A Historical Porsche Mystery

[jluetjen]

Who? ...Is Driving #7?
What? ...Is the series?
Where? ...Is the venue?
When? ...Was this picture taken?

(Grady and Wil Firch -- Step out of line. You're not eligible for a little while. Let some others have some fun! )

[ChrisBennet]

The scenery reminds me of Limerock.
-Chris

[tchanson]

Tony Adamowicz
Trans Am
St. Jovite
1968


Tim

[jluetjen]

Tim;
You're obviously aware of Tony "A2Z"'s excellent web site.

I've been to it before but it seems like he's added a lot to it recently. It's a wonderful treasure trove of vintage racing (Porsches and other stuff) information. Along with Sam Posey and Mark Donohue, he's one of the few who have raced a 917 and a 512 coupe.

Enjoy!

[Bailey]

I too say St Jovite (Mont Tremblant).

[livi]

Far fetched I suppose, but

..both the terrain and the flags looks Swedish. A bit up north. Perhaps in Värmland or Jämtland. Björn Waldegĺrd ?

[911teo]

John

thank you for posting the link to Tony's webpage... Incredible.

[jluetjen]

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. Tim hit it right on the head.

[Jim Richards]

I love those rear flares on #22.

[304065]

Rear bumper too heavy?

Race without it!

I love it. Thanks for posting that one John.

[jluetjen]

I wonder if Grady was in that race.

[sammyg2]

Is it my imagination, or do all the cars have the same wheels?

[Jim Richards]

Originally posted by john_cramer
Rear bumper too heavy?

Race without it!

I love it. Thanks for posting that one John.

Now you know how to keep well ahead of that pesky 356 (Jase) at the next club race.

[Grady Clay]

John,

Naah, I was racing my RS-60 in BSR that summer. I did go to several TransAm races. I met Tony many times. He is another of the cast of characters who drove my ’68 one time or another. I think it was he who first introduced me to Mark Donahue.

This goes to my recommendation to all you young Pelicans to go to the races and volunteer. You never know who you will meet.

I should see if I have any old photos for the A2Z site.

Best,
Grady

[jluetjen]

Originally posted by sammyg2
Is it my imagination, or do all the cars have the same wheels?

Yup. In 1968 Porsche had not yet "discovered" the benefits of wide wheels on the 911. So the common set-up (also used on early ST's a few years later) was to use Minilites. That's what you see on all of the cars.

Near as I can tell the "missing rear bumper" was a TransAm only thing. I suspect that the rules were written taking into account contemporary "Production" car preparation in the then current SCCA GCR. One of those rules I'm sure said that bumpers could be removed.

Anyone else notice how well the 911's were gridded compared to the "Higher Performance" Detroit V8's which have 2.5X the capacity compared to the little Porsche 2.0?

[Early_S_Man]

John,

Looks like Tony was using Mg Torque-Thrust-Ds on #7 ...

[Zef]

For the Where section of the question:...For sure it is at St-Jovite,Quebec...You can see the Mont-Tremblant ski resort and the Quebec flag in the foreground...Syl

[Wil Ferch]

Well...the US cars were 2.5x as big... motor-wise...but the Porsches cost 2.5 x more....so it all evens out !!!

Tony was one of the FIRST people to discover hard-point suspension bushings as actually making his car MUCH faster. Forget the complete story ..but either hard plastic or metal...I think hard plastic like Delrin or Teflon.... no matter, it's the idea/application that is interesting.

- Wil ( can't play anymore ... )

[Grady Clay]

That year the “Firestone Indy” was the hot set-up. Prior to
this there weren’t wide tires (consequently no need for wide
wheels). Minilite was ahead of Porsche in making wide(r)
wheels. 8” was a BIG deal. The ones I see in the first image
appear to be 7”.

Looking through A2Z I think this is the 908 I drove on a weekday at Willow.
That was probably during the winter ’70-’71 or ’71-‘72.



My very vague recollection is that Dieter was there to take
care of the 906 & 908. My memory of that isn’t sharp
because I was intent on going fast and NOT damaging
Vasek’s cars. He was always trying new drivers, I think
mostly to inspire Milt to go faster (and be in better shape.)
I once went out on the town with Milt at an event (his idea)
and Vasek reamed me a new one and instructed me to
keep Milt early to bed sober on race weekends. My friend
from Tulsa handed Vasek a Cashier’s check for the 906
after many successful runs.

I wish I had a camera with me during all this silliness.

Best,
Grady

[javadog]

Grady,

Was your friend from Tulsa a certain Charlie Grimes?

JR