Trans-Am Might Not Be Trans-Am

[JoeBob]

http://www.scca.com/news/press03_159.html


CLARIFICATION FROM SCCA® REGARDING THE TRANS-AM® NAME

TOPEKA, Kan. (Dec. 19, 2003) – With the announced agreement this week regarding the acquisition of Trans-Am Racing, LLC by Open Wheel Racing Series, LLC, Sports Car Club of America, Inc. has issued the following statement clarifying its ownership, and the current and future use of the Trans-Am® name:

Trans-Am® is a registered trademark of Sports Car Club of America, Inc., and it has been since 1970. In that time, SCCA has entered into licensing agreements with companies including, but not limited to, General Motors, Spalding, Panoz/Sanchez Group and Trans-Am Racing, LLC.

The agreement with Trans-Am Racing, LLC, the organizer of the 2003 Trans-Am® series, was for use of the name Trans-Am® and its operational and marketing rights for the 2003 season. That agreement expires after December 31, 2003.

SCCA is open to a future agreement and there have been discussions between SCCA and Trans-Am Racing, LLC regarding this. However, at this time, there is no such agreement in place for 2004.

For more information about SCCA, please visit www.scca.com.

What is it about racers that they do their negotiating via press release?

[Don Quixote]

I think they should call them Trans-Am Indy Cup Cars Powered by Ford.

[rabbit]

How 'bout American V8 SuperCars?

[ChrisB]

Anyone know if SCCA has the rights to "Formula A"? ...in the 60's it was the predecessor name before "F5000".

[pchall]

Originally posted by ChrisB
Anyone know if SCCA has the rights to "Formula A"? ...in the 60's it was the predecessor name before "F5000".

It would be interesting to know if the SCCA trademarked it's class designations as well as series names, but I'm too lazy to do a trademark search this afternoon. ;)

FA, FB, and FC were SCCA single-seater classes instituted in the mid 60s and in most respects reflected contemporary F1, F2, and F3. The important difference was the equivalency allowed for 3.0l NA full race engines -- 5.0l OHV stock block.

[jonovision_man]

Originally posted by rabbit
How 'bout American V8 SuperCars?

I like it! :)

jono

[Cmndr Keen]

How bout North American V8SuperCar including all of our North American friends?

[RR. RS.]

Anything would be better than "Trans-Am"
You should see the look on people's faces when I tell them I going to a "Trans-Am" race... they kind of look at me and wonder where my mullett, jean jacket and sixer of budweiser are.

[racermike]

Originally posted by RR. RS.
Anything would be better than "Trans-Am"
You should see the look on people's faces when I tell them I going to a "Trans-Am" race... they kind of look at me and wonder where my mullett, jean jacket and sixer of budweiser are.

http://www.texastransams.com/images/vintage_firebird_ads/81-trans-am-turbo-ad.jpg

yeah baby yeah!

[chop456]

Wow. Possibly the worst engine in the history of automobiles.

[pchall]

Originally posted by chop456
Wow. Possibly the worst engine in the history of automobiles.

Nahhh... there have been far worse. Cadillac's 4-6-8, Chevy Vega 4s, Buick/Olds passenger car V8 diesels... hey, wait. I sense a commonality here.

They're all GM products!

[Railbird]

don't forget the Corvair helicopter motor. I can take you on a tour of some the abodes I grew up in and still point out the oil stains.

GM's policy is to let the customer pitch in on the developement.

[Wheel-Nut]

Originally posted by chop456
Wow. Possibly the worst engine in the history of automobiles.

But look at that warranty, 24 months / 24,000 miles. :rofl:

[Racewriter]

Originally posted by chop456
Wow. Possibly the worst engine in the history of automobiles.

Not at all. I had one simple modification that made for a great 301 turbo T/A.

Yank it and put in a 455. :D

[cart7]

Chevy Vega 4s

I carried a case of oil in the back for mine. Every 80 miles, pull over and dump in a quart. :D

[XFT]

the scca is being a jerk over this..:thumdown:

[Racewriter]

Originally posted by XFT
the scca is being a jerk over this..:thumdown:

Why? It's their trademark, they started the series and ran it for its first 35 years, shouldn't they have control over it?

[pchall]

Well, SCCA Pro has a great record of squandering any and all brand equity ever developed by a series they ran and trademarked. They should be happy with a very small slice just to keep the property alive in the marketplace. It's not like SCCA could actually run the series next season on their own...

[turn1]

Originally posted by RR. RS.
Anything would be better than "Trans-Am"
You should see the look on people's faces when I tell them I going to a "Trans-Am" race... they kind of look at me and wonder where my mullett, jean jacket and sixer of budweiser are.

Isn't that the damn truth?!?! It's like the new Best Buy commercial...

[Racewriter]

Originally posted by pchall
Well, SCCA Pro has a great record of squandering any and all brand equity ever developed by a series they ran and trademarked. They should be happy with a very small slice just to keep the property alive in the marketplace. It's not like SCCA could actually run the series next season on their own...

Well, they certainly squandered some brand equity when the Panoz bunch, then Gentilozzi, took it over. A series that not that long ago routinely drew 30+ cars to each race could only manage two races with over 20 cars, and a low of 15 cars, on the grid. The series owner's cars dominated, and only 7 drivers started every one of the eleven races.

T/A is in trouble. They need cars. The trouble is that the rules created a separation between the club GT1 cars, and the T/A cars. T/A needs those club cars to fill fields - plus, the cost of entry lets guys step up easily - think Leighton Reese, Mike Lewis, Randy Ruhlman. Now, prospective T/A drivers have to have a dedicated T/A car.

I don't blame the SCCA. I have no feel whatsoever for their ability to fix the situation, but letting their name just pass to the Paul Gentilozzi Benefit Series without any recourse probably doesn't make much sense to them.