I randomly found this, and watched through all of it, the complete race, so captivating, so much more exciting and fun to watch than most of contemporary racing and motorsports save for a very few exceptions.
Ya know, I really like the idea of the Historic Trans Am Challenge, over 45 years the racing muscle cars rises up for one last race in 2018 Long Beach Grand Prix
What a fun race in the top 8 or so spots! Too bad the '70 Camaro didn't have as much top end as the Mustangs. Really showed on the straights. The cars in the back were having a bit more of a parade, but I can't blame them.
Thing was, NASCAR's grand national arm (pre 1982 Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity series) ran the Mustangs and Camaros back then... and this was before the restrictor plate rules at Daytona and Talladega.
That chaparral camaro is one fine looking race car. The 2nd gen camaro was probably the only camaro that was designed specifically for trans-am racing coming just after the dominance of the first gen in 68 and 69.
@@zeroonezerozero5397 Traco did a good job making power. Since '68, Penske and Donohue had the series dominated. Ford got their chance for a good 1970 when Penske had to sort out AMC Javelins. There were a couple of Yunick-prepared Mustangs from the era.
I had to break out my old AFX cars and track. My buddy brought his badass 57 Chevy Nomad and I chose my AMC Matador. It was really great fun. We were like 10 & 11 in 1979 when we received our track. We are in our 50's now, lol now. His little brother even a had the white Camaro with the blue stripe but it was a #3. I lost the best 3/5 BTW, lol. Good times regardless, good times
@@bossmanbob71. I just checked 2016 V6 Camry - 0-60 5.8 seconds 14.3 quarter mile. Boss 302 in 1970...ummm......0-60 6.9 and 14.6 seconds Qtr mile. Don't get me wrong I own two classic musclecars...but no arguing the facts...many newer cars are pretty fast.
I thought the TA Challenger would had kicked it but he was way in the back to start . I don't think there is a real legit vintage trans am race anymore it's a throw back race Everytime I like the cars though better to see them in corners hard stops and gear jamming instead of oval track the Nova and GTO looked a little out of place ...
Sounded like they said the GTO/Lemans was having some tech issues and pitted twice. Look up "the Grey Ghost" if you never have before. It actually won a race or two back in the day, which is neat being a private team in an older car able to beat the factory teams. Dunno about the Nova, but I was hoping the Challenger would have been up there with the lead pack too. Speaking of Mopar, was that a Dart out there? Duster? I dunno.
Those cars had acid-dipped bodies to make them very light - nothing like "4,000 lbs" according to the ill informed commentators...and I am sure that they may have rebuilt the brakes once or twice in the last 50 years (plus modern upgrades to make them safer so they don't destroy extremely valuable machinery).
@@MiguelGarcia-vj7oo My point is that they were close to the minimum weight limit. I owned a 1973 Z28 which I stripped out and put on the weigh scales...3200 lbs...
@@ricardobasurto2330 This is historic racing. The Javelins run regularly at Laguna Seca and other Northern California tracks. Who races is a matter of who shows up. Not every historic car owner's schedule matches the Long Beach Grand Prix and not everyone wants to run their irreplaceable car alongside concrete barriers instead of sand traps.
the announcers really did horrible job with the broadcast...no color commentary,at all...it would of been way cool if they would of been able to give some info on the different cars..the one time they did,one of them said,these cars weight 4000 lbs...give me a break..these cars were a lot closer to 2800 or so..half of the fun of watching,is listening to the history of the series,when it started,the different drivers of the time,and so on...big waste of time,unless you just want to watch cars go around,with some passing thrown in....I turned it off after 10 or so minutes.
I don't see where my profile picture has anything to do with the validity of my comment or opinion. If your idea of racing is playing follow the leader on the racetrack, then good for. I suppose 'pro' wrestling is real too...
This is vintage racing. Only actual historic participants can run in this series. The amount of risk-taking is restrained in real historic vehicles, so you're not going to see people rubbing fenders. You might enjoy the Australian Touring Car Masters. Not historic period race cars, but modified vintage cars running hard. But please don't criticize owners who have the bravery to run real irreplaceable race cars at a track like long beach. This is a concrete barrier track with no run-off for errors. You especially don't get to criticize if you have never run your own personal vehicle at speed on a race track.
Imagine if this is how you have to start out in racing, just start in an older car where you have no assists and everything is analog. Would make all drivers apprciate how hard it was in the old days.
