Anyone who relies on television for an accurate representation of history (or any subject, for that matter!) is missing the big picture.
It's easy to pick on TV. Go ahead and put the 'hate' on it. It's easy to pick on books too. We recently proved that books couldn't be relied on. The internet was wrong too. The big picture can include television accounts. Motion pictures can give us some of the only true depictions of history. It can also include books and the internet. Anyone who excludes TV/motion pictures from the big picture of history is leaving out an important part of the big picture.
Motion pictures cannot give a true depiction of history, unless they were recorded while it happened, and then the validity is limited to only the content presented.
No single source of information can be relied upon for a complete, accurate and unbiased source of information on any topic.
Vikki 1969 Goldenrod Yellow / black 400 convertible numbers matching
QUOTE "Motion pictures cannot give a true depiction of history, unless they were recorded while it happened, and then the validity is limited to only the content presented."
That's exactly what I was talking about. A motion picture of the race. Did you think I was talking about cartoons?
So are you saying that because the show did not portray any Firebirds racing in Trans Am series, that no Firebirds raced in the Trans Am series? If you had no information other than that motion picture, you could make that assumption.
Vikki 1969 Goldenrod Yellow / black 400 convertible numbers matching
Which is why multiple sources are a necessary evil. There could have been a Firebird on the track, but the cameraman and editor could have manipulated the content to exclude them. Do you know which race was shown? Or, perhaps, it was before the last race of the '68 series where the Firebird made its debut.
There were at least one '68 and one '69 with a '68 nose, both originally Camaros, plus four '69 (six according to another source) that were built.
Here is the story of one "recreation", previously owned by Jim Mattison and raced by his son, then destroyed in that terrible crash at Elkhart Lake last year.
- A Canadian industrialist, Terry Godsall teamed up with race driver Jerry Titus to form T/G Racing and a total of 4 Canadian T. Ams were built for racing. These cars were very successful throughout the 1969 season, finishing in the top 5. Over time, 3 of these 4 cars have been destroyed. The 4th car currently resides in New Zealand and has been converted into a Camaro. - This 1969 "Canadian" Trans Am is an exact recreation (plus series required upgrades) of the original, built from photos and blueprints of the original cars. Authenticated by GM of Canada. It is the only 1969 T. Am currently in competition anywhere in North America.
I could probably get copies of the photos and blueprints of the original. And it was authenticated by GM of Canada? Brent, do you feel like chasing that one down?
I find it rather ironic that the last original car was converted into a Camaro
Vikki 1969 Goldenrod Yellow / black 400 convertible numbers matching
It went through all the years. Plenty of Fords, Mopars, Chevies, AMC's never a Pontiac in the bunch. It must have been a conspiracy to exclude the Pontiac. Or maybe the one and only Bird was in the pits or crashed.....
One more bit of data: on page 68 of "The Fabulous Firebird", it states that in 1967 Firebirds were produced only in Lordstown. In 1968, production continued there but also started up in Van Nuys. And in 1969, the Norwood plant joined the other two. For 1970-71, Lordstown stopped making Firebirds, then Van Nuys stopped in '72, leaving only Norwood for the next six years.
No Canadian plants building First gen Firebirds - or second or third for that matter. More confirmation from the time of the myth. The answer was there all the time.
