[Big Moe]

I always figured the best way to prove something was try to disprove it first. So,after my talks with Eric Dahlquist(writer of the 1969 Motor Trend article that showed the Silver TA,Jerry Titus and one of Titius\Godsal Racing 1969 Trans Ams) I always wondered why the Silver car was even in the picture...Well that is because its his car! He is showing the street TA and the race car. According to Rick Titus his father bought 6 cars from Royal Pontiac in early 1969,5 cars that TG racing turned into race cars and the Silver car. It was wrecked in the left frt suspension according to Rick when Jerry bought it(hence the big discount on the PHS) and the car was taken to TG and repair by Jerry himself. His signature welded steering box bolt washers he did to the race cars is present on my car as well and the steering box that displays P "prototype" with stamped id numbers not cast and contains 16-1 ratio blueprinted internals. Rick says that Paul Lamar took the car and areo tested it. I talked to Paul and he said he had it at ElMiage drylakes and Stardust in Vegas testing the downforce & lift for both street car & TG's race cars. Talked to Steve Kelly(writer of Hot Rod article)about his test,he said that John Delorean himself called him and brought the Silver TA to him for a 2 week test drive. Steve said he had the car at Riverside twice for press tests and that John D told him that they were behind on the car compaired to the Judge and would him do the article. All these happened before Jerry got the car. Rick said the Silver car was his senior prom date car and that later in the summer of 1969 Annie Titus(Jerrys wife) traded the car for $2500 at Universal City Datsun for a new Datsun and he would drive by and see it sitting on the Used Car lot and was so mad that she got rid of it like that. Thats is when it turned into just another muscle car sitting on a car lot and not a protoype,magazine test car or a Trans Am Racing Superstars dailey driver.
What I still am trying to track is who bought it from that point. Its just amazing the number of people that touched this car are still around and that they remember this stuff. I was connected by Rick to Doug Innes,DustyRhodes they were TG employees and talked about the 1968-69-70 Trans Am season and have sent me some amazing photos of back in the day stuff. Pontiac sure was quite the ringer so to speek using the chevy 302 in rebodied 69 to 68 cars in the 69 season and NOT the 303. It has been an amazing discovery for me and Im not done yet and so far NOTHING has proved that this is not the car.

[The Boss]

Very cool news Moe! Thanks for sharing!

Keep us posted & get those pictures posted up!

[Cammer-6]

wow it just keeps getting better....and better

[Big Moe]

Here are a few pics I'm sure most have never seen

[Big Moe]

Few more..The Black TA is Craig Fisher in one of the T\G cars. The other is Jerry in a rebodied 1969 to 1968 spec with 68 nose in the 1969 season

[Keith Seymore]

So, Moe -

You don't really want this silver car....it's been wrecked!

(lol)

Just kidding, of course. Keep up the good work; I'm enjoying following along as you learn more.

K

[muscle_collector]

super cool pics. thanks for sharing.

[MikeNoun]

Great job Moe!

I have several more pics, enjoy!!

Note : Check out the nose on the 2nd photo, you can see where the arrowhead emblem was. And on the 4th pic, you can
almost smell that Sunoco pink racing fuel, cant' ya?

[MikeNoun]

Another shot of Titus at Michigan, a 69 with a 68 nose. Somewhere, I have a photo of their 302 that Titus used, with the massive dual Holleys, I'm searching my PC now....

[Captainofiron]

Originally Posted by MikeNoun

Another shot of Titus at Michigan, a 69 with a 68 nose. Somewhere, I have a photo of their 302 that Titus used, with the massive dual Holleys, I'm searching my PC now....

hmm that looks pretty good with that style bumper

[Big Moe]

Here are 2 versions of the Titus 302. Also Bruce Thompsons 1969 TA in New Zealand

[Captainofiron]

Originally Posted by Big Moe

Here are 2 versions of the Titus 302. Also Bruce Thompsons 1969 TA in New Zealand

wow those are HUGE carbs

[MikeNoun]

That was the engine photo I was trying to find, thanks...

I just saw one of the Barrett-Jackson Auctions, a 1969 Trans Am came across the block, and the announcers said "...they raced the 1969 Trans Am's with the Chevy 302, because they were built that way up in Canada." But they never made ANY 1st Gen Firebirds up in Canada, and none were ever built with a Chevy 302. But that was how they (the Firebirds) were allowed to run with the race-proven Chevy 302, and the officials never verified the claim that Canadian Firebirds had Chevy engines.

In reality, the Pontiac RAV 303 was a pig, and the SCCA wanted some parity on the track. The more manufacturers, the more fans they would pull in. So the SCCA sort of ignored that claim about Firebirds being built with Chevy engines in order to allow the Firebirds to run.

Check out this pic, showing Titus's car (in front, with trunk open) with special widened rear fenders for clearance. Look at the Trans Am in the foreground, and you can see the difference around the edge of the taillight to the quarter panel area. Titus's car had an extra inch of fender. Very subtle, and one of the many ways which the SCCA teams stretched the rules.

[MikeNoun]

This is a bio of the Titus/Godsall Team for 1969.

[Big Moe]

These are the tech sheets sent to SCCA for the 1969 season

[Big Moe]

These are pic from a Japanese article. This was Paul Larmar test at Stardust Raceway in Vegas he talked about when they test lift and downforce on the racecar as well as TG's racecars. Check out the rear wing and frt.splitter.

[Big Moe]

Mike
The picture you posted of the white TA with the frt.end off and the guy working on the car..the guy is Dusty Rhoades and that is at the TG race shop. He was a master fab\car builder ex-drag racer and one of the first TG employees. When we talked he would say that the main bearing journals being too small in the 303 led to most of the failures with the motors. He worked in the shop when the team would hit the road, generally for months at time, to keep them in parts and engines

[The Boss]

I had assumed the wreck in post#4 was your car, but it's a 68 so that's not the silver car you bought - what caused the damage that resulted in the discount from Royal? Somebody in the press corps mess it up?

[Big Moe]

Not sure..I discovered the damage to the subframe and steering box when I pulled the engine after the TA nationals. The subframe has been cut and probably straighten and rewelded. After Rick told me that Jerry bought it from Royal wrecked in the left frt.I took pictures of the welds etc and sent them to Rick. The damage was left suspension-fender. I know that the spindle is different and a-arms too. Not sure if the steering box was replaced then or it was equiped with the "P" stamped box but the box is cracked bad enough that I have to change it. Doug Innes made the comment that TG had some "different ratio" steering boxes and that Jerry may have changed it if it was damaged to one of them. To answer the question...I don't know who wrecked it. I will post pictures of the welds and steering box

[70Steve]

Hi Big Moe, great reading about what you've discovered, amazing how the story keeps getting better too.

What do you know about the Bruce Thompson car in N.Z.?
I have a nice article on it that went for two issues in a N.Z. car magazine that I have been meaning to scan and talk about on here.

Apparently, Ron Grable bought it off Rick Titus and took it to N.Z. with no motor, a chev was fitted in N.Z. After the series finished it was bought by Rod Coppins and is still in NZ to this day, though I have never seen recent photos of it. Bruce Thompson are you lurking by chance?

It even ended up as a street car at one point too, how cool is that a genuine Titus TA on the street?!!
Here are some pics that i have found of it. I'll start a new thread for the article.