1967 Cam Am on youtube shows the 1967 cherokee camaro show car used as pace car

also they show the chaparral with 427 engine which I think was an early ZL1 they were testing

cherokee pace car, cool sounds, and the chaparral wing make it a great vid


YouTube - ‪1967 Can-Am Road America Part 1‬‏

Very cool video. One of my earliest automotive related toys when I was a kid was a Cox Chaparral 1/24th scale slot car. That got me hooked on Can Am cars. Too bad they don't show more of the Camaro but still a great piece of vintage racing history. I live fairly close to the Loudon NH track & they bring some of them out once in awhile during Vintage Week.

those were great slot cars
I had the Cox Chaparral 1/24th scale slot car and raced it along with a Cheetah slot car


I was reading on a Corvette web site where Pete Estes and other GM brass liked to bring a special car to Road America and other big races to use as a pace car or parade car.

I believe the 68 Z/28 convert was used to pace the 1968 Can Am race at Road America but have not been able to find a pic or video of it.
There must be one somewhere.
This may be, in part, one reason why the 68 Z convert was built for Estes as he liked the parade cars

The Corvette thread had some cool pics of these special cars at Road America going back into the early 1960s

here are two pics from Road America 1960 and 1967 along with another cool pic of a 67 Camaro with a Chaparral

Old pics are awsome. My dad was the president of the Sports Car Club of NH back in the late 50s. Cleaning out my moms basment recently I found a bunch of old photo albums and among the pics were a group of them taken at the Mt Washington NH hillclimb with Carroll Shelby winning in a Ferrari in 1956. Also pics of some poor soul who crashed a Mercedes 300SL gulwing coupe and stuffed it under a downed tree.

here is another youtube vid of experimental GM cars at road america 1962

If Chevy brought these cool cars and the Cherokee Camaro in 67 I wonder what they showed up with in some of the other years

YouTube - ‪GM Experimental Cars and Corvairs at Elkhart Lake 1962‬‏

Anyone going to the vintage races there this weekend?

found this on the Road America site
sounds like they are aware of some of the history with Chevy

They mention Jim Jeffords, who drove the Nickey Chevrolet sponsored Purple People Eater Corvette national champ B/P 1958

The Corvette World Tribute, to be held on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011,

"A ceremony will be held to rededicate the famed Corvette Bridge, which spans the track at Turn 6. The Corvette Bridge was a signature landmark at the track from 1963-81, and the Corvette logo reappeared on the crossover in 1992."........

" Road America figures prominently in Chevrolet's racing history. Bill Mitchell, GM’s vice president of design, was an avid racer who fielded the original Sting Ray racer driven by Corvette legends John Fitch and Dick Thompson at Road America. Mitchell chose Elkhart Lake as the venue to preview his stunning Mako Shark concept car in June 1961; the Shark’s sharp-edged body and hidden headlights foreshadowed key features of the production 1963 Corvette. Wisconsin-based racers Augie Pabst and Jim Jeffords excelled in sports car racing in the early ’60s with their Chevy-powered machines. The lightweight Grand Sport Corvette created by Corvette chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov rumbled through Road America’s rolling hills with racing luminaries Roger Penske, Jim Hall and Hap Sharp sharing the driving chores. Notable Chevrolet racers who have made their mark on the legendary circuit include Tony DeLorenzo, Jerry Thompson, John Greenwood, John Heinricy, Ron Fellows, and many more. In modern times, Corvette Racing has notched six victories at Road America in ALMS competition.

at 13:30 they mention ( dave despain ) the dan gurney ; bob akin ; hudson wire entry . i worked at hidson wire in the late 70s and early 80s . met bob akin who was the owner of hudson wire in ossinig NY near sing sing prision . the building is still there . ...http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Akin

at 13:30 they mention ( dave despain ) the dan gurney ; bob akin ; hudson wire entry . i worked at hidson wire in the late 70s and early 80s . met bob akin who was the owner of hudson wire in ossinig NY near sing sing prision . the building is still there . ...http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Akin


Here are two of my Hudson Wire/Akin cars... Bob Akin was one of my favorite drivers so when I had a chance to own a few of his Coca~Cola sponsored cars I jumped on it. The 962 was invited and displayed in the Corvette Museum.It had won the Sebring 12 Hours outright and set records that still stand for average MPH and distance covered.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/962%20113/CandyStore/th_DSC03579.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/962%20113/CandyStore/DSC03579.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/962%20113/CandyStore/th_DSC03621.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/962%20113/CandyStore/DSC03621.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/962%20113/CandyStore/th_DSC03608.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/962%20113/CandyStore/DSC03608.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/962%20113/CandyStore/th_DSC03625.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/962%20113/CandyStore/DSC03625.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/962%20113/th_2452655865_b75329267b_b.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/962%20113/2452655865_b75329267b_b.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/962%20113/th_2453480080_f691556bba_b.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/962%20113/2453480080_f691556bba_b.jpg)

^ thats unbelievable . there was a Ferrari in a climate controlled garage on the opposite side of the street at the Hudson wire plant . I'm not positively sure what kind of Ferrari it was but i saw it once and i believe it was a black datona early 60s . he was a great enthusiast who lost his life doing what he loved . not so happy with the sale of the business and all but i was working for GM at Tarrytown assembly plant by 81 so Hudson wire was done . he was a good union employer with the rank and file working for local 3 IBEW.

Just saw this photo of Sir Stirling and reminded me to thank you for posting the video..the Cherokee looked great! Looking forward to hearing a few of the BB chevys in Monterey next month.
Didn't know Despain ever had any hair ;).

Looks like Sir Stirling has his car back together and is livin' the good life- racing in the Silverstone Classic this weekend :).

http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad34/lane7770/SirStirling.jpg

nice pic of Stirling Moss. He was a rock star driver in the late 60s.
He test drove a Yenko Stinger in 1966 and his pos comments were used in the Yenko Stinger ads

found this Road America 1963 in the pits, shows Dick Thompson Yenko Gulf Oil Corvette racing team and the custom Corvairs

Chevy was promoting the Corvair as a sports car

in this vid are the two new Gulf Oil 1963 Z06 Corvettes (blue white stripe and white blue stripe) and the 1963 Grand Sport 004 number 11 that the Yenko Gulf Oil team ran in C/M . That was when the GS looked like a stock Corvette before the GS got the big butt wide tire/fender look

hope sombody posts youtube video from Road America 68, 69

‪Elkhart Lake Pit Scenes June Sprints 1963‬‏ - YouTube

old pic of the Z/427 Camaro (ZL1) and a GM custom show car Corvette that look to be at a race track

The Chevy Show truck in the backround is very cool