Without a doubt my favourite class of racing is the Trans Am series of 1966 to 1972. These cars look very similar to the cars that left the showrooms back in the day except for their stance and lack of hood scoops. The sounds of these howling V8’s is magical and the creative use of the rulebook back in the day is almost legendary for these cars. Lots of big teams took up the challenge and lots of privateers on a shoestring budget raced these cars on the track close to them and did not travel across the nation to compete in all the races. So there are many cars eligible to compete including an old used car that was turned into Trans Am competitor in the early 70’s by Herb Adams, a 1964 Pontiac Tempest called the Gray Ghost. It was incredible to see this car on the track along with much newer and lighter Camaro and Mustang trans am cars.

The 1959 Sadler Mk 4 was my favourite car of the weekend of races. This car was built be Canadian Bill Sadler for Dave Greenblatt after he convinced Bardahl to sponsored a car for him. Sadler took the previous Sadler Mark III and made it less complex, without fully independent suspension but adding a Latham supercharged Chevrolet V8. This was the era when lots of very competitive cars were being built by Ferrari, Maserati, and independents like Lance Reventlows Scarabs. The Sadler Mk IV won one race back in the day, but this was against amazing competition with huge wallets.

At the Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion it was in the front of the pack the whole race and was a real crowd pleaser. I got to photograph on the IMSA Legends Audi R8’s spin at the corkscrew and after talking to the owner/driver the next day I was informed it was the mechanic at the wheel and he spun out twice in two laps and gave up racing for wrenching the rest of the weekend, and what a magical weekend! Next year join me on our trip to car week, and let’s bring come kids with us!