Tag Archives: Penske

Changing The Numbers Around Again – Chevrolet Camaro Z/28

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In 1968 Roger Penske’s Trans Am team turned up at the Sebring 12 hours with two Trans Am spec Z/28 Camaro’s one a lightweight car that had been very successful in 1967, and the other a new car that had not had a weight saving acid bath.

Mark Donohue is reported as saying the Penske Team put the heavy #15 car through tech inspection first and then went back to their garage and swapped the #15 decals for #16 decals on the heavy car and put the car through tech inspection again.

Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, Concours on the Avenue, Carmel By The Sea

Having successfully pulled off this stunt for tech inspection Mark says the process was successfully repeated again during qualifying so that both the Penske driving crews qualified using the single lightweight car, which allegedly never went through tech inspection.

I believe Mark and Canadian Craig Fisher then drove the lightweight #15 Penske Godsall Camaro to a third place finish from 13th on the grid 6 laps behind two works prototype Porsche 907’s while the heavy #16 Penske Hilton Camaro driven by Joe Welch and Bob Johnson with Craig also taking a stint behind the wheel finished 4th from 17th on the grid 10 laps down.

Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, RMMR, Laguna Seca

Penske pulled off a remarkable feat and the SCCA deserved their comeuppance because as can be clearly seen from this linked period photo showing the Penske team cars bore different logo’s on the front wing panels Penske Hilton Racing for the #15 and Penske Godsall Racing for the #16 as seen in this photo.

It should also be noted that the acid dipped lightweight car can be distinguished by the absence of side marker lights which were mandated for US road vehicles in 1968 as described in paragraph six of this linked article.

Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, Concours on the Avenue, Carmel By The Sea

Evidence that the race numbers were swapped between the subtly different cars during the meeting is confirmed by this linked photograph from the Revs Institute showing the #15 running with Penske Godsall sponsorship on the front wing and without the side marker lights, and in this second linked photo from Car and Driver clearly showing a #16 during a pit stop with the ’68 side marker lights.

Today’s featured Camaro is believed by the owner to have been the 14th Z/28 to have been built, rolling off the assembly line on December 30th 1966 and into the Gorries Chevrolet-Olds, LTD dealership in Toronto where, the son of the GM-Euclid distributor for eastern Canada, Terry Godsall purchased it.

Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, Concours on the Avenue, Carmel By The Sea

The owner believes this car was raced for Terry Godsall by Craig Fisher and followed Craig to the Penske Team mid way through 1967, he also believes this is the lightweight car Craig and Mark Donohue drove to 3rd place overall and a well deserved class win at Sebring in 1968.

After Sebring the car returned to Godsall in Canada is believed to have appeared in Trans Am events up until 1972, the current owner identified the car as the much raced lightweight Camaro by an obviously acid dipped wing / fender, an unusual rear axle housing which turned out to be one of only 22 and a one off brake master cylinder that had been shipped by GM to Penske for the Penske Godsall Racing Camaro.

Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, Concours on the Avenue, Carmel By The Sea

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photo’s taken at Carmel by the Sea Concours on the Avenue and the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion a couple of years ago, note the engine shown is not in the same car as seen at Carmel by the Sea.

Thanks for joining me on this “Changing The Numbers Around Again” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for FIAT Friday. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS I hope you will join me in wishing Geoffrey Best Wishes and a Happy Birthday today !

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’69 Spoiler – Chevrolet Camaro Z/28

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No sooner had Chevrolet announced the arrival of it’s Camaro model in 1967 to compete against Ford’s Mustang than racers in the USA were lining up to challenge the Mustang’s hegemony in the Trans Am series with the 302 cui / 5 litre Z/28 variant like the example seen here at a Silverstone Classic Press Day a couple of years ago.

Among those racing Z/28’s in 1967 way Bobby Brown whom records show raced a Penske Z/28 with George Wintersteen and Joe Welch in the 1967 Daytona 24 hours where they qualified 22nd but retired.

Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, Silverstone Classic Test Day,

Bobby also raced a Robert Chevrolet entered Z/28 in the 1967 Sebring 4 Hour race in which he finished 6th from 9th on the grid.

Records show Bobby racing a Z/28 on two further occasions at Lime Rock in 1967 winning his class in a SCCA event in mid May.

Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, Silverstone Classic Test Day,

Today’s featured car is believed to have been raced by Bobby in 1967 before being shipped to the UK in 1968 where Malcolm Wayne drove it in the British Saloon Car Championship the following season Mike Kearon did likewise.

In 1970 the car went to Bill Davis Racing where it was part of a two car stable that included a Z/28 built from scratch that was driven by Roy Pierrepont.

Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, Silverstone Classic Test Day,

Adrian Chambers acquired the car in 1971 for his SCA Freight team that was joined midway through the season by Australian Frank Gardner who won two British Saloon Car Championship races with it.

Frank also raced the car in a couple of rounds of the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft 1972 finishing a best 2nd at Diepholz.

Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, Silverstone Classic Test Day,

After it was replaced in the SCA team by a second generation Camaro Frank had today’s featured car sent first to New Zealand and then to Australia where he raced it into 1973.

John Pollard appears to have been responsible for fitting the larger ’69 spec rear spoiler in preparation for his entry into Australian Super Sedan races somewhere around 1976.

Thanks for joining me on this “’69 Spoiler” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Spoiler Homologation Special – AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue Edition

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The AMC Javelin was AMC’s iron in the Pony Car fire to compete against the Mustang, Cougar, Camaro, Firebird and the last entries into the Pony market segment the Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Barracuda on offer from the big three in Detroit, it was styled and developed by Richard A Teague and launched in 1968.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Short of resources the Javelin was developed from the 1966 AMX and AMX II concept cars and only offered with the two door semi fast back body style powered by one of three engine options all of which could be specified to burn either regular octane or premium octane fuel.

02AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue_8516sc

Despite not having a competition department, any technical support, performance parts or even a test facility of any kind AMC approached Ron Kaplan and Jim Jeffords of Kaplan Engineering to run two Javelins in the SCCA Trans Am series, in 1968.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

The team with drivers George Follmer and Peter Revson who got replaced half way through the season by Lothar Motschenbacher finished a commendable 3rd with an enviable record for getting their cars to the finish.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Kaplan ran the team again in 1969 with Ron Grable and John Martin who like Revson was replaced mid season by Jerry Grant, things between AMC were not so smooth second time round which was compounded by budget cuts that saw Kaplan take all of AMC’s inventory from their workshop to AMC’s zone office in El Segundo, California at the end of the season.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

AMC did a deal with Roger Penske for the 1970 season who with the aid of Mark Donohue picked up the pieces and developed them in Pennsylvania into a more competitive package.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

In order to run with the duck tail spoiler Mark had developed for the Trans Am race programme AMC built 2,501 Javelin SST Mark Donohue Editions that included the spoiler, a 5.9 litre / 360 cui motor and a variety of other options that makes these cars easy to replicate and difficult to verify in the absence of a specific vehicle identification code.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Mark was joined by Peter Revson and the team finished 2nd to Bud Moore’s Ford team in the 1970 Championship, before going on to win both the 1971 and ’72 Trans Am championships with the second generation Javelin.

AMC Javelin SST Mark Donohue, Goodwood Festival Of Speed,

Today’s featured 1970 Mark Donohue edition belongs to Klass Van Dijk who was so impressed with a 1974 AMC Gremlin he bought in the 1990’s that he founded the Rambler AMC Museum in Berlikum, Holland which now houses more than 50 AMC’s, a small collection of Chevrolet Corvair’s of the type his father drove and an eclectic mix of other vehicles.

Thanks for joining me on this “Spoiler Homologation Special” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t for get to come back now !

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Pursuing The Unfair Advantage – Penske Cosworth PC3

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After Mark Donohue drove his Penske PC1 to a 5th place finish in the 1975 Swedish Grand Prix Roger Penske, forever pursuing an unfair advantage, gave Geoff Ferris the go ahead to build a new car and ordered a March 751 for Mark to drive in the interim.

Penske PC3, Silverstone Classic

Mark finished 5th from 15th on the grid in the March on it’s debut at the 1975 British Grand Prix, retired with a damaged tyre on lap 1 of the German Grand Prix and then succumbed to injuries received from an accident during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix.

Penske PC3, Silverstone Classic

Skipping the Italian Grand Prix Penske returned to the fray at the 1975 United States with today’s featured car the Penske PC3 chassis #PC3/01 and John Watson as his new driver.

Penske PC3, Chris Drake, Silverstone Classic

With it’s shovel nose the 3 litre / 183 cui Cosworth V8 powered PC3 bears some resemblance to the March 751 which Mark crashed in Austria however it retained the rear suspension layout of the PC1, and was, aside from it’s tall airbox, fully compliant with new regulations that would be mandated from May 1976.

Penske PC3, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

John qualified 12th for the 1975 US Grand Prix, but after a misfire was detected swapped over to take the start of the race in the older PC1 in which he finished 9th.

Penske PC3, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

#PC3/01 was raced on four occasions in 1976 with John scoring the models best finish in South Africa with a fifth place finish from 3rd on the grid.

Penske PC3, Silverstone Classic

But even as the team was celebrating it’s improved qualifying form Geoff was working away on the new PC4 which made it’s debut at the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix.

Unlike #PC3/01 the second PC3 #PC3/02, in which John retired from each of his three starts, was immediately sold on and had a second career in the 1976 and 1977 British Shellsport Group 8 Championships, Derek Bell drove the car to a win at Oulton Park in April 1977.

Today’s featured car is seen at a recent Silverstone Classic meeting with Chris Drake at the wheel.

Thanks for joining me on this “Pursuing The Unfair Advantage” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Volvo powered Marcos. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Cracked Exhaust – Broadley T76 Continuation

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A month before the 1969 Daytona 24 Hours Roger Penske took delivery of a brand new Lola T70 Mk3b GT chassis #SL76/139.

Under driver Mark Donohue’s guidance the team worked 18 hours a day in the run up to the race preparing the car and it’s fuel injected 5 litre / 302 cui Traco Chevrolet motor of the endurance classic.

Broadley T76 Continuation, Autosport International, NEC Birmingham,

Chuck Parsons and Mark qualified the immaculately prepared royal blue with gold pinstripes #6 2nd on the grid, alongside a factory Porsche 908 driven by Vic Elford and Brian Redman.

Mark and Chuck dropped back to seventh in the race with fuel pick up problems and then lost an hour while the cracked exhaust was repaired.

Broadley T76 Continuation, Autosport International, NEC Birmingham,

Despite these problems and with the Porsche’s having a myriad of issue’s of their own including cracked exhausts the #6 came through to take the checkered flag by 30 laps from the older #8 American International Racing, actor James Garners AIR team, Lola T30 Mk3 GT driven by Ed Leslie and Lothar Motschenbacher.

For the Sebring 12 Hours, #SL76/139’s final legal race appearance, the fuel injection was replaced by carburetors and Mark was joined by Ronnie Bucknum and the pair qualified 2nd alongside a Ferrari 312 P driven by Chris Amon and Mario Andretti.

Broadley T76 Continuation, Autosport International, NEC Birmingham,

During the race the Penske entry and Sportscars Switzerland Mk3b, driven by Swedes Ulf Norinder and Jo Bonnier
retired with broken radius arm mountings.

After the race the two Penske team members taking the Lola back to the Penske shop in Philadelphia made an overnight stop at a motel in Daytona Beach and awoke the next morning to find their truck and car along with two race motors had all been stolen.

Broadley T76 Continuation, Autosport International, NEC Birmingham,

The car was found within 48 hours with the engine, wheels and other parts removed evidently without much mechanical sympathy and the perpetrators were apprehended and arrested by Police acting on a paid for tip off from a stooge in Maryland a month or so later.

Penske had chassis #SL76/139 repaired by a third party and afterwards his shop fitted a stock 350 Chevy and sold the car as a street car, still painted dark blue with gold pinstripes to a chap in California known as Wolfman.

Broadley T76 Continuation, Autosport International, NEC Birmingham,

Wolfman and his mates founded a group of unsanctioned racers called “Banzai Runners” who had a penchant for running at a 150 mph on the LA freeways at 3:30 am.

Wolfman is variously described by those who knew of him as a some sort of record producer, covert LAPD drug squad officer with the Daytona winning Lola a part of his cover and being owned covertly by the LAPD, and yet another as a busted pot dealer who did some kind of deal to stay out of jail.

Broadley T76 Continuation, Autosport International, NEC Birmingham,

Wolfman was last seen driving a Ford Mustang and what became of #SL76/139 remains a mystery, one has to wonder how many car sleuths have had a go at trying to locate such a well known vehicle.

Curiously James Garners AIR chassis #SL73/117 was used as a cop car in the George Lucas film THX 1138 and was then also converted to road use for Dan McLoughlin.

Today’s featured car which is painted up to look like the ’69 Daytona winner is a Broadley T76 Continuation manufactured, with Eric Broadley’s blessing and eligible to race in FIA sanctioned historic events, by Broadley Automotive.

My thanks to everyone who contributed to the “Penske Lola Coupé” thread of The Nostalgia Forum.

Thanks for joining me on this “Cracked Exhaust” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for “Ferrari Friday” tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Beast Of Surbiton – Cooper Monaco T61P

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In 1962 Bruce McLaren raced the rear 4 cylinder Coventry Climax engined Cooper Monaco T61 for the first time. It is not clear if the first appearance was in Canada where there was an entry but no known result or in the USA where Bruce finished 4th in the Riverside Grand Prix.

Cooper Monaco T61P, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The following year an improved Cooper Monaco ‘T61M’ was raced by 1959 Le Mans winner Roy Salvadori driving for CT Atkins to at least five wins in 1963.

Cooper Monaco T61P, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Roger “The Captain” Penske and Skip Hudson had Chevrolet V8’s fitted to their 61M’s and each won at least one race towards the end of of ’63 and early ’64 respectively, while the real T61M success story was Carrol Shelby who bought two T61M’s and fitted them with Cobra 289 V8’s and called them King Cobra’s one of which Dave McDonald drove to win the 1963 USRRC Pro Sports Car Championship.

Cooper Monaco T61P, Micheal O'Shea, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

For 1964 CT Atkins and Roy Salvadori hatched a plan to build a T61 and fit a Maserati Tipo 151 5 litre 302 cui V8. This car became the unique T61P Cooper Maserati featured today.

Cooper Monaco T61P, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Too cope with the expected 430hp the teams mechanic Harry Pearce strengthened the chassis by welding and riveting a 20 guage steel sheet to the underside of the chassis frame.

Cooper Monaco T61P, Silverstone

Just as with the original Cooper Monaco T61 the debut of the T61P is unclear some sources show the car started at Oulton Park in 1964 but the result is unknown others show Roy drove the car to a second place finish at the 16th International Trophy meeting run at Silverstone.

Cooper Monaco T61P, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The Roy drove the T61P to victory in the 1964 Whitsun trophy at Goodwood and his only other result was a third place finish in the 1964 British Grand Prix meeting at Brands Hatch. After two further retirements CT Atkins closed his team down.

Contemporary accounts all describe the handling of the T61P as wild, possibly due to the weight of the 20 guage steel under tray and absence of any suspension geometry adjustments to compensate.

The car has since had it’s handling sorted and is seen above at this years Goodwood Festival of Speed with owner Micheal O’Shea at the wheel.

Thanks for joining me on this “Beast Of Surbiton” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Scratched Entry – Lola T70 SL70/13

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In 1955 aged just 15 John Mecom Jr went to work for one of the wealthiest independent oil men in Texas and indeed the world, namely his father John Whitfield Mecom Snr. By 1960 Jr had dropped out of University of Oklahoma, but was kept busy negotiating oil deals in the middle east and founding the Mecom Racing Team.

Lola T70, Silverstone Classic

The Mecom Racing Team ran sports cars for the likes of a young Roger Penske and Augie Pabst, a one off open wheel Formula One Lotus for Rob Schroeder in 1962, before running rookies Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill at the Indy 500 in 1966. Graham won the race which had been dominated by Jackie until 8 laps from the end.

Lola T70, Silverstone Classic

Today’s featured Lola T70, which I believe is chassis SL70/13, is one of at least three T70’s that were owned by the Mecom Racing Team. So far as I know the car was driven by Walt Hangsen in qualifying for the 1965 Las Vegas 200 mile race during which Walt crashed and seriously damaged the Ford 4.7 litre / 286 cui powered car after qualifying 6th fastest.

Lola T70, Jones, FIA Masters Historic Sports Cars, Silverstone Classic

As a result of the accident the Mecom Racing Team scratched their entries for this car and the sister chassis SL70/12, which was to have been driven by Jackie Stewart, from the 1965 Nassau Speed Week.

Lola T70, Silverstone Classic

Alongside his racing activities John Mecom Jr founded the New Orleans Saints football, grid iron, team in 1966 and wound up the Mecom Racing Team in 1967.

SL70/13 eventually found its way to the UK where Colin Parry-Williams raced it with a 5 litre / 302 cui Chevy motor in the 1980’s and 1990’s.

Howard Jones is seen at the wheel of SL70/13, now powered by a 5.7 litre / 328 cui motor, about to take part in the FIA Masters Historic Sports Cars race at Silverstone Classic above. Howard acquired the car in 2006.

Thanks for joining me on this “Scratched Entry” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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