Ah, memories… does anyone else besides me seem to have indelible memories from their teenage years imprinted on the brain? More so than childhood or middle age memories? Here’s my cherished, deeply ingrained memory of a shotgun test drive in a 1969 Z/28 Camaro, one of many Trans-AM muscle cars. I’d had my own muscle car for just one year, and was already searching the used car market for my next ride. I had been bitten by the horse power bug and wanted more than I already had. I liked the 69 Camaro; especially the Z/28, which I had been told would match and likely (depending on who you talked to) even out-run the 1970 Boss 302 Mustang that a buddy’s older brother had. Sweet! I could just taste it; after all, that big brother wouldn’t even let us ‘tool bit losers’ close enough to breathe on his pride and joy Mustang.

High Revving Trans-Am Muscle Cars – Let’s Go Trans-Am Racing!

There were a few Z/28’s on the market, but because they were very popular, the law of supply and demand meant the Z/28’s in top condition were slightly out of the price range of me: a poor student. I found only one lower priced candidate car in the Z/28’s in my local Auto Trader. A lanky, long and curly haired, seemingly non-talkative dude came out to show me the car, complete with a coat of thin rally green paint. The paint was so thin that I could still make out some lettering on the sides of the car, like you would typically see on a drag racer: “The Green Knight”. Had this Z/28 lived the hard life of a drag race car? The white standard interior was pretty rough; it seemed keeping everything on the inside nice hadn’t been a priority with previous owners.

You’ve all probably lived through ‘the uncomfortable test drive’ before. The seller immediately swept up the RPM in first gear. We headed for the main street, now in second gear and way up in the small block’s RPM range. In my mind I remember screaming, “shift, SHIFT!” Next, we entered into the right lane of moderate traffic flow- still with the engine at high pitch RPM in second gear. I’m guessing that we were doing somewhere about 35 miles per hour. As we catch up to, and move just ahead of a car in the left lane, the driver hits the gas hard – still in second gear! Even though the engine was already turning high RPMs, the Z/28 responds and jumps over left as the driver tucks in between two cars in the faster lane. Did I mention we were still in second gear? As soon as the car in front of us overtook a slower car in the right lane, the driver punched the gas again, and we leapt back into the right lane. The engine revs to new highs just as the driver (finally) bangs into third, and we pull away from the small group of traffic that we had originally merged into.

Once back with the ride over, I’m looking down at the ground and kind of shuffling my feet. I’m secretly thinking, “I can’t drive around in that car with a date,” but all I manage to stammer is, “thanks, but it’s a race car.” The taciturn seller gives me a look that says, “tool bit loser, I knew you wouldn’t buy it,” and heads inside.

In the prime muscle car years 1968-1970 Detroit automakers tried to outdo each other for market share by backing teams – many with big name professional drivers – which could feature their pony cars on a racing circuit stage. The Sport Car Club of America (SCCA) had a popular Trans-Am series that featured commercially produced vehicles somewhat modified for racing on the twisty Trans-Am courses. Some of my favourite muscle cars were race developed, and became available because the SCCA rules of the time required that the factory must produce and sell a certain number of each model to qualify for entry. The stars aligned, and there you had it: a corner carving, high revving, and Trans-Am race proven muscle car available to the public direct from the dealerships!

Here are a few of my favorite 70’s vintage Trans-Am racers. These examples represent only a small sample of numerous and varied models that actually ran in this competitive and wild west like racing series.

#1 ) Chevrolet Z/28 Camaro – Trans-Am winner 1968, 1969