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The 1986-1988 IMSA GTO : an Americano-Japanese battlefield


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#1 GTO

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Posted 27 January 2007 - 13:01

From 1986 to 1988, the IMSA GTO class was the field of a competition between G.M. (Chevrolet Camaro then Corvette / Oldsmobile Toronado) versus Ford (Mustang / Pontiac Firebird then Fiero) and a strong japanese opposition coming from Toyota (AAR) and Mazda (Mandeville).

I found some technical interesting information about both the Peerless and the Protofab prepared Camaros as well as about the Dan Gurney's Celicas. Nevertheless, I'm still looking for those kind of information about the other major contenders as :
- the Skoal Bandit Camaro
- the Brooks Camaros
- the Irv Hoerr's Oldsmobile Toronado
- the Dingman Bros Firebird
- the Roger Mandeville's Mazda RX7 : I know it's a tri-rotor (the one of the 767 Le Mans prototypes without the turbo) powered car. That's all.

- Who designed these cars?
- Who built them?
- How many cars were built?
- Basic historical information about the teams?
- Chassis, body, engine, suspension, transmission, -brake, cooling and exhaust systems-, dimensions, tires, wheels, ... technical data?
- How did these cars evolve between the start and the end of their carreer during this period?

One last point, I readed somewhere the chassis Peerless Camaros was built with carbon fiber tubes whereas the Protofab one was steel fabrication.
Can anybody confirm that?

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#2 Francois78

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Posted 09 August 2013 - 15:33

Here is a race car video during this era (1988) . You could see the corvette protofab , the Mercury merkur XR4Ti and the Toyota Celica and other contenders of the GTO - GTU IMSA class ; I've made this video at Sears Point track .
http://hoslotfrance.free.fr/?p=259

Edited by Francois78, 09 August 2013 - 15:35.


#3 oldtransamdriver

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Posted 11 August 2013 - 05:11

You might try The Historic Trans-Am IMSA site - these cars now have their own run group with some vintage organizations. Ron Tribble was the driving force behind this group.

Robert Barg

#4 scags

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Posted 11 August 2013 - 10:35

Jack Rauch did the Merkurs. Scott Pruet and Pete Halsmer were the drivers. I owned a street one, and Ford would invite us to Watkins Glen and Lime Rock. They were good sounding races, with a mix of fours, V -8's, and the rotary.