This is really great info Nick, and really enjoyable reading. That lightweight motor is interesting. There was a small piece about him announcing he was heading to the US in early 1971 to buy a small block motor to replace the big block. But these wouldn't usually be considered a lightweight motor. The spare 520hp motor mentioned above would surely be a spare big block wouldn't it? The big block in this car was rated at 520hp in the Motorman articles from when the car raced at Bay Park. Then again, the Chaparral Camaros running the Trans-Am in 1970 were getting 470hp from their 5.0 litre small block motors with single 4-barrel. You'd think with a bit of work, and taken out to 6.0 litres, they'd be the equal of the big block for power.

I can see why he suddenly sold the car. It rarely finished a race. Must have been incredibly frustrating. Teams were still learning how to get both power and reliability from stock block V8 motors at this time. So taking a punt on a big block probably made sense, but you can see it can't have been much fun for him in the end with all those dnf's. And I hate to think how much $$$$$ he threw at it.

Bryan Thomson sold his Camaro to Don Elliot in 1971.