Mark Donohue's 917/30 Cam2 car, Need period reference photos of Otis Chandler's car Options

[Donohuefan]

I'm hoping maybe somebody on this board might have taken photos of the ex-Mark Donohue/Roger Penske 917/30-003 which Otis Chandler owned during the late 1970's and early 1980's.

There is nicely manufactured diecast model of the car in 18th scale, but it has none of the different/correct details and modifications that made it different from the road-racing Sunoco version of the car. I'm hoping I might find someone who saw the car while Mr. Chandler owned it, and took a few good detail photos of the car (particularly the rear of the chassis with the unique intercooler setup). The car had all of the changes made to it for the Cam2 record run when it was purchased from Mr. Penske in 1976.

ANY help or leads would be greatly appreciated.

THANKS! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Donohuefan]

Well, since first posting my request for help here, I've got several helpful people who have shared their personal photos, and a few photos from various magazines and books. THANK YOU! I also have had the pleasure of being given access to some great shots of the car taken at Riverside back in 1980 while Mr. Chandler owned it. I'm still holding out hope for one other significant person to help me finally get the detail photos of the front of the intercoolers I need. I'm keeping my fingers crossed those will still become available.

(IMG:http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w197/hpgiswom/SideViewbefore.jpg)

Here is photo of the model we are starting from. It is the 1/18 scale Exoto "prototype" 917/30, which as you can see, never existed like it was released. Fortunately, the "prototype" is identical to the red & white Cam2 version of their models, just without the aluminum wheel-dishes and with a different paint job (it has a tonneau cover, but I forgot to put it on for the this photo). A lot of things, like the mirrors and front chin spoiler will have to go for a proper Cam2 car.

(IMG:http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w197/hpgiswom/Partstakenoffsofara.jpg)

Here are the parts that I've removed so far(I just got the model on Monday), that will either be discarded, modified, or replaced with more accurate parts. The most import part of this project is to put the twin intercoolers on the model which Exoto totally left-off. This requires chopping off the rear chassis frame, and fabricating a new rear chassis portion. Also, the intercoolers and their related hardware, must be scratch-built. A lot of body changes will need to be done, so repainting it to the red & white Cam2 colors isn't a big deal.

(IMG:http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w197/hpgiswom/Steeringwheelcomparetoorg2c.jpg)

Here is quick photo of the first mod I did yesterday (just to prove this isn't just a "pipe-dream" project). The model had a modern suede covered steering wheel, which was wrong for the 1973 race cars. The model is beautifully made, and replicates the modern "made-from-spare-parts-car" (probably 917/30-004) perfectly, but many things aren't right for the car in 1975 (or 1973). I still have to make the proper "metal"cover-plate to match the period photo.

I know most of you who take a peak at this posting will have no interest in a model car project (check out our project on www.Scale18.com if you do, we will periodically post updates on the progress of it), but just wanted to give everyone any update on what a few photo contributions can accomplish (and shamelessly ask for more help if you can). I'll be posting up all of our working photos on ImageShack soon in case you want to see the GREAT help we've been given (except for any photos "loaned" to us but were requested to not be made public).

Cheers!

doug