Ken, the Blue car DID have the Special Equipment Option Sales Code 612 Rally Handling Kit, a package that included the Quick Ratio 20:1 Manual Steering Box.
In the '64 article, C&D (presumably Davis' and/or Jerome's opinion) comments that this still "wasn't fast enough" and they preferred the Power Steering which the Red car (the back-up car) was equipped with.
There are a number of factual errors in the C&D article. For example, the car was claimed to have the "standard GTO suspension". Presumably to imply standard Springs & Shocks. As I have related numerous times, there were NO optional Spring choices for the GTO.
But in '64, for a non-GTO, the Rally Handling Kit option included HD Shocks, HD Springs, larger stabilizer bar, and the Quick Ratio Manual Steering Box. With the GTO option, the base GTO already provided the larger stabilizer bar and the heaviest Springs possible, but you DID get the same HD Shocks that you would have gotten if you ordered the Regular Production option Sales Code 621 Heavy Duty Springs & Shocks. So C&D was mistaken to state the Blue Car got the "standard GTO suspension".
The Q.R. box was certainly better on the road course than the standard way slow manual box. But based on the opinion stated in the article, regardless of any preconceived notion, I get the sense the P.S. car was preferred in actual testing.
And if Wangers consciously thought to specify one car for acceleration testing and one for better handling, it is hard to imagine why he specified the Red car with PS and 3.23 gears if he intended THAT car for acceleration testing.
Since it was claimed to have been brought along as a "back-up", maybe it was not expected to be involved for any testing unless necessary and was run only because it was there and they had the opportunity.
I just wish Davis and Jerome were available to relate their own recollections of the actual testing.
I know NOTHING about a '62 Lemans homologated with the FIA. Please elaborate. I do not know the homologation rules that would have been in effect at the time, but something like 500 cars had to be produced, no? Are you suggesting Pontiac actually produced a large quantity of 389 equipped '62 Lemans' that were professionally raced? I'd like to know more for sure.
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