[MikeNoun]

I've been posting some Jerry Titus pics up our Facebook page recently, as well as some 1969 Trans Am Series shots.

The Titus/Godsall team raced 1968 Firebirds with Chevy 302 engines. The SCCA rules stated that the powerplant had to be a production engine available in that particular car, but Pontiac didn't have an engine that qualified in the 5 liter class. The T&G team argued that Canadian Firebirds used Chevy engines. While Canadian-built Pontiacs did in fact use Chevrolet engines, Pontiac didn't build Firebirds in Canada, and Firebirds never used a Chevy 302. The SCCA Trans Am Series was new, and they wanted to attract all manufacturers, so they were allowed to run. The media dubbed this the "sympathy rule", as everyone knew what was going on.

Without official factory support, in 1969 the T&G team purchased six new 1969 Firebirds, and built them from the ground up for the Trans Am Series (three were sold to independents). T&G built theirs with the new Pontiac RAV 303 engines. They were a little down on power, but they had hopes for improving throughout the year. But the SCCA said that the RAV engines were not production engines. The rules stated that 1000 examples had to be in the hands of the public.

So with the T&G 1969 Firebirds already built, and the RAV 303 not approved, they were facing a ban. T&G exercised a "grandfather clause" claiming that they were allowed to run 1968 Firebirds with the Chevy 302. Since the SCCA wanted Pontiac in the series, they allowed the team to go back to the 1968 models with Chevy 302's.

Since T&G already built and tested their new 1969 Firebirds, they ended up grafting a 1968 nose onto their 1969's and calling them 1968's.

Jerry Titus's 1969 Firebird, with a 1968 bumper. Notice the phony 1/4 louvers, and they even painted on the 1968 front parking light wraparound.