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The SCCA Trans Am series achieved iconic status in the late 1960s and early 70s. On this episode of “Jay Leno’s Garage,” Jay Leno, NASCAR commentator Mike Joy, and historic driver Ken Epsman take a look at some of the cars that made the Trans Am era of racing so special. We learned a bit about the history of Trans Am racing along the way.
Trying to expand beyond amateur racing with a pro series, SCCA launched Trans Am in 1966. This series initially featured modified production cars in two classes: cars with engine displacements of less than 2.0 litres, and cars with engines larger than 2.0 litres. 0 liters but capped at 5.0 liters or 305 cubic inches.
The latter created an opening for Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, and AMC to field their pony cars, which were just hitting the market at the time. Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger, Plymouth’ Cuda, and AMC Javelin all raced in the factory-supported Trans Am series during this golden age, which continued until 1972. After that, regulatory changes removed Trans Am from production. -formula based.
A 1971 AMC Javelin Trans Am race car in Jay Leno’s Garage
Missing from that list is the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, which was named after the series, but fell out of competition because its engine exceeded the maximum capacity of 5.0 liters stipulated by the rules. The Firebirds raced in Trans Am, albeit with less consistent factory support than the Camaros, and GM paid SCCA a $5 fee for every Firebird Trans Am road car sold. For a while, it was SCCA’s biggest source of income, Joy notes in the video.
What makes the Trans Am race cars stand out is their resemblance to road cars. The original rules required stock body shells and powertrains, which made racing exciting and spawned classic homologation specials such as the Ford Mustang Boss 302 and the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28. The cars were driven by famous drivers such as Dan Gurney and Mark Donohue, making the Trans Am series even bigger in its day than NASCAR, which is still largely popular only in the South, Joy said.
The rules forced some interesting solutions, such as the massive oil pan on the Ford Mustang shown here (since dry sumps are illegal), or the use of a basic front fascia on a 1970 racer Camaro instead of the fancier Rally Sport version to save weight. . Not all of them are stock—the Camaro uses the Chevy Impala’s rear axle to extend its track width—but at least the cars look that way.
While “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” remains a viable strategy, this makes Trans Am an important marketing tool for automakers. That’s especially true of AMC, which partnered first with Kaplan Engineering, then Penske Racing, and finally the Roy Woods team in an all-encompassing effort to promote the Javelin as an alternative to the Detroit Three pony car. Those efforts scored titles in 1971 and 1972, giving AMC and the Javelin brief moments of glory.
The video ends like most Leno videos, by driving up in one of the cars. In this regard, the No. 1 Ford Mustang. The 1966 89 was originally raced by Jim Whelan. It’s a pleasure to hear the 289 with a GT40 head in action on the road.
The Trans Am series still exists today, but race cars don’t have much in common with road cars, and the series has been overshadowed in the US by races such as NASCAR, Formula 1, IndyCar and IMSA. But the cars from the 1966-1972 era are still icons.
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