of the team, and ran a tight ship, and the Javelins improved throughout the year. They didn't win a race in 1968, but they took several second place finishes, and ran Ford real close to second in the Manufacturers Championship, coming up just short.

[Steve Holmes]

Here is George Follmer in the other factory Javelin. I like the way they reversed the colour schemes on these two cars.

AMC hired a marketing guy called Jim Jeffords to be their racing president. AMC really wanted to make a visual impact when it came into the Trans-Am, and Jeffords teamed up with Brooks Stevens, an industrial designer and consultant to American Motors, and between the pair of them, they trialed various paint combinations on over 60 Javelin model cars, before agreeing on the bold transverse red, white and blue colour scheme that was finally settled upon.

This colour scheme was then rolled out across all their racing programs over the next several years, from Nascar, drag racing, off-road racing, Indycars, etc, and even included a few road cars, as well as a massive amount of memorabilia. It worked incredibly well in building instant brand recognition.

[Steve Holmes]

Time to resurrect this thread.

This is, of course, Mark Donohue in the Penske Camaro which so dominated the Trans-Am championship in 1968. He won here at Brya, of course, from George Follmer. But after 125 laps, or 250 miles, the blue Penske machine was a full 4 laps ahead! Amazing.

I wrote a very detailed story on this car which you can read here: http://www.theroaringseason.com/show...fair-Advantage

[Steve Holmes]

I love this! In 1968, the Trans-Am still ran the Under 2 and Over 2 classes together. At many events in the early years, the U2 entry outnumbered O2.

This is Bill Brack's awesome Mini Cooper, complete with Hot Wheels sponsorship/signage. Canadian driver Brack contested a handful of Trans-Am races in 1968, and even finished 10th outright at St. Jovite, netting $350 in prize money for his efforts.

Here at Bryar, however, he failed to finish, with the Mini grinding to a halt on lap 76.

Brack went on to much bigger things, eventually making it all the way to Formula 1, driving briefly for Lotus and BRM. He later went on to enjoy success in Formula Atlantic, winning the Canadian championship in 1973, 74, and 75.

[Steve Holmes]

Boy these Shelby Mustangs sure were good looking cars! Jerry Titus in #1, Horst Kwech in #2.

Interestingly, Shelby changed the colour scheme just about every race for the early part of 1968. The cars were red with black hood, yellow with black hood, before eventually settling on this handsome blue that would remain for most of the season.

The tracks back then were so rough, and the factory drivers used to beat the crap out of these things, and they'd require a repaint between races anyway. But rather than keep painting them the same colour, the team instead opted to keep changing it.

[Steve Holmes]

This one looks familiar doesn't it? Craig Fisher in the Pontiac Firebird that has inspired my replica. This was the third race for the car in Firebird guise, following Meadowdale and St. Jovite. But this is its first race in these colours.

I note in the early races with this paint scheme the black paint wrapped cleanly around the openings beneath the bumper, but by the end of the season, the team had just painted the front valance and front spoiler black. The race tracks back then were pretty rough, requiring multiple paint touch-ups between races, with the factory teams usually repainting the entire car. Obviously these guys just decided trying to keep the fancy painting and pinstriping looking good was just too much hassle, and blacked it out.

Fisher failed to finish in this race.

[Steve Holmes]

Mark Donohue gives chase to one of the Shelby Mustangs. Note the spectator cars in the background, and what appears to be nothing separating them from the track.

[Oldfart]

Also note the corner marshalls showing intense interest in the racing

[ERC]

Corner marshals also do not appear to be holding flags. NZ/UK the norm used to be that the one facing the action had a blue ready and the one facing the opposite direction had a yellow ready. Maybe these aren't flag marshals?

[Grant Sprague]

Well thats the way it was , even in NZ about that era give or take a few , no seat belts [Ruapuna , Brent Hawes] , Teretonga , sheep trucks as grand stands etc etc , also remember a meeting at Taupo a car slid into the pine trees the poor guy being pinned by a branch . we seem to learn from it all ......we are getting better at it .

[khyndart in CA]

One would have thought that after Horst Kwech's tragic accident at the 1969 Trans Am race at Michigan Speedway where his Mustang slid off the track and struck several spectators, killing one, that spectator safety would be a priority.

Horst Kwech accident scene. (Ron Lathrop photo )
"The group of cars in the picture is led by George Follmer's Ford Mustang, followed by Dick Brown's Pontiac Firebird, Mark Donohue's Chevrolet Camaro and Peter Revson's Ford Mustang, while marshals wave yellow flags."
(Note the lack of barriers between the track and the spectators !)

[seaqnmac27]

Steve, St Jovite 1968

[seaqnmac27]

[seaqnmac27]

[seaqnmac27]

[seaqnmac27]

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks for the vids Sean. The AMC ones are particularly slick, and incredibly clear and sharp for the era.