90 / 150
around the country for ten years. Click
sold it in 2002 and then repurchased
it in 2007.
Vintage racing gained popularity
through the 1980s and 1990s, and
aside from Cobras and Shelbys, the
cars that attracted the most interest
were the 1970s Trans-Am cars. The
Historic Trans-Am Group was unique
in vintage racing because it competed
as a group, offering a full grid of cars
to various vintage race organizers.
They maintained high standards of
originality, both cosmetically and me-
chanically, and ran their own drivers
meetings and tech inspections. Their
drivers all knew each other and their
races were more of exhibitions in
which drivers were monitored closely
for safety and sportsmanship. The cars
were too valuable to put at risk. In
order to be accepted a car had to have
a verifiable history of competing in at
least one T/A event between 1966 and
1974 and the car had to be presented
in the way it was raced.
It was – and continues to be – a
close knit group known for its cama-
raderie and dedication to history. Un-
like other vintage race events, the only
way someone is allowed to compete in
the Historic Trans-Am group is by
having a car that has history and is ac-
curately presented. Jim Click was able
to obtain two of the most desirable
Mustang Trans-Am racers and both
have original Trans-Am and Historic
Trans-Am race history. Someone with
either of these cars would be admitted
into the group without question.
In 1969, Ford supported two sepa-
rate teams: Shelby American and Bud
Moore. Both teams prepared cars built
by Ford’s in-house competition shop,
Kar Kraft. The cars began life as Ford
Boss 302 Mustangs. There were four
Shelby cars in 1969; two were wrecked
and replaced during that season. They
were painted deep blue (a Ford corpo-
rate fleet color). Click’s car is #3, which
was driven by team drivers Horst
Kwech, Peter Revson and Dan Gurney.
At Lime Rock, on Memorial Day 1969,
when Gurney and Revson were at In-
dianapolis, Sam Posey was asked to
drive the car and won the race. It was
the last time a Shelby team car would
see Victory Circle.
The second Ford-sponsored team
was famed NASCAR stock car builder
Bud Moore of Spartanburg, South
Carolina. Rather than put all of their
eggs in one basket, Ford played the
two teams against each other and the
one that did the best in 1969 would re-
ceive factory backing for the 1970 sea-
son. That turned out to be Moore’s
team. In 1969 his cars were painted
red, white and black. For 1970 they
were turned out in “School Bus Yel-
low.” Drivers Parnelli Jones and
George Follmer dominated the series,
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Summer 2016 88