This will be a distinctively memorable event for all who join The Petersen’s honored guests, friends and colleagues, along with an exhibit of historic Trans-Am race cars famously associated with the Trans-Am racing heritage.
The Petersen Museum’s previous yearly tributes, which have honored Dan Gurney and Riverside Raceway, Phil Hill and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Andy Granatelli and the Indy 500, the triumphant Parnelli Jones, the incomparable Carroll Shelby, and last years’ “Tribute to Corvette Racing”, have each been applauded by all and widely covered in the motor racing press.
Tom McIntyre, continuing chairman of these special Petersen tributes, states, “This year we will celebrate Trans-Am racing history and the drivers who made it famous. The legendary Trans-Am cars have always been performance icons, and those developed by Detroit factories and privateers have grabbed our hearts and imaginations and held them for the past four decades.”
The event’s evening will begin with cocktails and a Museum presentation that includes famous Trans-Am race cars on display. Following will be dinner and a film screening of Trans-Am racing’s action-packed history. Renowned drivers and team principals whom we all have known or read about will be introduced on stage to tell some of their best stories—both passionate and amusing—about racing in the Trans-Am series.
Among these remarkable invited guests of honor who will be interviewed on stage by Emcee Dave McClelland to summon their colorful accounts of Trans-Am racing are Parnelli Jones, Dan Gurney, George Follmer, Carroll Shelby, Dick Guldstrand, Jim Hall, Tony DeLorenzo, Jim Jeffords, Jerry Schwartz, Tony Adamowicz, Bud Moore, John Morton, Tommy Kendall, and more.
The evening’s guests will recall how the Trans-American Sedan Championship got started in 1966 when the Sports Car Club of America saw a potential for sedan racing on leading road racing circuits in the United States and Canada. Tales will be told of some of the hottest Trans-Am race cars conceived and built by factory-fed tuners, and how these big-horsepower 2-door hardtops quickly caught the public’s attention. To vividly bring back those times, in the metal, Trans-Am cars displayed in The Petersen’s galleries will include the Championship Mark Donohue Penske Camaros (1968 and 1969), Championship Parnelli Jones Bud Moore Mustang (1970), Sam Posey’s 1970 Dodge Challenger, Championship Mark Donohue Penske Javelin (1971), Championship George Follmer Roy Woods Javelin (1972), plus a host of others. Every Trans-Am car seen at The Petersen will have documented race history attached to show its place in this historic era of motorsport.
Enormously popular in its heyday, the Trans-Am drew more drivers from Indy, Sports Cars and Can-Am than any other single series. “The racing,” says McIntyre, himself an avid Historic Trans-Am owner/driver, “was fierce, fast and feisty.” Also honored will be the Trans-Am companion class of smaller displacement cars such as Alfa Romeos, BMWs and Datsuns—cars instrumental in taking the series from initial good idea to resounding success on track. Altogether, Trans-Am cars thrilled road racing enthusiasts and proved that Detroit’s ardent battle cry “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday!” understood the escalating car market that demanded affordable, high performance American-made automobiles. After riding a popularity crest that bridged from the mid-Sixties into the early Seventies, Trans-Am began to lose its sizzle as muscle car sales slid. Factories pulled out of expensive team racing, while top Trans-Am drivers went elsewhere to follow the money.
Continuing the Petersen’s annual tradition of honoring the most illustrious people and cars in motorsport, the Museum’s program includes prized Trans-Am memorabilia in a time-honored auction, a lively interlude of competitive bidding that always delights the dinner audience. In addition at the Museum on this expansive “Tribute to Trans-Am” evening of November 12th will be a preview of the Bonhams and Butterfields Auction of Automobiles, Motorcycles and Memorabilia on Saturday, November 14th.
Because the Petersen Museum tributes are routinely sell-outs, early ticket purchase is a must for those who won’t want to miss “Tribute to Trans-Am.” To guarantee your admission for this one-time gathering with full-course activities, please call the Checkered Flag 200 office at 323-964-6325 for reserved ticket purchase at $100 per person for Checkered Flag 200 members, $125 for non-members. Ticket price includes buffet dinner, the evening’s complete program, and parking. A cash bar will be available. Tickets are not mailed; your reservations will be held at the door.
Prior to Thursday evening’s “Tribute to Trans-Am” event there will be a special “Panel Discussion” at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday afternoon with the invited drivers and team members, moderated by Dave McClelland. A separate ticket fee of $25 per person is required for those who wish to attend. New last year to these Petersen tributes, 2008’s “Tribute to Corvette Racing” afternoon forum was a booming success. This years’ session will discuss—and argue—the provocative topic “How to cheat in the Trans-Am”. Taken as a whole, the Tribute’s afternoon and evening affairs will feature Trans-Am car displays, vendor booths, book signings, and autograph sessions—making this race-fueled reunion “The Trans-Am Day of the Year.” It’s a time of Trans-Am thunder and great fun, not to be missed!
The Petersen Automotive Museum is located at 6060 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90036-3605, with enclosed parking and Museum entrance just south of Wilshire on Fairfax Avenue. “Tribute to Trans-Am” is industry sponsored and brought to you by the Checkered Flag 200 Group of the Petersen Automotive Museum. For more general Museum information, call 323-930-CARS or visit the Museum’s website at www.petersen.org .