1970 Trans Am Firebird

BF Goodrich Radial Tire Bird

REQUeST A printable PDF document with Photos

Sponsored by BF Goodrich Radial Tires and driven by Canadian champion John Cordts and Larry Dent, this car was raced in Trans Am, The Daytona 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours, SCCA and CSCC club events. BF Goodrich made special tires for the team and they eventually became the first production car to win a race using radial tires.

This was the third of three cars built by Jerry Titus’ TG Racing for the 1970 Trans Am season. Titus’ partner Terry Godsall secured BF Goodrich sponsorship for the team at the end of the 1970 season. The team convinced the SCCA to allow this car to run with a Chevy engine instead of the problematic Pontiac engine base on the fact that Canadian Firebirds were delivered with Chevy engines. This car was entered in the 1971 Daytona 24 hours as a Firebird and then was converted to Camaro body work in time for Sebring. It remained in Camaro trim for the remainder of it’s active racing carrier. The car was sold to Alfie Ruys de Perez and raced in Trans Am in 1972 with assistance from Mo Carter’s team and then to Don Clement who campaigned the car in IMSA and local CSCC events.

This car has been restored to a very high “Concours” standard by Mark Mountanos and his team. The attention to detail down to the nut and bolt level is second to none. A huge collection of documentation, historic photographs, and interviews with Titus team members has insured a proper period correct restoration. The car has participated in just seven races since the restoration was complete including the Monterey Historics.

Today the car is in spectacular condition, fully sorted, and race ready. Owned by a prominent west coast collector and vintage racer it has always had top quality care and preparation. The car looks as if the restoration had been completed yesterday!

The car has only three race weekends since a complete race-prep. Tony Oddo built the Chevy engine which has only 12 hours of track time. The T10 transmission has just been completely rebuilt by Tex Racing.

1970 Record
Watkins Glenn Trans Am — Cordts , 22nd. (GoodYear tires)
Canadian Trophy Race, Mosport — Cordts
Watkins Glenn SCCA National — Cordts, 1st, A Sedan (first production car to win a race using radial tires.)

1971 Record
Daytona 24 Hours — Cordts, Pike , DNF
Sebring 12 Hours — Cordts, Pike, DNF (converted to Camaro)
Bridgehampton SCCA — Dent, 2nd
Cumberland SCCA — Dent, DNF
Lime Rock SCCA — Dent, 1st
Bryar Trans Am — Dent, 16th
Thompson SCCA — Dent, 2nd
Road America June Sprints — Dent, 3rd
Mid-Ohio SCCA — Dent, 3rd
Nelson Leges SCCA — Dent DNS

1972 Record
Bryar Trans Am — Perez, 8th
Mid Ohio Trans Am — Perez, 29th
Watkins Glenn Trans Am — Perez, 9th
Donnebrooke Trans Am — Perez, 26th
Road America Trans Am — Perez, 8th
Saniar Trans Am — Perez, 14th

About Jerry Titus
In 1967, Jerry Titus was the Trans-Am Champion racing a Ford Mustang for Carroll Shelby. In 1968 and 1969, he was third in the Trans-Am series.
He had 43 career races with 4 wins in the 1967 race season. He had 5 poles, and 7 wins in his career as a driver or co-driver.

At the final 1968 Trans-Am race at Kent, the big news was that Jerry Titus was leaving Ford and moving to Pontiac. Terry Godsall, a young Canadian businessman, offered Jerry a chance to run a team of his own Pontiac Firebirds.

In going with Pontiac, Titus found that he was handicapped by the need of a great deal of developmental work, especially on the engine. Early on, Godsall pulled out of the Trans Am series, saying that the SCCA was inconsistent in its rule enforcement policies. Jerry then carried on the administrative responsibilities as well as driving for his team.

In 1970, Jerry Titus decided to stop building Firebirds for customers and concentrate on his own race cars. Three cars were built. This BFG " Tire Bird" and the Titus car are the only cars that still exist.

The third Trans Am Firebird was severely wrecked in a crash and eventually destroyed.
The 1970 Season was Jerry's last season.

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