The Roaring Season

When I read this old article I nearly fell out of my cheer laughing !
So if any of you NZ HMC scrutineers see John McKecknie show up with a white car and a vinyl roof do check it carefully !
(Just kidding John !)
I hope this is readable.







( Ken Hyndman )...Sorry I could not get it clearer to read.

I found this interesting about a Pontiac Firebird / Camaro driven by Jerry Titus in 1968.
Also the comments at these sites make for interesting reading.


http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/12/08/jerry-titus-daytona-class-winning-trans-am-pontiac-firebird-heads-to-auction/

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/02/04/hemmings-find-of-the-day-1968-pontiac-firebird/

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2015/05/19/racing-heroes-jerry-titus/




(Ken Hyndman )
p.s. Would I be incorrect for thinking that Jerry Titus reminds me a lot of NZ's Ken Smith ?)

Looks like a young Red Dawson to me Ken!

Thanks Grant for putting me straight. They were all true warriors of the sport.
Hey, great win for Toyota at Daytona today.



(Ken Hyndman )

In 1966 the US had the beginnings of a Trans-Am series and the under 2 litre races were well supported. Alfa Romeo GTA's, Lotus Cortinas, Minis, BMW and Volvo were some of the foreign competition. Sir John Whitmore drove a Alan Mann Lotus Cortina along with Jackie Ickx. Brock Yates drove a Dodge Dart !
Well known artist, the late George Bartell, captured this scene from 1966.

(this one is for you Bruce D.. Spgeti.)






( Ken Hyndman..scrapbook )

1966 advertisement for Ford Cortina's in the US.



Note the price for a Lotus Cortina back then....If only !








(KJH)

I was recently reading an article regarding the 1969 Penske Camaro driven by Mark Donohue, from this magazine.

One of the quotes mentioned the use of Traco engines.

"TRACO ENGINEERING has full charge of the engines, Penske owns six: two in the cars, two spares, and two at the shop being overhauled. One race only, between overhauls."

This reminded me of when I went to the Traco Engineering facility in 1982-83 near Los Angeles Airport.
(This was their business card at the time )




(Ken Hyndman )

Traco Engineering started when Jim Travers and Frank Coon partnered together using their surnames to create TRACO.
When I stopped in Jim Travers was very friendly and showed me around their very humble but legendary machine shop.
It was on Jefferson Boulevard in Culver City which was also known as "Thunder Alley." I think the cops turned a blind eye to what went on at this street ! People such as Lance Reventlow in his Scarab, James Garner, Dick Guildstrand plus Iskendarian cams and Edelbrock were all known to test their cars and engines along this street.
Sadly Jim Travers died last month at the age of 95 but his engine work will long be remembered.
I found this article in a 1966 Sports Car Graphic magazine which I will try to share with you.
As you can see it was a pretty inconspicuous building and surroundings in this 1966 photo and it still looked much the same when I showed up in the early eighties.



This was a typical scene in the sixties with Frank Coon checking out a Lance Reventlow Scarab outside Traco's "back door" off "Thunder Alley."
(Jerry Entin photo )








(Ken Hyndman )

Traco Engineering continued.

Frank Coon and Jim Travers at work on another engine.


Jim Travers had very fond memories of Bruce McLaren and all the team members that would come and work at the shop.
This photo shows Howden Ganley at work on the unsuccessful Ford V-8 engine that Bruce used in his first F1 McLaren car in 1966.











(Ken Hyndman )

In 1969 Roger Penske's Trans Am Camaro had Traco engines and here are some of the specs. for that car.
(Car Life magazine. 1970)


Note also Penske used the English Minilite wheels. These permanent mold magnesium designs proved to be strong, light and cheaper than American designs at the time.
They needed to be tough as you can see by the top and bottom photos that racing was not easy at tracks like Riverside !








(Ken Hyndman )

Here is a 1969 ad for an exhaust header system developed by Jere Stahl's company and tested by Smokey Yunick and Traco and installed on the Penske Camaro.








(Ken Hyndman )

In 1969 when the Penske Camaro came in for a pit stop, the car was set up in different areas to make the stop as quick and easy as possible for the pit crew.
To make tyre changing easier they had a special lug nut holder that allowed all five nuts to be started at once, with an air wrench to tighten them down. Tyre changes were in the 20 second category, and that was fast even by NASCAR standards.


To make fuel filling easier the car had a huge fuel tank filler neck with a spring loaded trap door, which allowed a flow of five gallons per second. Parallel operating Carter impeller fuel pumps delivered fuel to the engine.


To avoid working under the hood on a hot engine during pit stops the Penske team devised an ingenious method to top off the oil and coolant.
Pressure connections on both the radiator and crankcase allowed water and oil to be added to a running engine during frantic pit stops. A pressurized canister was snapped on to this receptacle, and then air pressure injected fluid into the engine.
The special coolant connection near the radiator is shown.

Engine oil was added from inside the car at a connection to the left of the steering wheel. ( See photo)
(photos from 1970 Car Life magazine )




All this helped towards Mark Donohue winning the 1969 Trans-Am Championship in the Penske Camaro.
Was this the beginning of what others claimed was Penske's "Unfair Advantage" or did the team just make the most of what the rules allowed ?
What do you think ?





(Ken Hyndman )

Here is a 5 minute YouTube video of a July 6, 1969 Donneybrooke Raceway Brainerd, Minnesota. Trans American Road Racing.
I remembered the Red Mustangs were the Bud Moore Team and the Blue Mustangs were the Shelby Team.
The video spends almost as much time on the crowd as the race but it still is a reminder of life back then at a US race track.

[video=youtube;tn0OOSQPXT8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn0OOSQPXT8[/video]




( Ken Hyndman )

Great articles on Traco and the Penske Camaros Ken. Thanks for the Alfa, Cortina poster. Its been added to my collection.

Cheers
Bruce

928
Reminded me of my visit to Westwood Raceway which was located on the Coquitlam area in NE Vancouver, Canada. It has now gone due to urban development but it was the hub of racing for Vancouver from 1959 to it's closing in 1990. It was less than 2 miles long but it had some good young drivers compete there mainly in Formula Atlantic races. e.g. Keke Rosberg,Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan, Michael Andretti, Gilles Villeneuve and a very young Greg Moore (another talented Cart driver who died very early )plus others.
Stirling Moss promoted the circuit in 1966.

[video=youtube;SY1v1HXNo1s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY1v1HXNo1s[/video]

(Ken Hyndman. More to follow )

Ken, i wonder if that was before during or after Moss was married to one of the Carlson brewery family


edit to change
think that should be Molson not Carlson but it was a long time ago that I got her autgraph in Rotorua

I went to a Club/Classic race meeting at Westwood when I was staying in Vancouver for a period 1982-83.
Very picturesque track and, if I remember rightly, it had a corner called "Deers Leap" where spooked deers would regularly try to cross the track during races. Quite a challenge for drivers I was told and a few accidents occurred, but most seemed aware of the possibility.
I took a few shots of the racing, but didn't really have any decent gear with me. Some really nice cars entered of all classes.

A favorite at Westwood was a driver named Laurie Craig. Laurie was a New Zealander who emigrated to Canada and did well at this track. (Does anyone know Laurie ?)





The last race of the day at a Westwood meet was a true All-comers field. It must have been scary with the speed difference !




(Ken Hyndman )

July 9th 1972.
My ticket into Westwood Circuit was by helping Wray Nixon's crew in preparing the Nixon Auto Minis. (I stood around and watched others do all the work. I am known around the world as being an expert at that !) Wray in red cap on the left.

(Ken Hyndman photo )

The main race of the day was a Canadian Formula B race.

(Oldracingcars.com)
I liked the look of the March 722 driven by Ric Forest.


Ric Forest in his March 722 rounding the Westwood Hairpin toward the end of a damp race.
Note the opening in the trees which was created by a Mustang that went off there the day before !
(Ken Hyndman photo )

Ric Forest after the race in his March 722, followed by John Powell in his Chevron B 18.
Note the tyres for the damp track. No slicks today.
(Ken Hyndman photo )

July 9 th. 1972. Westwood. BC Canada.
The race winner that day was Craig Hill driving a Lotus 69 with a Ford Twin Cam Hart engine.

(Behind the winner's flag is Craig Hill ! )

Ken Hyndman photo.

Here is some engine information.


Notes:
(1) Engine restrictions are one of the main differences between racing classes.

F2: from 1967 through 1971, Formula Two cars were permitted to run 1.3 to 1.6 liter engines. By far the most popular and successful 1.6 liter F2 engine was the Cosworth FVA which featured gear-driven dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder, atop a four cylinder Ford Cortina engine block. Generally featuring Lucas mechanical fuel injection, these engines typically gave at least 220bhp at 9000 rpm. From 1972, 2.0 liter production-based engines such as the Cosworth BDA (shown above) were allowed.

F3: Formula Three cars were restricted to one liter displacement engines through 1970. Their highly tuned and highly strung little engines screamed as they produced about 125bhp. Starting in 1971, F3 teams were allowed to use larger (1.6 liter) engines if 20mm induction restrictor plates were fitted. The Lotus/Ford Twin Cam seemed like the motor to have. Four throttle bodies would typically draw air from a common plenum. Air entered the plenum through a single inlet. Clever teams realized this inlet should be a "converging/diverging nozzle" and that the geometry of its construction was important. In actual racing conditions, the original 20mm restriction was soon found to be too small. The newly allowed 1600cc engines were only producing about 110bhp! (The cars were about four seconds per lap off their previous pace, which wasn't the intent of the rules.) In mid-August of 1971, the rules were altered and the diameter of the air inlet restriction increased from 20mm to 21.5mm, where it stayed through 1973.

FF: by class rules all Formula Fords used essentially stock versions of the 1600cc Ford engine, with Weber downdraught carburetor, iron crossflow cylinder head, and single camshaft operating valves via pushrods. In this era, a very well prepared Formula Ford engine would produce 105bhp at ~5900rpm.


(2) Chassis number 71-69-5FB shouldn't be confused with chassis number 71-69-5F2, which was Emerson Fittipaldi's Cosworth FVA powered, semi-monocoque chassis Formula Two car for 1971. Incidentally, Lotus built twelve cars with "71-69-xFB" chassis numbers, versus seven cars with "71-69-xF2" chassis numbers. In both cases, "71" in the chassis number designated build year 1971. Lotus is generally believed to have also built seven Type 69 Formula Two cars in 1970; their chassis numbers followed the pattern "69.F2.x".



Here is a site with interesting information on the Craig Hill Lotus 69.

http://www.britishracecar.com/KyleKaulback-Lotus-69.htm





(Ken Hyndman )