First Look: Trans-Am Racing ’68-’72

Reviving one of the greatest eras in racing history, Trans-Am Racing ’68-’72 aims to combine the nostalgia and charisma of the late ’60s and early ’70s with modern technology. The headline numbers are promising: true 3D collisions, advanced multiplayer, more than 30 actual Trans-Am teams, 12 road courses and 13 meticulously detailed muscle cars.

The interesting wrinkle is who’s building it. Developer Engineering Animation Inc has spent nearly a decade recreating automobile accidents for litigation, a field where absolute realism is a prerequisite, and they’re bringing that physics expertise to the track. Rather than canned, pre-animated crumple, Trans-Am Racing computes its 3D collisions on the fly, and pairs them with true four-wheel independent suspension for an authentic high-powered feel.

Historical accuracy runs deep, at least on paper. A neural-net AI is meant to have drivers race with the same techniques and temperaments they showed in the ’60s, some aggressive and rough, others relying on finesse and speed, and each car carries historically exact performance traits, so some have power but squirrelly handling while others are prone to mechanical failure. The road courses are reconstructed in painstaking detail, a welcome change of pace from modern oval racing.

Pit stops, often the difference between winning and losing in real racing, work like a mini real-time strategy game: optional interactive stops show every role on the crew in 3D, from tyre changes to refuelling, with well-funded teams harder to beat and make-shift crews easier to claw time back from. It’s an ambitious list. We’ll see how much of it holds up on the road when it ships.