Trans Am: The Beat Goes On

These homologation specials are among the most enjoyable muscle cars— they can actually dance, rather than just run fast

by Colin Comer

From humble beginnings, by the late 1960s, the Trans-American Sedan Championship Series grew into one of the most popular events in SCCA history. Conceived as a sedan racing class for production-based cars with a minimum of four seats and engine displacement of between 2 liters and 5 liters, everything from Datsun 510s and Alfa Romeo GTVs duked it out with big American iron.

Manufacturers such as GM, Ford, Chrysler, and even AMC jumped at the chance to get their wares in front of literally thousands of spectators from their key pony car-buying demographic. The SCCA was aware of what heated competition between factory-sponsored teams could do to draw (paying) spectators to race tracks, and the factory teams were more than happy to oblige, as winning races on Sunday meant selling cars on Monday. Let’s see how the major players compared on the track, in the...