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around the country for ten years. Click

sold it in 2002 and then repurchased

it in 2007.

Vintage racing gained popularity

through the 1980s and 1990s, and

aside from Cobras and Shelbys, the

cars that attracted the most interest

were the 1970s Trans-Am cars. The

Historic Trans-Am Group was unique

in vintage racing because it competed

as a group, offering a full grid of cars

to various vintage race organizers.

They maintained high standards of

originality, both cosmetically and me-

chanically, and ran their own drivers

meetings and tech inspections. Their

drivers all knew each other and their

races were more of exhibitions in

which drivers were monitored closely

for safety and sportsmanship. The cars

were too valuable to put at risk. In

order to be accepted a car had to have

a verifiable history of competing in at

least one T/A event between 1966 and

1974 and the car had to be presented

in the way it was raced.

It was – and continues to be – a

close knit group known for its cama-

raderie and dedication to history. Un-

like other vintage race events, the only

way someone is allowed to compete in

the Historic Trans-Am group is by

having a car that has history and is ac-

curately presented. Jim Click was able

to obtain two of the most desirable

Mustang Trans-Am racers and both

have original Trans-Am and Historic

Trans-Am race history. Someone with

either of these cars would be admitted

into the group without question.

In 1969, Ford supported two sepa-

rate teams: Shelby American and Bud

Moore. Both teams prepared cars built

by Ford’s in-house competition shop,

Kar Kraft. The cars began life as Ford

Boss 302 Mustangs. There were four

Shelby cars in 1969; two were wrecked

and replaced during that season. They

were painted deep blue (a Ford corpo-

rate fleet color). Click’s car is #3, which

was driven by team drivers Horst

Kwech, Peter Revson and Dan Gurney.

At Lime Rock, on Memorial Day 1969,

when Gurney and Revson were at In-

dianapolis, Sam Posey was asked to

drive the car and won the race. It was

the last time a Shelby team car would

see Victory Circle.

The second Ford-sponsored team

was famed NASCAR stock car builder

Bud Moore of Spartanburg, South

Carolina. Rather than put all of their

eggs in one basket, Ford played the

two teams against each other and the

one that did the best in 1969 would re-

ceive factory backing for the 1970 sea-

son. That turned out to be Moore’s

team. In 1969 his cars were painted

red, white and black. For 1970 they

were turned out in “School Bus Yel-

low.” Drivers Parnelli Jones and

George Follmer dominated the series,

The SHELBY AMERICAN

Summer 2016 88