Car Shows & Festivals

60th Anniversary Celebration of the Trans Am and Can Am Series

Historic Race Cars on Display at Mission Inn, Riverside CA

Avatar photoHoward Koby

The series ran at Riverside International Raceway during the late 1960 and early 970s. To pay tribute to the Raceway, which opened in 1957 and closed in 1989, a 60th Anniversary Gala was held on February 21, 2026, at the Mission Inn, which served as the series’ race headquarters. Guests enjoyed a cocktail reception and dinner with invited VIPs from both series, with Ed Justice Jr. as emcee. Some of the renowned racing legends included Jim Hall II, representing his father, who created the Chaparral racecars; John Morton, the Shelby team in USRRC and also an IMSA driver; Pete Lyons, an award-winning author and photographer; and Trevor Harris, creator of the AVS Shadow Can-Am car.

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Howard Koby
Howard Koby is a Los Angeles-based photographer and automotive journalist with more than three decades in advertising and editorial photography. A graduate of Art Center College of Design, he later served on the college's advisory board. His photography and writing on car shows, collector-car auctions, concours and vintage road rallies have appeared in Hot Rod, Road & Track, Car and Driver, Motor Trend Classic, Hemmings Muscle Machines, Vintage Motorsport and Robb Report, as well as the ClassicCars.com Journal. He is the author of Top Fuel Dragsters of the 1970s and Pro Stock Dragsters of the 1970s. In the Sports Car Digest archive: 63 stories, 2015–2026.
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