Pan American Heritage

[PanAmFan]

Hey folks,

 

I've really been enjoying the pictures of Pan Am and the memories you guys are sharing. My first race I saw there was in 1968, my last was in 1979. Like a lot of you I bought pictures, took pictures and even built a few models of the cars, both for myself and to sell in the concession stand. But unfortunately I have very few pictures left, and the models have been gone for 20 years. When I moved to California in 1983, one of the last things I did was walk with my son around the track he never got to see a race at. A few years ago I googled the area and it broke my heart to see it overgrown and virtually gone. But such are those kinds of memories.

 

I sat down once and figured I had gone to maybe 100 races at Pan Am, most between 1975 and 1978. In the late '70's my dad was the track clown for a few races. Somewhere amid the memories I do still have is an old picture I have of him roasting a hot dog on the exhaust of the Humdinger Mazda RX-3. I have an old magazine somewhere too, with Ricci Jr's car on the cover. I went to school with Jr, didn't live too far from him back in those days and used to stop by and watch Trey, Sam and him thrash on the car. But unfortunately health has taken from me a lot of those memories.

 

I had a stroke in 2002, and then a more serius one earlier this year. Now my memories are spotty at best: Pat Lane flipping Ricci's car and sliding down the back straight, Darrell Godfordson losing a complete axle and the flagman running out into traffic to yellow flag him, that kind of stuff. I wish I could remember more but even some of the names with the pictures are familiar but somehow distant. I remember a fan ride with Jimmy Fingers and him almost brushing the wall, smiling the whole time while I almost wet my pants.

 

What I do now, and have been doing for more than 40 years, is race HO slot cars, and I'm really wanting to build an HO version of Pan Am. My planes are for 4 lanes, have the landscaping like the entry road and pit area as accurate as possible. I talked breifly with Thomas Taylor about my plans, as he posts pictures I'll make my blueprints as accurate as I can. In a lot of the pictures you guys have posted I've been able to get a feeling for the back straight billboards and the general look of the track. What I really need is an overhead picture, or at least a diagram, of how the grounds were laid out. Once I get the track done, the cars will follow.

 

Those of you who raced slot cars in the 1960's and early 1970's probably remember the old pancake motored Thunderjet 500's. Well, Johnny Lightning still make the old Aurora design, a complete car is less than $15, and it's new. I have some cars in my collection that are from the '60's and with the availability of new parts keep them going. But the T-Jet will be the base chassis. Road Race Replica's (http://www.roadracereplicas.com) sells T-Jets and parts, but also sells a large selection of bodies. Their Fairgrounds cars are very similar to what PAS and other tracks raced in that era. Combined with the decals they offer, decals from an Australian source called Patto's (http://www.pattosplace.com) and ink jet printer decal film now available, I should be able to do most, if not all the cars you guys have been kind enough to post pictures of for my track. Once again, racing will be held on Saturday nights at Pan American if I can get this project done. My goal is to "break ground" by mid summer.

 

If anyone has pictures of things like the grandstands, concession stand, just pictures that were taken for the sake of using up film, please post them. Much of the features will be scratch built, just like the billboards I'm now reproducing for the back straight. Anything you guys might think is trivial may help.

 

Thanks,

[Budman]

Welcome PanAmFan,

 

I've bumped a thread about Pan Am up to the top. It should now appear under this thread, at least for a while. Just search through the many threads in this section. There are quite a few references to Pan Am with pics of cars and people who raced in that era.

[302cominthru]

Welcome aboard PanAmFan - You'll have hours of enjoyment browsing these pages. I've compiled most of my pics into a 30 minute DVD - I'm hoping with a little luck that Nick Holt (one of the big players on this site) will be able to make this accessible on this site. Hang in there and have fune!

[PanAmFan]

I will. I put together a little bit from memory and a little bit from pictures. This is what I can remember.

 

 

Any editing would be great. Remember this is HO scale, this layout is actually a 6' long by 3' wide and will allow for a grandstand and some landscaping around the actual track. I had considered having a 2 lane X in the middle....still thinking about it.

[F5RACING]

THERE IS A CURRENT PICTURE AND AN AERIAL SHOT UNDER PAN AMERICAN 2005. KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN. WAS JUST A BABY WHEN DAD RACED OUT THERE. TRY TO COME UP WITH SOME PICTURES FROM HIM TO POST. HAS NAME IS ALLEN VASBINDER. WON TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS AND ALSO SVERAL FIGURE 8 RACES. WISH I WOULD HAVE BEEN OLDER TO ENJOY, BUT ALONG CAME HWY16,SAS, AND NOW THR AND I37.