| SHOW COVERAGE:
"Day at the Track" June 15, 2002 with the Indy GTO Association |
The show was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Every year this show is hosted by the Indy GTO Association, a growing chapter of the GTOAA. Its many members use the proceeds of this show to help support their charity, the Elysian Foundation. All Pontiacs were invited to this show. With the gorgeous weather, there was a record turnout. This year there were many more activities to enjoy. Car displays, a lap around the track, fabulous awards, optional museum tours, optional cruise to a restaurant, cruise to a drive-in movie that evening. Some show participants stayed at the Brickyard Crossing Golf Resort. Its a hotel situated along turn #2.
An overhead view of the entire Indy 500 facility. The show
cars were situated in the turn 2 infield parking lot. The area is
circled in red.
Part of the show includes a lap around the big track. Here,
Pontiacs line up to drive around the famous 2.5 mile oval track.
I toured the track in Bruce Troyer's white 1964 GTO convertible.
The back seat was a good vantage point for picture-taking.
It was fun to imagine what it must be like to drive an Indy racecar around
these banked turns.
The lap started in turn two. There are not many other car shows
that include such an experience!
Bruce is driving around the track. He's watching for the cops.
Really.
A look ahead shows a couple of GTOs making their way around the south shute.
A rearview to see who was following us. They're not keeping
up to Bruce's convertible.
Driving around the track. That's a cop car parked on the left.
I wonder where the speed limit signs are posted?
The scoring pagoda along the main straightaway is still relatively new.
Now it bears a sponsor name on it in black letters. It says
"Bombadier".
Bruce prepares to cross the finish line. He's approaching victory
circle, off to the left. There are photographers there, snapping
commemorative photos.
Following the other cars toward the finish line. That's the
scoring pole. During a race, it shows the relative positions
of the cars.
This is what an Indy driver sees as he approaches the checkered flag.
A quick look out the passenger side of Bruce's convertible. Look
down. That's the legendary "yard of bricks" marking the finish
line. That's also why they call this place the "brickyard".
In the early days, the whole track was paved with these same type of bricks.
Speaking of the early days. We just passed the pits on the
leftside. Here is what the pits looked like in the early days.
There were crowds, mechanics, big gas cans, and quite a few people wearing
ties!
After the lap around the track, we see the other cars getting ready for
their lap.
We pass some nice old Pontiac Firebirds.
And some more Firebirds of various colors.
We wave at some Trans Ams in the line.
These Fieros are poised to enter the track and wheel onto turn 2.
Several Fiero Indy Pace Cars attended this show.
After the drive around the track, I looked at the rear wheel of the 1964
GTO convertible I was riding in. We had noticed a rubbing sound coming
from the rear. Now we know it was Bruce's stainless trim piece
rubbing on a tire. It scraped away some black rubber.
This historic marker sign adorns the entrance to the speedway museum.
People come from all over the world to take the museum tour.
They even have a guided tour buses that drives around the facility regularly.
The Indy 500 gift shop is pretty cool too.
Back on the showfield, the parking lot is full of Pontiacs.
This 1965 GTO has some custom touches.
This blue 1966? GTO was one of the stars of the show. It sat
low to the gound. Many people snapped photos of this unique
car.
1966 GTO from the left front. You can see no emblems on this
car. The word "GTO" is simply painted somewhere on the front
fender, underneath the clearcoat. So are the purple flames.
Check out the rear tail lights. Smooooth.
This is an unusual 1966 LeMans with trick paint. The side stripes
appear to be fat chrome, but they are painted in 3D.
Here is a closeup of the painted details. This indian head
looks 3 dimensional, but its painted on.
A Tempest 4-door parked next to an older Tempest.
There's something about red convertibles. This 1968 LeMans
seems to have a 1969 front fender. The "LeMans" letters are
on the front fender, rather than on the rear quarterpanel, just ahead of
the red marker light.
Same 1968 LeMans convertible. Nice.
An all-American car! Here, the owner of this 1968 car has painted
the GTO emblem red white and blue. This is a large image so
you can see the nice detail. While studying the photo, I realized
that there is yet ANOTHER inventive way to keep sagging hideaway
headlight doors closed. This appears to be a rotating lever.
Looks like it can be flipped forward to allow the door to slide downward.
Sure beats a coat hanger wire. Or a windshield wiper blade.
Or duct tape. There are some tips for repairing hideaway headlamp
doors in the "Text Topics" area of this web site.
Same 1968 GTO hardtop with the eyeball-pleasing blue paint.
It is from Illinois.
This 1968 GTO convertible sits up tall. It also has an add-on
spoiler on its chin.
A 1968 GTO owned by Indy GTO Association member Jeff Slaughter.
This car is soooo red!
Jeff has an unusual look to the woodgrain portion of his dash.
It resembles very shiny lacquered wood. I've gotta ask him
about that sometime. But that's part of the fun of a car show,
speaking with the owners and learning all about their cars.
A 1969 GTO convertible with the top down.
This 1969 Liberty Blue GTO hardtop has Poverty Caps. They were very generic-looking
hubcaps. That's about as "stock" as you can get.
Its a different look than the "normal" Rally II wheels. Owner Roger Knight
(rakclkgto@fairfieldi.com) emailed some additional info about the car:
I am the original owner of this GTO. The order was placed with Young's Pontiac in Amanda, Ohio
on Febuary 15, 1969. The Order form ,which I still have the customer copy, shows:
Make GTO, Model 4237, Color E, Type hardtop, Year 1969, Trim 258 Black, Base Price 3203.50
4 speed 184.31
P. S. 94.79
P.D. B. 42.13
Radio 61.09
Posi Rear 42.13
Tax 145.11
Title 4.50
3627.95
Trade-in 377.95 (1951 Dodge Coronet 4 Door Sedan)
Total 3250.00
After what seemed like forever I took delivery on April 8, 1969 For a final total price
of 3207.80 because the car came without the Posi Rear.
A total off the frame restoration was completed in September 2000 on a 144,000 mile Ohio
driven car. The car was restored just as it was when I took delivery in 1969 except for
the AM-FM radio. Yes those poverty hub caps you mentioned were the standard wheel covers.
Anything else had to be ordered as an option. I didn't want my GTO looking like every
other GTO on the road. That is why you don't see Rally II's, Hideaway headlights,
Cordova Top or a Console. Unique is what I was after and I think I succeeded. - Roger Knight
The 1969 GTO right rear view.
This is a very rare sight. Its one of those cars that makes
you wish you had saved every penny of your allowance money since day one.
It's a 1969 Judge convertible in immaculate condition. If only
we could take this one for a drive.
Another view of the 1969 Judge in Carousel Red (orange). It
was spotless. If you toucha dis car, you wipa offa da fingerprints
right away.
This card was in the windshield of the 1969 Judge convertible.
We were also lucky enough to have a 1969 Judge hardtop in attendance.
Here is the rightside view.
High perspective on this Judge. Its got the hood tach and everything.
A rearview of the Judge spoiler. This car could fly around
the track!
Look inside the 1969 GTO Judge hardtop. Black vinyl everywhere.
A 1970 convertible. This tubbed monster came from Kentucky.
It could be easily heard while driving around the parking lot.
The tires on the back were very fat. It squeals just turning
a corner at 2 miles an hour.
The 1970 car has rollbars and plenty of padding. Who needs
a speedometer? A tach will do.
Same 1970 convertible with a wing.
A 1974 GTO. This was the last year for the GTO. Well,
sort of. Pontiac will come out with a new GTO in 2003 for the
2004 model year.
A 1974 GTO loaded up with Tiggers in the back seat of this post coupe.
Same 1974 GTO. This was the only 1974 car at the show.
1974 GTO rear end. Those are giant bumpers, thanks to new Federal
crash rules that year.
A 1974 GTO scoop was mounted on the top of the engine.
A silver Firebird running around the track.
One of the show spectators arrived in this 1988 LeMans. Pontiac
has long been criticized for putting the LeMans name badge on this little
imported car. You don't see these on the roads much anymore.
This particular one appeared to be in very good shape.
Among the Fiero's at the show, was this unique beast. It was
called "Predator" and had custom add-on body panels.
This is a rearview of the Fiero "Predator".
Another unusual sight. This Fiero made a trip around the track
hauling this matching trailer. It is a small photo.
The wheels on the car matched the paint.
CLICK->
There was a good crowd on hand for this show. We had a record
number of cars, nice weather, and record attendance. The Indy
club auctioned off a racing helmet for the Elysian Foundation charity.
The winning bidder was Bruce Troyer from the Indy GTO Association.
CLICK->
The best part of the day for some. Here, club president Bill
Sanders is preparing to present the trophies. The larger trophies
had gold pistons on top.
CLICK->
The show is nearly over. Some people are heading to their cars
for the trip home.
CLICK->
The Illinois GTO club poses. They were glad they made the long
trip to Indy for the show. They brought a lot of nice cars.
And they took home some nice trophies!
If you want more information on the Indy GTO Association, they have a web page at http://clubs.hemmings.com/indygto . If you have some interesting snapshots of car shows, email them to me, giving descriptions of your photos.