OT: Thrill of a lifetime - ride in Can-Am car!
 

I attended the Mark Donohue Tribute/Reunion at Watkins Glen this past weekend, and was offered a ride around the track in Mark's 1996/1997 USRRC/Can-Am Lola T70.

(The owner only had to make the offer once.)

Through turn 2 and up the esses:

Into the chicane. That's Mark's 1971 Trans-Am Championship Javelin in front, along with the Ford Gt Mk IV that he co-drove with Bruce McLaren at LeMans in 1967.

Up the hill on the back side of "the Boot":

Now that you mention it, it WAS a little windy....

In the staging lanes - that's Mark's 1967 Trans-Am Camaro in front.

I need a ride in the Bat boat Im closer to him CAT :D

Brian - you missed your shot on Sunday the 31st and Saturday the 6th. It was gorgeous on Seneca Lake, and YOU wimped out...

Chuck, you've got the life pal! :D What a great way to spend the day.

Now, what's more fun:

-driving a Can-Am Lola T70
-driving the Batboat

??? :D:D

awesome!!!!

that blue armco at watkin's freaks me out....

That is sweet Chuck!!

Wow....what an honor, talk about some history. Killer stuff man, congrats and thanks for sharing.

A4:)

C Spray- You are one lucky SOB

I have a copy of Mark Donahues' Biography- "The Unfair Advantage". I'm going from memory here, but can dig the book out of needed.

AMC made a Mark Donohue special edition Javelin, and MD got one for his father or mother. They lived in a small town, and I seem to remember some very funny comments were made about him having his very own fancy car "Personalized". It was a signature edition.....with his signature.....

He also talked about some engine block castings that were acid dipped before being put on the production line at Chevrolet for machining. They were painted purple as I recall, to let the factory guys know they were special. The factory shift changed, and nobody passed the word. Anybody got an old Chevy wagon with a purple motor??????

They also acid dipped body panels for a Trans-Am race Camaro, which he severely wiped out before one practice lap was completed.

Mark Donohue was not only a great driver, but he also had a natural engineering talent, and from all accounts was one of the nicest gentlemen to ever drive a race car.

I wouldn't mind a ride in a Mclaren M-8F or Porsche 917-30.......

Thanks for sharing your experience!
Bulldog

AMC did build a Mark Donohue edition Javelin AMX.
I remember the tall rear spoiler with his signiture on the right corner.

Didin't he drive for Penske back then?

I remeber the acid dipped bodys. The story I read said that they had two identical Camaros built, one "legal" weight and the other was the "flyweight" car. They would send the legal car through tech inspection and then somehow switch to the lighter one just before the race.

Jeez...you got a real taste of history there. There are many people that would have given anything for that ride in his car. Way to go :D :D :D

Thanks for sharing the pics Chuck. That is awesome!!! :D :D

Allan4 - Yes, it was a great feeling. The hair on my arms was standing straight up as I got into the car. Pretty cool experience having a 500hp small block fire up 6" behind your head, snapping and popping back through the carburetors at low revs.

Bulldog - The fenders that were wiped out were actually stamped from lighter-weight steel at enormous cost (Chevy had to shut down the stamping line). After the crash, they were replaced by a set that had been lightened by acid-dipping. This was cheaper and easier to do.

917-30: :eek: I got to sit in that car at Lime Rock in 2001. OOhhh, baby - 1800 pounds / 1200 hp / 20" wide rear wheels. You do the math. I saw it run at Mid-Ohio in 1973 (Donohue) and in 1974 (a one-off appearance with Brian Redman driving), and then saw Roger Penske himself drive the very same car at Lime Rock in 2001. Neat.

Iggy - The infamous "lightweight" Camaro was built late in the 1967 season, and was so effective that Mark lapped the field at the last race and was subsequently weighed by the officials. (Believe it or not, the SCCA did NOT normally weigh cars in tech inspections!) The car came in 250 (!!!) pounds underweight, and the officials threatened to disqualify the win. Roger Penske "suggested" that this would upset Chevrolet so much that they would withdraw from the Trans-Am for the 1968 season, so the the SCCA backed down, but said "Don't ever bring that car back to a race again". Penske sold the car to Terry Godsall, but then needed another car for the Sebring race in 1968. Penske borrowed the car back, fitted it with 1968 grilles, lights, etc. and painted it to be identical to the regular (legal) 1968 car. They then sent the the legal car through tech, took it back to their garage, changed the numbers, and sent it through tech again as the "other" car. This worked so well that they then used the lightweight car to qualify both drivers by swapping numbers during qualifying. (This, by the way, is the only story I know of where Penske actually cheated intentionally.) All of this was confirmed by the guys who should know (the actual crew guys of the era) while I was at the Glen last week. This car was at the Glen, and runs in its 1968 Sebring trim as "15" in vintage races. And it wins. A lot.

Here's the whole story.

Iggy - Mark drove exclusively for Penske Racing from 1966 until his death in 1975.

Business end of the aforementioned 917-30. The tires are actually much wider than they look:

Crew members of the era (left to right):
Chuck Cantwell (Team Manager), Jerry Kroninger (Sunoco rep), Karl Kainhofer (Crew Chief USRRC, Formula One and Indy), Bill Preston (Sunoco rep); Don Cox (with microphone) (Engineer and developer of the infamous "vacuum-cleaner Chaparral), John "Woody" Woodard (Crew Chief Trans-Am, Can-Am, and Sport Cars), Earle MacMullan (mechanic) and Sue Donohue (Mark's first wife and mother of his two sons):

Sue Donohue with sons David (left) and Michael (right). David's resemblence to Mark is almost frightening.

Chuck, I wasn't all that big a Canam fan in those days, but in the late 60's we (Holman/Moody) had Andretti's car in the hangar. #29, "Holman/Moody Honker" with a 494 DOHC Ford. Couldn't keep halfshafts in it. Why the small block in yours?

We also had the 1,2,3 Mk40 J Fords from Daytona and Le Mans. Believe it or not, we sold them running and street legal for 24 grand apiece. One was just resold for a Million Bucks. ****!

Brownie - The car I rode in was a 1966/67 car. At that point, the "new" big-block had not been sorted out well enough to road-race. Later, they finally discovered that it tended to collect oil in the valve covers under high lateral G's, which was solved by fitting oil scavenge pump fittings to the cylinder heads. THEN (1968) things got a little crazy in the HP department....

The yellow Mk IV in the pictures is street-legal and flawless. It is also certified as being the Donohue/McLaren 4th place LeMans car from 1967. Care to estimate a value? Note the directional "fan" wheels....

Thanks for the memories CSpray!
I love those old race cars GT40 WOW!!!
Plus Watkins Glenn has so much history. You had me reading my favorite story about Gilles Villeneuve at Watkins Glenn in the US East GP in 1979. The track was a little longer than also.

"A friend of mine in America sent me a cassette a while ago. On it is the sound of a lone racing car, unmistakably a Ferrari
flat-12, and its clearly audible all the way round the lap. There is a lot of wheelspin - you can hear the revs abruptly scream
out of every turn - and then the volume builds until the car swishes by in a welter of spray.
He taped it during the first afternoon of practice at Watkins Glen in 1979, when conditions were as bad as I have ever seen at a race circuit. In places the track was flooded, and only eight drivers ventured out.
One of those was Scheckter, who was fastest behind team mate Villeneuve. Eleven seconds behind ...The tape is of course Gilles, and it revived memories of a day when we forgot the wintry rain until he came in, the Ferrari breathless and steaming. In the pits the other drivers, aghast, had giggled nervously every time he skittered by at 160 mph. "Why do we bother? He's different from the rest of us," Jacques Laffite said. "On another level ..."
"I scared myself rigid that day", Jody remembered. "I thought I had to be quickest. Then I saw Gilles's time and - I still don't really understand how it was possible. Eleven seconds !"
"Motor racing was a romantic thing for him, you see." Scheckter went on. "We were close friends, doing the same job for the same team, but we had completely opposite attitudes to it. My preoccupation was keeping myself
alive, but Gilles had to be the fastest on every lap - even in testing. He was the fastest racing driver the world has ever seen. If he could come back and live his life again, I think he would do exactly the same - and with the same love."

Chuck,
I was there all week-end with the Warren Agor crew and just got my slides back today and have some great photos of you taking that ride!!!I took 300 frames and got some great shots including you and Michael on pit lane,Roy, Earl, Karl,Woody... portrait of Michael,Sue, and David all the cars for the reunion...to much to list. When i first read your post I thought it might be you, but the slides just confirmed it! If your interested send me off an e-mail and Ill see you get the photos.
Bob Madara
[email protected]

Proof (courtesy of rmbuilder) that I was in the car at speed. Still feels neat to this day....

Boy those pictures bring back memories of my grandfather. He was a race car nut and lived very close to Lime Rock. During his years of driving he acquired some pretty interesting cars for his collection including a Lola t-70 (which he made me nearly cry in), a Brabham bt-40, and the crown jewel which was a McClaren formula one car that he bought in England and had flown back to the states. The car was driven to the 1977 world driving championship by James Hunt, but then used for testing by another driver that was the same height as my grandfather. The fit resulted in the sale. I remember him doing Tuesday open practice at Lime Rock. He also filmed a commercial for Toyota at Watkins Glenn. When he died he donated all of the cars to a museum. He also had a perfect 1966 aluminul body Ferrari Daytona and another Ferrari.

Chuck you Lucky Dog!!! Now that you said it David looks alot like his Dad!!! My family was a huge fan of Mark Donohue. We used to stop by the shop in Newtown Square. Neat Stuff!!

That was a fantastic era in motor racing. Competition was fierce. Not like today where the rules are strict, all in the name of "parity".

I belive it was the 67 or 68 Daytona 500 when Smokey Yunick entered a perfect 7/8ths scale Chevelle. The car was lowered to the point that the tires were tucked up inside the wheel wells almost rubbing the sheet metal. The other teams ran with large cut-outs to clear the tires. The teams all protested and NASCAR said there was nothing in the rule books saying the tires couldn't be tucked inside the fenders.
Smokeys car went out and easily won poll position. No other team could beat it during qualifying. Prior to start of the race Smokey took a sawzall and cut the wheel openings to clear all the tires. Again the other teams protested. NASCAR said there's nothing in the rules that say he can't do that.
It was because of Smokeys 7/8ths Chevelle that NASCAR now uses templates to check body size and shape and wheel openings.

that had to be a blast:cool: :cool: :D

brownie the cars that you are talking about belong to
Harry Hienl (not sure of the spelling) in Miami