![]() ![]() The retail price of the In-Line setup was reasonable, but its development had cost Ford plenty. ![]() ![]() The Boss 302s also showed up at a Laguna Seca with the new Autolite In-Line carburetors, but SCCA officials promptly outlawed them because they violated the "spirit of the law" in keeping the cost of the Trans-Am racing to a minimum. "That weighs at least five pounds!" Timanus agreed and okayed Follmer's Mustang. Timanus temporarily cleared the scoops and sent the Mustang to the scales, where it weighed 3,195 pounds - 5 pounds underweight. Ford Trans-Am coordinator Fran Hernandez made a plea for the brake scoops on the grounds of driver safely. Follmer's number 16 car rolled into the inspection area first and was cited for too-short windshield retaining strips and brake ducts from the headlight openings. First in line were three Bud Moore Boss 302s, two numbered 15 and one numbered 16. Friday's Inspection had progressed smoothly, with Jim Hall's Camaro and Mark Donohue's Javelin approved with minor changes, but on Saturday morning the Inspection crew, led by new SCCA technical inspector John Timanus, found numerous infractions. The tone for the 1970 Trans-Am was set at Saturday's tech inspection before Sunday's Laguna Seca Trans-Am. For the whole story, we invite you to read the entire chapter on the Trans-Am Championship Mission in the book, which includes details on the new-for-1970 Competition, Rules Changes and Testing before the “End of Everything” came for corporate involvement in motorsports competition on November 20, 1970.Īpril 19, 1970: Laguna Seca Trans-Am, Monterey, California It is reprinted here with permission from author Donald Farr. To mark this historic victory, we’re retracing the 1970 Trans-Am season race-by-race though the following excerpt from the hardcover book, Boss Mustang: 50 Years (1st Edition – Motorbooks, 2019). Despite brisk early sales and good reviews, sales of the new Thunderbird couldn’t justify continued production, and Ford discontinued it again in mid-2005.Editor’s Note: It’s now been 50 years since Parnelli Jones piloted his Mustang Boss 302 race car to the 1970 Trans-Am season series championship for Ford Motor Company. The luxury retailer Neiman Marcus offered an early special edition version in their 2000 Christmas catalog, priced at just under $42,000 their stock of 200 sold out in two hours and 15 minutes. In 2002, however, in an attempt to capitalize on car buyers’ nostalgia, the company launched production of a retro T-Bird, a two-seater convertible that took some of its styling from the original classic. Thunderbird sales slowed during the 1990s, and Ford discontinued the Thunderbird in 1997. Kennedy had already included 50 Thunderbirds in his inaugural procession in 1961, and a T-Bird would also feature prominently in the 1973 film “American Graffiti.” The Beach Boys elevated the Thunderbird to pop- culture-icon status in 1964 by including it in the lyrics of their hit single “Fun Fun Fun” (“she’ll have fun, fun, fun ’til her daddy takes the T-Bird away”). In 1958, to satisfy critics who thought the T-Bird was too small, Ford released a four-seater version with a roomier trunk and bucket seats. In addition to the powerful V-8 engine that Ford was known for, the Thunderbird boasted all the conveniences consumers had become accustomed to, including a removable hard convertible top, soundproofing and the accessories standard to most Ford cars. The success of the Thunderbird led Chevrolet to continue production of (and improve upon) the Corvette, which soon became a tough competitor in the sports car market. The 1955 Thunderbird was an immediate hit, selling more than 14,000 that year (compared to just 700 Corvettes). The undeniably sleek Corvette’s initial engine performance was relatively underwhelming, but it was gaining lots of attention from the press and public, and Ford was motivated to respond, rushing the Thunderbird to the market in 1955. General Motors built the first American sports car: the Chevrolet Corvette, released in 1953. The last Thunderbird, Ford Motor Company’s iconic sports car, emerges from a Ford factory in Wixom, Michigan on July 1, 2005.įord began its development of the Thunderbird in the years following World War II, during which American servicemen had the opportunity to observe sleek European sports cars. ![]()
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