Pace Car Reunion Recap

[72firebird]

Well I wasn't the only TTA at the Pace car reunion this weekend and was actually joined by 3 other TTAs, 2 owners who I have never met before, and the original pace car. I got a lot of pictures so like I normally do I will post the pictures and a little description of what's in them. Tonight I'll be making a thread from other parts of the show like the garages and Indy 500 activities. The really good pictures of the actual TTA will probably be towards the bottom.

Here's the beginning of the line of pace cars, there was a total of I think like 178 cars on display includding 50 or so museum cars.

The first SUV to pace the Indy 500

This Stealth I believe is 1 of 1, it was originally chosen to pace the 91 Indy 500 but was then replaced by the Viper because they didn't like the fact it was powered by a Mitsu motor (or atleast that's what I've been told)

 

[72firebird]

Some more pace cars. I was amazed by the tan and green car. The guy drives it all the time and it has completed the Great Race 5 times ( a race across the United States).

This is the original 1969 Camaro Pace Car. The board out front listed the suspension and performance modifications.

A group of Hurst Olds, most of them traveled together from Illinois.

The 1981 Buick Regal, does anyone know for sure if it was turboed? It's the museum car so there was no one to ask and they wouldn't pop the hood and I couldn't see from underneath.

 

[72firebird]

This is the actuall 89 TTA Pace car. There's pictures of the mounting for the camera, the camera itself, the strobe lights, the switch for the strobe which replaced the fog light switch, and other odds and ends. Oh, and some pictures of how poorly kept this car has been. I was kind of disappointed in it's condition especially considering the mileage. I was unable to get any engine bay pictures because they wouldn't open it for me.

 

[72firebird]

And finally a couple of pictures of my car at the show. I feel I represented the TTA crowd to the best of my ability and informed many people who were interested in them. I left my hood open (I was only like 1 of maybe 8 cars of the 180 cars there that had their hood open) the whole time and had a lot of attention. My dad talked with the people from the Green Light model company that are in the process of making the TTA and he said they took pictures of my car for about 30 minutes. I have the guys email address and he's going to be in my area in a couple weeks visiting family and said he would like to try to meet up again then. So it sounds like they're really working on getting a good quality TTA model together.

 

[Jan Larsson]

Wow way cool, thanks for sharing !!! Bet you had a great time!

Did you get the VIN # of the museum TTA? Any more pictures of the other TTA's? Did you get to drive around the track?

 

[davege]

Nice pictures.

Thank you for sharing!
- Dave

 

[phillyturbosix]

Good pics! Wish I could have went! That Buick pace car was no turbo. It was nothing more then a sticker and paint package back then! But they knew they would turbo it in the years to come..

That TTA pace car got the crap beat out of it that day in 89 I'm sure! Suprised it looks that good. I can't believe they leave the camera mount in there. That had to be expensive for abc sports to leave that behind back then!

 

[mr.turbota]

Nice shots of Malibu!
I too, wonder if you got a shot of the complete vin.
I love the closeup shots you took!
It neat to see the yellow push button, instead of the grey.
By chance, did you get more shots of the car?
I was wondering if you could put them all on a cd. I would gladly pay for it and shipping!
Glad you had fun!

George

 

[Quiky One]

Like others have said it looks like you had a great time. I'm not sure if the 81 Regals were turbo'ed but the 1982 Regal had an option of a carb'ed turbo. There were verrrry few made. How many miles were on the TTA pace car?

Thanks Jason

 

[72firebird]

I have a couple more pictures of the TTA and have a bunch of one of the other TTAs that was there. The one with 19k miles I parked next to on both Saturday and Sunday and we both left our hoods open. I'm pretty sure the VIN is 1G5FW2178KL235584, that's from me trying to read the 2 blurry pictures that I got of it. The TTA had 4730.5 miles on it, and then they took it for a lap around the track and everything so probably around 4735 now.

Overall I had a pretty good time, the $90 admission fee included a dinner on Friday night for 2 which included free soft drinks, prime rib, fruit bar, cheese bar, and all sorts of good food. It was very formal and you ate in the museum so you could walk around some and meet other people. They had bars set up too mixing drinks for people and soft drinks were free. You also got 2 bronze garage passes which got you into the garage and like the tech area and fueling area. It was pretty neat being able to get right next to the cars and actually see the technology that has been put into them. I have worked for a Nascar Busch Series team and it's nothing like the IRL cars. I'll have those pictures posted in the Turbo Lounge a little later tonight.

Here are some more pictures of TTAs. The first is me driving on the parade lap, which was pretty fun but not very eventful. I was debating on doing a huge burnout just to say I did it but I chose not to ruin it for others since whether the event became an annual occasion depended on how the parade lap went.

Here are some pictures of the other TTA. The engine bay is in a little better condition than what mine originally was when I bought it about 2 years ago. This car has 19k miles with SMC Alcohol injection, TA49, 42 lbs injectors, hotwired Walboro 340, line lock, built tranny, air bags in the rear, koni struts in the rear, Random Technologies torque arm, tubular lower control arms, and the modified MAF pipe. The car was for sale and the owner was from Georgia and was asking $16,500 but I forgot to get his contact info.

I have a lot more TTA pictures and I'll work on getting them zipped and I'll host the ZIP file. I took about 180 pictures in total from the whole weekend and probably about 80 of them or so are of the pace cars.

 

[Quiky One]

wow...that guy with the tta for sale looks like he needs to meet a wet rag. Whats up with the HUGE bright orange oil return line off the turbo and the yellow alky hose? To each his own...


Jason

 

[72firebird]

Well I don't really feel like starting another thread now since I have 67 pics hosted so here is the album of all the pictures http://www.streetdisturbance.invisi...lery&cmd=user&user=107&op=view_album&album=83

#1-6 is from the F-body gathering. We went out to their official hotel where some people were hanging out, drinking, and just having a good time. Well a kid from MI bought this camaro for like $200 and they made it their low budget race car. So they decided to plaster it with stickers and make duct tape flames on the front. Once the flames were done they looked really good. Anyways they got the car from like a 16.8 to a 16.12 I believe just through a little tuning, weight reduction, and better tires. They did everything they could to try for a 15 second pass but never got it.

#7-24 are the pace cars. Many of the cars posted were the actual pace cars from the museum includding the 69 Camaro.

#25-35 are pictures inside the garage. most pictures are self explanatory but they include the firestone booth where they had like 6 tire changers and 6 balancers going almost constantly trying to get everyones tires ready. There's a couple pictures of the tech area and indiviual teams garages.

#36-37 are more pace cars

#38-41 are from a cruise-in that we went to that was a little south of Indy called Suds. It was really cool and a lot of badass cars. These pictures are only a few of the cars that were there but unfortunatly hardly any of my pictures came out very good during this because I had the camera on the wrong setting.

#42-48 are more indy car pictures.

#49-67 are pictures of TTAs including some showing imperfections in the original pace cars paint. My car has a big drip of clear on the rear hatch and the guy who painted my spoiler told me there was no way it came from the factory with it, well sure enough the actual pace car had a drip that was a little smaller but in the exact same place.

If you have any questions as to what a picture is just post it and I'll be more than happy to tell you what the picture is actually of since I know a couple of them came out a little blurry.

 

[TClassic]

WOW!!! 72 Firebird...WAY to GO!!!
You best believe I saved all those Pics's...And I'll be puttin a few on my Office Wall...Looks like a Great time down there!!!

 

[72firebird]

WOW!!! 72 Firebird...WAY to GO!!!
You best believe I saved all those Pics's...And I'll be puttin a few on my Office Wall...Looks like a Great time down there!!!

Oh yeah that reminds me they took pictures of us when we were driving around the track. I'm suppose to be able to order them online or something on Wed so once I see what they're like I'll make sure to let everyone know so you can get a picture of one of the TTAs that was there on the track (the actual pace car did go around the track too and I'm pretty sure they probably took pictures of it)

 

[j13smiley]

very nice!

thanks for sharing!

 

[Who Needs 8]

Man, I really wish I could have gone. I just moved so I didn't have the immediate money. And I didn't want to drive pulling a car for 20 hrs there and 20 hrs back.

I think if they ever do it again . . . I'll have the car shipped and then fly there

 

[Who Needs 8]

Here's the officials pictures on the Indy website

http://www.indy500.com/photo/gallery.php?series_id=6&event_id=446&eventDate=2006-05-21

 

[mr.turbota]

Thanks for that website!
Sure are some nice cars there!

George

 

[j13smiley]

Here's the officials pictures on the Indy website

http://www.indy500.com/photo/gallery.php?series_id=6&event_id=446&eventDate=2006-05-21

all the overhead shots of the tta cars had some dude walking across the track in them i'd be pissed!


some one had a tow truck tow them around for their lap???