Donohue Trans Am Javelin Hits Auction Block

[NewsBot]

Trans Am racing does not look back on 1971 as a good year for the series. Both Chrysler and Ford withdrew from the series, while the Pontiac effort suffered from the loss of Jerry Titus the previous year. Roger Penske still had backing from American Motors, but decided to scale back on his team.


Photos: Russo and Steele

Penske sold his team Javelins, save one, to American Racing Associates and kept Mark Donohue on to run the series. Donohue won seven Trans Am races that year, including six of the first seven. In an interview, Donohue bemoaned the cost of building these race cars.



"In 1967, when we started Trans-Am racing, the cost to build a Trans-Am car was about $20,000. In 1968 in 1969, we figure we spent roughly $30,000 to $35,000. Last year, to build just one Trans-Am Javelin cost us $62,000 - maybe more."

Donohue died on August 19, 1975, in Graz, Austria, while practicing for the Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix.



Mark Donohue's 1971 AMC Javelin Trans-Am racing car is one the highlights of Russo and Steele's 10th anniversary Monterrey Sports and Muscle auction, being held at the Monterrey Marriott Hotel, on August 12 - 14. The Russo and Steele event is being held along with the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and the Monterrey Motorsports Reunion.



Detroit muscle cars will dominate the auction catalog, with significant examples crossing the block, such as the 1963 Shelby Cobra CSX2009, a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette "SCCA Race Car," 1969 Pontiac GTO, a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro COPO, 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle SS Two Door and a 1969 Ford Mach 1 R-Code (428 CJ) among others.




More...