AMC Week all over again
(first posted 2/24/2014) It hardly seems that 46 years have gone by since the 1968 Chicago Auto Show opened its doors on February 24, 1968. Almost five decades after attending the show, there are a number of cars I still remember very clearly, including this AMX. AMC chose Chicago to debut its new AMX, and it was one of the cars I remember most clearly, almost five decades after attending the show. Of course, it wasn’t just any AMX; it was the car that Lee Breedlove and her husband Craig Breedlove set 90 new speed records at a five-mile circular, banked track in San Angelo, Texas.
#2 Car ran a 304 cu in in V8 FIA Class C
AMC had Breedlove prepare two cars: Car #1 with a red nose and blue butt, had a 390 bored out to 397 cu in. It set 16 new records over 12 hours (FIA Class B) before its transmission blew; Car #2 ran a 290 bored out to 304 cu in (FIA Class C) and set 90 international records. As seen here, it sported a blue nose and a red butt.
Both engines were prepared by the legendary firm of Travis and Coon, better known as TRACO, and were hardly stock, but as verified by USAC, who sanctioned the speed trials, they met FIA regs.
After 46 years the TorqThrust Ds are still beautiful
What could be more iconic than American Torq Thrust Ds and Goodyear Blue Streak Sports Car Specials? It doesn’t get more ‘60s than that.
The records that each car set can be found on the interweb for those of you who are interested.
1967 LeMans winner
I didn’t give a rat’s ass about the Buick Deuce and a Quarters or Ford LTDs at the show, so I didn’t photograph them. As a sophomore in design school, I had raging testosterone and was drawn to the macho hot stuff and concept cars, like this Ford MK IV that had won LeMans in 1967 driven by Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt, after Mario Andretti took out most of the Ford team at 3:30 am in the esses due to green brakes that locked up.
I had been standing at the very spot where this occurred but had decided to return to my Simca 1000 to sleep at 3:25 am. Great timing!
Foyt, a dirt-tracking USAC stud, had little regard for European “wine sipping” drivers (his words), so the next morning, while enjoying a multi-lap lead, he chose to race the second place Ferrari 330P4 that was trying to get back a lap. The Ford pits went apoplectic. That included Henry Ford II who was there and wanted to drive a second stake in Ferrari’s heart. The Ford team manager finally convinced Foyt that his manhood would remain intact if he let the Ferrari pass, which he finally did. Ford won by three laps.
Photo stolen from Road & Track
Dan Gurney, who co-drove with Foyt, mentioned that in order to get the car to handle properly, they had to shim the suspension to pass the tech inspector’s ride height gauge. Once on the track, these shim mysteriously disappeared lowering the car to a proper road-hugging stance. Gurney used a NASCAR term to describe this tactic, “You had to cheat to eat.”
As an aside, Dan Gurney initiated a racing tradition that is still strong today–spraying the winner’s circle with champagne. Even the Deuce loved it.
Toyota 2000 GT
Toyota was still a minor league player in the US in 1968. You weren’t going to draw crowds to your display with gray Corollas or Coronas. But the 2000 GT even grabbed my attention. Pretty sexy.
I think at the latest round of auctions one of these went for $750k+.
Toyota 2000 GT
Do “halo” cars sell econo boxes? Three years later, after frustrating weeks of test driving Vegas, 510s, Pintos, and OMG-Gremlins for my sister, none of which–except for the 510–were worth a shit, I stopped in at the Toyota dealer in Westport, CT on a dark, rainy, Friday night. Figured that I had nothing to lose. The lone salesman asked me if I had been given the “pitch.” I enjoyed his honesty and said no, let me have it, and he did. My sister bought her first new car, a 1971 Corolla, the next day. Try that at a Toyota dealership today without sustaining a major bodily violation.
Can-Am Beauty
OK. This is for the Commentariat–what is this? The title on my slides simply state “Can Am Racer.” I couldn’t find anything on the net that showed this distinctive front end.
But there are some clues in this photo. On the back wall is a sign that reads “Meister-” which could be nothing but “Meister Brau,” a beer that was made in Chicago by the Peter Hand Brewing Co. Meister Brau was an enthusiastic sponsor of racing cars, particularly the Lance Reventlow Scarabs driven by Augie Pabst (yes, of Blue Ribbon fame). Or it could be a car that Nickey Chevrolet, the biggest Chevy dealer in the US (which made it the biggest dealer, period) was sponsoring. Who knows? I took pictures, not notes. I was only 20. Just thinkin’, Nickey Chevrolet, which became Keystone Chevy, would be an interesting CC Classic study. Imagine being able to walk into Nickey, see a cute little Camaro with a 230 six Glide, and have it replaced with a rip-snorting 427 backed by a rock crushing Muncie. Yes, life was better then, if you had a healthy checkbook.
Can Am Racer
Sorry for the camera shake, every photo I took at the show was hand-held. I didn’t own a strobe. Some of these shots were taken on Kodachrome, some on Ektachrome. Didn’t make much difference, got shake either way. But the Chevy small block with Hillborns is in evidence here. I can still hear it…
1968 Torino Cobra
Another job for the Commentariat. This is a 1968 Ford Torino set up for NASCAR.
1968 Torino Cobra
It looks like it has a “long nose” used on super speedways, which I didn’t know was available in ‘68 (I was paying far more attention to my girlfriend’s bod than Ford’s racing efforts). But come to think it, I remember both warmly.
1968 Torino Cobra
But here’s the deal. 98 was LeeRoy Yarbrough’s number, back in the day when a driver could carry a number with him from car-to-car. But in 1968 Yarbrough drove for Junior Johnson in the #26 Ford, winning two races. Plus I can’t find any evidence that Jim Robbins sponsored any of Junior’s cars.
Jim Robbins was longtime Indy car sponsor from 1951 through 1970 (all cars built and owned by Rolla Vollstedt of Portland, OR from ‘65-’70). He owned the Jim Robbins Seat Belt Co. of Troy, MI and sponsored Yarbrough at Indy in ‘69 and ‘70 where he finished 23rd and 19th.
OK Commentariat, set my mind straight.
1968 Torino Cobra
At the time NASCAR stockers were required to state the size of their engines on the hood. For those of you afflicted with L.J.K. Setright syndrome (pedantic pomposity) that would be the bonnet. But we all know that the fabled Ford 427 was actually a 425. Do the math.
1968 Torino Cobra
The Torino Cobra would become the Torino Talladega in 1969. Not known by many is that the Talladega was more successful than the Superbirds and Daytonas from Plymouth and Dodge.
Love them wheels
Love the steelies.
Yarbrough went on to win seven races in 1969 with Junior Johnson in the 26. So what’s with the 98?
More great stuff from the ‘68 Chicago Auto Show to follow.
That Can-Am racer sure looks a lot like the Mach 5 from the Speed Racer cartoon!
+1
I thought the same thing when I saw the first picture of it.
Beauty is right.
All it needs is a red “M” on the hood:
Nice photos. All my teen years car show photos are similarly blurred.
The Le Mans winning GT40 resides at the Henry Ford no? I think I saw it there 20 years ago. That R&T article by Dan Gurney is a great read, I kept that one in my binder of saved articles, one of the few not by Peter Egan.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/museum/race-car-classic-ford-gt40-p1075/
Yes, that’s the car!
These shots look so crisp its hard to believe they are from 1968, that Can-Am car almost looks like a real life Speed Racer Mach 5. Nice, thanks for sharing.
Is it me, or does Pic 1 need to be relabeled? Sure looks like an AMX instead of a Torino…
Thanks, corrected.
When I was a kid in the early 70’s – my father would get two weeks of vacation a year – the last week of July and the first week of August.
For that first week my family would pile into the station wagon ( a Ford – I remember a gold Fairlane – then later a yellow Torino) and head off somewhere.
On one of those trips we pulled into a rest area for a break and there was a stunningly beautiful AMX. I was mesmerized by it – and still am today. I just love the looks of it.
“These shots look so crisp its hard to believe they are from 1968,”
35mm film cameras took good quality shots for years. My dad took numerous color slides with a camera he got in 1954. When we look at the slides on screen, its like a trip back in time. Now I have a slide scanner and fun to be able to share old pics online.
The fastback Torino and it’s Mercury Cyclone relative remain a favourite today.Thank you for another great read Kevin
On the last episode of Travel Channel’s auto-barn-find show ‘Backroad Gold’, they bought a Cyclone with a 429CJ in it – I don’t think I’ve ever even seen one in the metal myself.
Thanks for another trip in the Kevin Martin Wayback Machine. Your photos are always fascinating. Wish I had been there with another camera, I would have taken shots of all the stuff you ignored – Hey, everyone, another Chrysler Newport!
Give credit where credit is due. Thank you, Mr. Peabody.
I’d pay a lot for a time-machine trip to a long afternoon and evening walking that floor with you.
Your pictures have held up well. I have old family photos from instant cameras that, even in color, still look pretty good through about 1970. I have color shots from the ’80s that are a mess.
A stupid technical question; Did you colour-correct these images? Usually you can tell period from a photo but these are as fresh as brand new. Nice photos, nice post.
Can’t answer on the Can-Am racer, but I always wonder if this series didn’t divide Bruce McLaren’s attention whether he would have matched Blackjack’s singular distinction in F1.
The most that I do is check light levels, so I may brighten up selected images. Many I don’t do anything at all to. But I don’t fool with color balance (the shot of the TorqThrust D on the AMX is a good example-way too warm a cast) nor do I do any image sharpening. As I was taught in Photo 101, there is no saving a crappy negative. Same thing for positives (slides). Nothing beats sharp focus and an accurate meter reading. Plus it helps to have been shooting Kodachrome, although half of what you see was shot on Ektachrome.
Regarding the Torino stocker, are you sure that these specific pics aren’t from the 1969 show and it’s Yarbrough’s Daytona 500 winning car on display? I don’t think the long nose Torino’s were around that early in 1968.
Your question seemed like a valid one, so I checked the dates on the slides for the Torino (Ektachrome developed by Kodak). Guess what? The slides were developed in Mar 69! I never let film with latent images on them sit around for long, especially since I lived within a mile of Kodak’s film processing lab in Chicago, so they must have been from the ’69 auto show. Without doing any more research on the car, I would say it very well could be Yarbrough’s ’69 Daytona 500 winning car. Thanks for the skepticism.
Also, the street version of the Torino Talledega which made them NASCAR-legal was built (on weekends only) in January and February of 1969.
Great photos, Kevin. I knew just by looking that at least some were Kodachrome. Nothing else withstands time quite like it.
A little further research shows that, in fact, LeeRoy Yarbrough won the ’69 Daytona 500 driving the Jim Robbins Special owned by Junior Johnson. He and Charlie Glotzbach, who finished second, were the only two cars that completed 200 laps. Yarbrough’s win was worth $38,950. NASCAR used to publish race winnings but I can’t find a figure of how much Dale Jr. won yesterday, but it was probably north of $1.5M. Just starting the race was worth a quarter mil.
You had me at AMX.
I was all of five years old when these cars were released, but they still occupy a portion of my imagination to this day.
Thanks for the buzz!
The “Can Am Racer” is…
http://www.finecars.cc/en/detail/car/117157/index.html?no_cache=1
The one and only 1966 Wolverine Can-Am Racer, and it looks like some lucky person may be able to buy it…
Woowie zowie! The Commentariat comes through once again! The Wolverine was designed and built by Lee Dykstra and driven by Jerry Hansen. For a tie-in, see 1968 and ’69 Chicago Auto Show, Part 3, number 9, this coming Friday. It’s the AUSCA Alfa Duetto entry. Thanks Marc.
Superb spotting, Marc. Those ducts on the lower front wings seem to vary from open, to open but blocked, to flush.
Cool to know what that Can-Am racer was. My first thought was Chaparral but the back half of the car didn’t look right.
Toyota did build their own Can-Am (FIA Group 7) car in the later 1960s, the Toyota 7, for national competition. Eventually the car was powered by a turbocharged DOHC 5-liter V-8, but was shelved after a couple of fatal testing accidents. The Nissan R380 also ran in this period.
Servco Pacific (the Hawaii Toyota distributor) totes out a ’68 Toyota 2000 GT which is a pristine, survivor with very very low miles. It usually makes the rounds of the Honolulu car shows and is red just like this Chicago Auto Show example. Still rolls on it’s original bias-ply Bridgestones and has the 1968 HPD inspection sticker on the passenger’s side lower windshield (you’ll see these on the season 1 Hawaii Five-O episodes).
Real late (what can I say, I’m behind on my CC reading!) but these pics are amazing Kevin. Thanks for sharing. Though I’m a bit bummed that there are no Imperials or suicide-doored Connies, the AMX and 2000GT more than make up for it.
Now I’ve got to read Part 2 and Part 3. Hope there are more to follow.
the unnamed can am car is more than likely a Jim Hall Chaparral 2 version that would have never made it to the track after wind tunnel testing as there is too much air under the nose and not enough down force on the tail.. and yes.. a beautiful car.. yes.. probably the idea for the Mach V..
I am looking for pictures or information on a 1968 hemi dart that was at the 68 Chicago auto show, car would have been dressed in silver paint. Any help would.be greatly appreciated.
Among your photos from the ‘68 CAS do you happen to see any of the Maserati Mistral? The chassis number car that was on display at the show was just shown, unrestored, with Florida plates, at a classics event in Belgium. On Instagram the custodian of the Mistral seeks photos from ‘68.
Re: the mystery car? I believe it to be the 1969 AMX2
I’m pretty sure I got my start loving cars by going to the Toronto Auto Show at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds when I was a kid, notably in 1966. I collected brochures galore. some toy cars, and admired all the shiny chrome on display. I think on that same visit my parents took me to the Hockey Hall of Fame, on the same grounds then, and got some player autographs. What a great day it must have been. I didn’t bring my Kodak Instamatic camera to rattle off like 12 or 20 pictures, unfortunately, then again I would have needed four or five flashcubes and they didn’t always work.
Great memories.
The Torino Cobra is one of my favorite ’60s cars. It’s kind of like Ford’s version of a Dodge Charger. I like fastback cars. I remember this magazine ad. The text states that it was all muscle. For car guys that would rather drive performance cars than eat. Also a shout out to Peter Egan, my favorite automotive writer, the only guy that “gets me!”