David G Barnes

Blood, Sweat & Gears. The Story of the Gray Ghost and the Junkyard Firebird David G Barnes

In 1971, could a little group of unknown automotive engineers independently design and build a race car from an old 1964 Pontiac sedan and really compete against professional, factory-backed racing teams? Blood, Sweat & Gears is based on the true story of a small group of GM Pontiac Division engineers who did just that - they independently created a race car in 1970 from an old 1964 Pontiac Le Mans with 80,000 miles on its odometer. Without factory support and on a shoestring budget, they seriously competed in the 1971 televised Trans-Am road racing circuit against professional, well-financed, factory-backed racing teams and won the hearts of fans and the press, who dubbed their car the "Gray Ghost." The following year they did it again, starting with a wrecked Firebird from a junkyard, and shocked the racing world at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Blood, Sweat & Gears is an inspiring, fact-based underdog story of hard work, ingenuity and competitive American grit that has never before been fully told.