Hard to believe.....50 years.....
I remember when myself and some autocrossers prepped a Ford Pinto and took it to Road Atlanta.
Those were simpler times.
The founder of IMSA, John Bishop, drove an AMC Gremlin donated by BF Goodrich (the series sponsor) and was painted appropriately.
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At one time the IMSA headquarters was in the 2nd floor of a building on Henderson Blvd approximately across from Outback restaurant.
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We knew it was all over for our autocross Pinto when Car and Driver magazine took a Pinto to Daytona "built from stuff we had laying around"
that included a Ford 9 inch real end...same as NASCAR uses in full size stock cars...
..and an engine built in the shop of drag racing legend Keith Black. Car and Driver ran only one race, and the Pinto went to race ACALAM
in Miami. Alex Job also raced ACALAM but went on to become more famous racing Porsches in the American Le Mans Series.
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There were two brothers from Tampa that raced AMC Gremlins, I don't recall the names at the time....
and since IMSA measured ride height from the CENTER of the rocker panel,
they tilted the cars front end down to where the nose drug the ground and the back end was tilted up...meeting the rules......
and producing HUGE downforce. They had inline 6 cylinders with stock intakes so big, you could roll a golf ball down the ports.
And then AMC "updated" the six cylinder engine to bigger cubic inches.

I recall that when they ran 1-2 into the infield turn one at Daytona on the first lap, they had a huge lead.
The next year IMSA said the rocker panels had to have the same ride height front and rear.
and the imports started winning more races. IMSA has come a long way.
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I drove a street/autocross Gremlin that won over 90% of it's races.....and discovered that by lowering the rear end
by 1", it would bring the rear end around while pointing the front to the inside of an autocross turn. I was also racing
sailboats at the time and added a "very strong trailer hitch" to the back end....which did not hurt when I had to sling the back end
out in the tight turns.

The year that the Florida State Autocross Championship was held in a big USF parking lot at the engineering building, It upset some people that I borrowed
the trophy to take my picture on Saturday and then won it on Sunday. I had taken contact paper and made an AMC emblem
for the door which contained my racing number. AMC did not send me any money. LOL
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Bruce Morehead (who is still around in SCCA, and still shows up for the plant city car shows ) raced an AMC AMX at Sebring 12,hour races.
When he qualified for the 12 hour, he asked American Motors Corp if they would contribute something toward his racing effort.

AMC sent him a cardboard box that had some Red, White, and Blue AMC racing jackets.
It was a simpler time.
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Later on, AMC spent millions with Roger Penske to race an AMC Matador in NASCAR.
AMC streamlined the car and made 4 bolt wheels an option. Mark Donohue was Penske's driver.

4 bolt wheels could be changed 20% faster than 5 bolts during a pit stop.... lol
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The IMSA 50th Anniversary Celebration – Episode Three / Bill Auberlen


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The IMSA 50th Anniversary Celebration - Episode Four / The Fans

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NFL films is recognized worldwide as the BEST sports filming.....

Wonder what they could do for the sport of auto racing?
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IMSA unveils 50th anniversary plans, logo