I'm a big fan of Jim Hall , but, apart from any other reason, that sucker car was too ugly.

The fuel flapper on the top of the truck allowed for additional fuel to be stored above the 22 gallon tank as well. I saw this as a kid on an episode of My Classic Car.

And here I thought the Speirling was a new concept

If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying…

I was at Laguna Seca the weekend it was scheduled to race there. What I remember most about it was no matter what the Chevy engine was doing, the two stroke vacuum engine maintained a constant rpm and pitch. It didn’t fluctuate rpm or get louder or quieter at parts of the track where one would expect the car to change sound. Of course the main drive Chevy engine is loudest when accelerating hardest. If for example, the 2J was coasting down the Corkscrew en route to pit entry you could only hear the vacuum engine at constant rpm. I don’t think the driver had any control of the vacuum engine. It was started first and shut down last by the crew back at the pits. I didn’t see it done, but I wonder if it was started with a pull rope. I have a few quite distant pictures of it during practice from the outside of turn 7 and 8. Good video, Steve.

What do you guys think of this crazy creation, the Chaparral 2J? Could it have changed Can-Am history? Could it have beat the new Porsche 917/10 of Penske Racing when it first arrived in 1972?

Great content. I was waiting for the story of how they applied vacuum to the master cylinder reservior to retract the caliper pistons for quick brake pad swaps.

Ive seen the camero at Watkins Glenn vintage race in the fall.

super favourite = capri v6 when i was a teenager = i liked a lot but at 16yo the v6 capri was my dream car ! = RS 3100 = thank you Sir !

Wow ,a Mans car ,made for big balls Men to race! ,used to love watching these fantastic cars racing at Pukekohe circuit.The whole family would travel up from Hamilton,spend the whole day there,i would line my nephews and nieces,up to the catch fence for the flying first lap,they tell me now they NEVER forgot that.I have some old photos of the 1979 NZ grand prix ,how can i send you copies? thanks for your video, brings back old memories.

My next door neighbor has one of Penske’s Indy cars.

Can confirm: I worked for Team Penske in the early and mid-1990s, during his Mercedes power era. We absolutely utilized every “creative” advantage available.

It’s not an “unfair advantage” if every team did it too. Almost every one of these items mentioned were all tricks shared by all the teams. It would have been better titled, “Tips and Tricks Racers Use To Get Around the Rules”.

As I understand things, Pontiac convinced the SCCA that Canadian-manufactured Firebirds were constructed with Chevrolet small blocks and thus their use in Trans Am should be permitted. The SCCA evidently bought their argument.

The Trans Am racing was the best of racing. if you get a chance to see vintage racing, it is the BEST

Nice review of Penske's cars. When he made the switch to AMC, I recall him saying "All pony cars are created equal."

And they stuck a basketball inside the petrol tank for homologation, then took it out and had more space for petrol!

That was not a photo of a Challenger T/A.

👍👍

What a sneaky man. Always reading around the rules. He came to Australia and worked with Dick Johnson. Dick took him for a lap around Bathurst. Our most famous racetrack it was a great video.

I helped crew Ian's Alfetta in the early - mid 1980's and know a bit about that car in the configuration it had when last last raced it. It was an amazing piece of engineering and a huge credit to his incredible ability. I often wondered what happened to the car when Ian left for the US. I knew less about Barry's Monaro but remember him taking it to races on the back of a well used Ford D series truck. Although it was never at the front of the pack, he loved what he did and like Ian, was always making improvements to the car. Driven by a huge passion for motorsport, both Ian and Barry were extraordinarily fabricators and their abilities masked the tight budgets they had at the time. It's been decades since I had any contact with Ian but I believe he's still in the US. I'm also sad to hear of Barry's passing. I'd be happy to share what I know about the Alfetta if you wish to contact me.

Very interesting! Thanks for the video!😀

Nice.

Chevrolet cheated like mad. Taking two cars to every race they would set out a tent, then bring in car number 5. That car would go through tech and come back while car number 6 was brought under the tent. They would then swap numbers on the two cars send car 5 back through tech with number 6’s decal on it. It would pass tech while the real car number 6, wearing number 5’s badge never got inspected. It was several hundred pounds underweight and who know what other tricks they had under the hood. Theyfinally got caught cheating and once caught they started losing, bad. Chevy pulled their support from Trans Am and moved elsewhere.

You forgot about the dominating AMC Javelins.

What about the Rumor that the Chevy Corvette JL8 4 Wheel Disc Brakes Penske used on these Z28 Race Cars were Secretly Cast Titanium Copies of the Corvette 4 Piston L88 Race and later Corvette CANAM Cars 2 Pin Calipers and the Titanium Rotors were Ceramic Coated Fabricated Copies of the Corvette Rotors to save weight with the Heat Resistant Ceramic Coating on the Rotor Applied by a NASA Aerospace Contractor?

Wonder why they made'em run a '68 front clip on a '69 car? That's one bad mo-sheen!

Great video! "Zed/28" sounds mighty strange. I don't ever wanna hear anyone complain about how we in the US of A say Jaguar again! 😁

Would like to see a video on Smokey's Trans Am Camaro too. I think Vic Edelbrock owned it last time I heard. Smokey was another that did some sneaky stuff.

Now that is history!

Why am I hearing snoring?

Vinyl tops !. Ugh, I’d forgotten all about them. Truly one of the dumbest ideas in automotive history as they got wet and trapped the moisture between the top and the roof, which then rusted.

Penske / Donahue / Chevy. A bit of creative engineering and rule book interpretation = success. I’d bet there weren’t any long distance calls to a fellow named Yunick in Daytona Bch. Yeah, if you believe that, there IS a tooth fairy!

Thanks for bringing back great memories!

I'm from UK and it's Zee 28, just like the DRZee

Thanks! One of my favorite years of Trans Am racing and, definitely, my favorite car.

Saw many Trans Am races at Road America - I remember seeing Bobby Rahall driving a Corvette in the Trans Am series

A vinyl top Camaro is lighter and much thinner then normal tops. I own one and replaced the vinyl myself it’s very thin.

Of course general motors cheated. That's the only way they ever win races.

Having a 1969 Z/28 in 1969 and on the street with 4.88 gear, well as Dinah said, see the USA from behind my Chevrolet! Never get away with that racing now.

Gee, if you only knew what you were talking about.

Did. U. Put. The. Chevy. On. A. Dino. Joe. ?

Yea. J0e. U. Know. 4. A. Fact. That. The. Ford. Had. More. Hp. Than. The. Chevys. Did. You. Put. The. Musk. Rat. On. A. Dino. ?

When did Penske buy the Indiana Motor Speedway? I thought he owned Michigan International Speedway.

I used to work directly beside Bud Moore Engineering. There was a 1970 Boss 302 Trans Am race car that sat in a field beside Buds shop. This car sat there into the mid 1980's.This mustang was really tricked out. Bud had some really smart guy's working for him. And he is really sharp himself. We had 6 Nascar teams or drivers in Spartanburg county.

It's the stupid rules imposed by the racing groups that have ruined motor racing in the US.

The standard Capri Essex V6 displaced 2994cc, not 3100cc. In order to have a starting capacity of 3100cc for the race car Ford produced a 248 car run homologation version of the Capri - the RS3100. The RS3100 Capri was homologated in January 1974.

I saw them race just up the coast at Laguna Seca several times. I was a fan of Parnelli Jones' Boss 302, though

Can I ask a question? 9:54 I’m looking for more pictures of those cars especially the Javelin but I can’t find anything. Even after entering your source

Cheating to win... They ALL should be soooo proud...