ACL TA '70 Pontiac Firebird

In the days before our modern 186-mph Y-rated tires, street tires were street tires, and race tires were race tires, and never the two shall meet – until the Trans Am. The B.F. Goodrich Radial T/A was the first American-made tire that was DOT rated, and also had SCCA approval for track competition. In order to prove the new tire had what it took, B.F. Goodrich looked for a team and a series to run a street tire in professional competition.

They found a perfect partner in Terry Godsall and Jerry Titus’ T/G Racing. They had built a trio of Pontiac Firebirds for the 1970 season. At the end of the season papers were signed, and the Firebirds became Tire Birds.

B.F. Goodrich took stock T/As and shaved off half the tread and had them put on the 3,200 lbs racecar. This Firebird eventually became the first production car to win a race using radial tires with a class win at Watkins Glen. At the 24 Hours of Daytona they moved up 14 places in the first 5 hours, but the 303 ci Pontiac V8 would let go early in the morning on Sunday, ending their race. They proved their point though, being the first street tire ever to run at Daytona.

After Daytona the Firebird would become a Camaro. The team had already convinced the SCCA to allow this car to run with a Chevrolet engine instead of the problematic Pontiac engine based on the fact that Canadian Firebirds could be delivered with Chevrolet engines.