Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produced over 35 million vehicles, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory alone.
Pontiac, or formally the Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors, was an American automobile brand owned, manufactured, and commercialized by General Motors. It was originally introduced as a companion make for GM's more expensive line of Oakland automobiles. Pontiac quickly overtook Oakland in popularity and supplanted its parent entirely by 1933, in turn establishing its position as one of GM's dominant divisions.
The AMC Javelin is an American front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door hardtop automobile manufactured by American Motors Corporation (AMC) across two generations, 1968 through 1970 and 1971 through 1974 model years. The car was positioned and marketed in the pony car market segment.
The Pontiac Firebird is an American automobile built and produced by Pontiac from the 1967 to 2002 model years. Designed as a pony car to compete with the Ford Mustang, it was introduced on February 23, 1967, five months after GM's Chevrolet division's platform-sharing Camaro. This also coincided with the release of the 1967 Mercury Cougar, Ford's upscale, platform-sharing version of the Mustang. The name "Firebird" was also previously used by GM for the General Motors Firebird in the 1950s and early 1960s concept cars.
The Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types including road courses and street circuits. Trans-Am is split into the TA and TA2 classes for silhouette racing cars, while its production classes are the GT, SGT, and XGT.
The Pontiac Grand Am is a car model that was produced by Pontiac in various years between 1973 and 2005. Produced as a RWD mid-size car on the LeMans GM A platform in its first two generations, the Grand Am name was reused for a FWD compact car for its last three generations.
IC Bus is an American bus manufacturer. Headquartered in Lisle, Illinois, IC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Navistar International. Established in 2002 by Navistar through the reorganization of subsidiary manufacturer American Transportation Corporation (AmTran), IC currently produces school buses and commercial-use buses for multiple applications.
The Aston Martin V8 is a grand tourer manufactured by Aston Martin in the United Kingdom from 1969 to 1989. As with all traditional Aston Martins, it was entirely handbuilt – with each car requiring 1,200 man-hours to finish.
The streets of Detroit, in the U.S. state of Michigan, hosted Formula One racing, and later Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) racing, between the 1982 and 1991 seasons. The street circuit course was set up near the Renaissance Center and the Cobo Arena, also including a small part of the M-1 highway, also known as Woodward Avenue. It is a flat circuit, with elevation ranging from 577–604 ft (176–184 m) above sea level.
The Mustang Boss 302 is a high-performance variant of the Ford Mustang originally produced by Ford in 1969 and 1970, alongside its more powerful sibling the Boss 429 Mustang. Ford revived the name for another two year production run in 2012 and 2013. In 1969 and 1970, it was originally produced for the Trans Am racing series.
The Circuit Trois-Rivières is a street circuit in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. The circuit has been the home of the annual Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, the longest-running street race in North America, since 1967. The circuit is located on the Terrain de l'Exposition (fairgrounds) and is unusual in that it passes through Porte Duplessis, the narrow concrete gateway of the grounds at turn 3.
The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion is an annual event held at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. Its purpose is to provide an event in which historic racecars can compete. It takes place over the course of one weekend every mid-August. It was first established by Steve Earle in 1974 as the Monterey Historic Automobile Races. Earle organized the meeting for his friends to race their cars at Laguna Seca. The event, known as the Monterey Historics until 2010, acts as a part of Monterey Car Week, which includes the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and other events.
The bus chassis variant of the International S series is a cowled bus chassis that was produced by International Harvester from 1979 to 2001. Produced primarily for school bus applications, the chassis was also produced for other applications, including commercial-use buses and cutaway-cab buses. In addition, the cowled chassis formed the basis for front-engine and rear-engine stripped chassis produced for bus applications.
The 1976 Trans-Am Series was the eleventh running of the Sports Car Club of America's premier series. All races except for the Six Hours of Watkins Glen ran for approximately one hundred miles. American Motors garnered its final Trans Am victories in 1976.
The 1977 Trans-Am Series was the twelfth running of the Sports Car Club of America's premier series. Porsche swept the season. All races except for the Six Hours of Watkins Glen ran for approximately one hundred miles. With the revival of the Can Am Series that year, 1977 also began a resurgence of interest in SCCA events. Trans Am would contribute with a slight resurgence in the eighties.
SCCA Pro Racing is the pro racing division of the Sports Car Club of America. SCCA Pro Racing was formed in 1963, the company is a fully owned subsidiary of SCCA.
The twelfth generation of the Ford F-Series is a light-duty pickup truck that was produced by Ford from the 2009 to 2014 model years. Initially slotted between the Ford Ranger and Ford Super Duty in size, the F-150 became the smallest Ford truck in North America following the 2011 withdrawal of the Ranger. The final generation of the F-150 produced with a separate body design from the Super Duty trucks, the twelfth generation again adopted an all-new chassis and body, also marking an extensive transition to the powertrain lineup.
The 1988 SCCA Escort Trans-Am Championship was the 23rd running of the Sports Car Club of America's premier series. 1988 would mark the end of the "GT era", in which the series had been the support series, and often the lesser classes, of the more popular IMSA GT Championship, which had overtaken Trans Am as the most popular road racing series in the United States beginning in 1973 after the decline of muscle cars and the 1973 Oil Crisis. This led to an increase in competitiveness from foreign manufacturers.
The 1999 Trans-Am Series was the 34th season of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series. 1999 was the end of the "American muscle revival" era of Trans-Am, as Italian manufacturer Qvale would win the championship the following year. Ford would sweep the season. Paul Gentilozzi won the drivers' championship.
The 2000 BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series was the 35th season of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series. 2000 marked the end of the "American muscle revival" era that had begun in 1989, with Italian manufacturer Qvale winning the championship. It would also mark the rise of Rocketsports Racing's dominance using Jaguar XKRs, which would continue until the series dissolved in 2006, after which team owner Paul Gentilozzi would switch to the American Le Mans Series. The season also marked the final victory for Pontiac in Trans Am, with a win at Texas.
Irv Hoerr 
Ron Fellows