[myam]

Well I went to the Horicon car show and had a chance to talk to Jack Hoffman. He got my message on his answering machine and came down to the show to see me and look around. He got a big kick out of the fact that his G.A. still held alot of interest.So I gave him the web sites to A-body and PY. to look at all the talk on line.He is a great guy to talk to.

[mrrat1]

My Father tried to order 1 in 72. He had the brochure with everything underlined that he wanted, SD mtr, 4-speed, ect. He was denied at the dealer and we ended up getting a Honda Civic. I hated that little orange jap crap soda can car. He still has the brochure, and I'm gonna look for it next time I'm over his house. Dave K.

[Brian Baker]

If it doesn't rain, Phil Griffith will have Mr. Hoffman's old G-A at the Bohn Pontiac show on rte. 140 in Westminster, MD...Sept. 30th. It still wears its original paint, interiror, and vinyl top. If you've never seen a well kept survivor, or the rare factory ram air arrangment, this is the car to see.

[myam]

I haven't went back to look and see. But I'm quite surprised at how many people looked at this thread.It shows that our age group of A-body is pretty popular out there. And it was nice to have HPP run a article for us A-body fans.

[RandyW]

Guys, without making any claims as to a SD-455 A body or G body or A special body I would like to tell this story. I was raised in Northeastern NC. In the spring of '73 a guy named "Snooks" Weaver (no Idea what his real first name was), who owned a Gulf station in Elizabeth City, NC where a bunch of us young car guys hung out, traded his '70 455/4 speed Grand Prix on a '73 SJ. I will tell you what I know to be fact without speculating on what I don't know.
The car was brown with tan cordova top and tan interior. It had a 455/t-400/ 3.42 posi, Rally II wheels. The car was heavily optioned and very quick. It had, when delivered to him at Bratten Pontiac in Norfolk, VA, a factory ram air system, not an add on. It consisted of a dual snorkle air cleaner with flex hoses connected to stainless scoops that exited vertically below the front bumper. In other words they pointed down, not forward and about 1" was visable under the bumper area. The word was it had a "special engine" whatever that meant, I never heard the term Super Duty so I make no claim in that regard.
About a week after he brought the car home, he was contacted by the dealer and told that the car should not have been sold and wanted to refund him or replace the car. He refused and Pontiac sent him a letter, which he posted a copy of on the window of the gas station that said his warranty was void if he refused to return the car. (I guess that was a status symbol that he had something special) He threatened to sue them if they did and Pontiac recanted on the threat, so he said. Bob Wharton, a sales manager for Bratten at the time told my stepdad who was service manager at Tidewater Dodge in Norfolk at the time, that Pontiac had tried to pull the certificate of origin on the car, but the NC title work had been processed and Snooks owned the car. As far as I know that was the end of it and when I moved away a year later he still had the car. That was 34 years ago and the memory isn't as sharp as it once was but 3 things I'm absolutely clear on; 1. The car had a ram air system that was no doubt factory installed.
2. The car was very quick.
3. There was a lot of bickering between the dealer, Pontiac and Snooks.
There were no SD-455 decals on the car and I make no claim that is what it was, but there was something special about that car.

[johnta1]

Is 'Snooks' still around?

[Brian Baker]

Sounds like another "urban legend" tale...but I do believe the part about the ram air. As to whether or not it was factory installed remains to be known, but my guesses are it was dealer installed.

[dblsprt68]

Randy and all, to add something to the quote, "the factory shouldn't have sold the car and wants it back", I have a story about a Chevy that is 100% true. My dads brother worked at a Chevy dealer in Arkansas, in the service dept. In 1975, an elderly couple came in and bought a new 75 Impala 4 door. Standard stuff....350 4 barrel, etc. nothing fancy. They took a road trip in it and when they got back, they came back to the dealer and said they got 30 MPG! When my dads brother took the air cleaner off, there was a tag on the carb. It said "EXPIREMENTAL" , they called Chevy up; and guess what? They said to give that couple a new car and get that one back to them ASAP! Imagine, 1975 a 350, 4000lb car getting 30 MPG! This story is true. I just thought I would tell it, to anyone who thinks the BIG THREE were honest about stuff like this. David

[RandyW]

Originally Posted by Brian Baker

Sounds like another "urban legend" tale...but I do believe the part about the ram air. As to whether or not it was factory installed remains to be known, but my guesses are it was dealer installed.

I honestly have no idea if Snooks is still breathing air. I never spoke to him after the summer of '74.
The thing about urban legends is they usually spring from "a friend of a friend." I was there the Friday afternoon he came back from Norfolk with the car. He ordered the car himself in the late summer of '72 and didn't get it until spring of '73. In no way am I claiming the car was an SD-455, I'm just saying there was something unique about the car. The ram air system was extremely neat and well fitted and was in no way some 1970's quality universal aftermarket piece. The hoses were like the factory air intake hose only longer with factory style snap clamps and the scoops/inlets were stainless, not mild steel or plastic. In my 40 years of buying owning and loving Pontiacs, I've never seen another one equipped this way. I don't know what it was or why it was built the way it was. I also won't get into any arguments about who said what or when. Frankly, if you told me this story and I hadn't seen it first hand, I wouldn't believe it either. So I'll leave it at that.

[pontiacjeff]

I just spent 40 minutes reading thru this amazing thread... some really neat stuff in here. I am confused, though... who bought the supposed SD455 Grand Am? Who has it now, or is it the cop car SD455 GTO that is still around? WHo is Snooks? LOL!

[myam]

Well it is a long story. But originally it was to be introduced in 1973 as part of the cars that year.But it got cyboshed for a list of reasons. 2 exhisting cars are out there. A GA wagon is equipt with the options also a 2dr. This car was built by the original owner of the then model that was on the market for 1973. He then turned around and rebuilt the car to a SD455. With parts that were considered the original design at Pontiac.There is a article from the past that tells the story on the A=body site as well as the Grand Am Registry site.So read this article and see what all the interest is about !

[Alvin]

RandyW wrote: "...a factory ram air system, not an add on. It consisted of a dual snorkle air cleaner with flex hoses connected to stainless scoops that exited vertically below the front bumper."

IMO - this sounds like the "Dr. Oldsmobile" Ram Air system of the day that was available from GM begining in the late 1960's.

dblsprt68 wrote: " In 1975, an elderly couple came in and bought a new 75 Impala 4 door. Standard stuff....350 4 barrel, etc. nothing fancy. They took a road trip in it and when they got back, they came back to the dealer and said they got 30 MPG!"

IMO - I would have traded them for my 1976 Caprice Classic 350 4bbl that was beautiful to look at but at best mpg was around 10 mpg and it wouldn't go any faster than 100 mph on the open road!!! That's ok though, as that was the reason I went shopping for and bought my first Trans Am with a Pontiac engine!

Thanks for sharing your stories guys. I guess NOW I can finally unwrap our 73 SD455 Grand Am and take it out and enjoy it! Enjoy the day!!!

[RandyW]

"IMO - this sounds like the "Dr. Oldsmobile" Ram Air system of the day that was available from GM begining in the late 1960's."
That's not impossible. The scoops were down facing not forward like some were, I also said "below the bumper" and should have said below the valance. if it were dealer installed, and it could have been I guess, it was done very quickly and very, very factory looking as there were brackets holding the hoses and scoops that were crimped sheet metal that used existing holes and mounts and not hand drilled hardware store stuff.

[RandyW]

Originally Posted by Alvin

RandyW wrote: Thanks for sharing your stories guys. I guess NOW I can finally unwrap our 73 SD455 Grand Am and take it out and enjoy it! Enjoy the day!!!

By the way, I enjoy sarcasm as much as the next guy! LOL

[Brian Baker]

Originally Posted by pontiacjeff

I just spent 40 minutes reading thru this amazing thread... some really neat stuff in here. I am confused, though... who bought the supposed SD455 Grand Am? Who has it now, or is it the cop car SD455 GTO that is still around? WHo is Snooks? LOL!

Pontiac built a '73 Grand Am wagon and used it as a "mule car" for testing the feasability of producing one for sale to the general public. It never happened, however, a genlteman by the name Tom Goad, who worked at GM at the time all of this was going on, wanted to buy the car from GM when they were done with the "test mule" program. Before he could, however, they had to turn it back into a LeMans wagon. After Tom took posession of the car, he converted the front end sheetmetal back to Grand Am status. He still owns the car today, and it features the rare functional factory ram air package (to my knowledge, there are only three known complete examples of this '73 A-body ram air package in existance).

My friend Phil Griffith own the other '73 Grand Am I think you're talking about. He purchased it from the original owner (Jack Hoffman) in 1996. Jack ordered the car in December of '72, with the 455-SD, 4-speed, and ram air. It was delivered (if memory serves) in February, obviously sans the 455-SD and ram air. It came with the 400/4-speed. Jack wasn't pleased but took the car anyway. It was black, with a black vinyl top and Saddle interior. Jack then spent the better part of the next 2 years gathering the parts he needed to convert the car to 455-SD status. He couldn't locate a block or intake manifold, so he settled on a '70 R.A. IV intake (still available over the parts counter) and a '73 block that came out of a totalled Grand Prix. All of the other 455-SD specific parts in the engine were procured over the parts counter. Jack then assembled the engine and installed it himself. In this time he also got ahold of the ram air setup. He was able to purchase most of it over the parts counter, but couldn't get the lid that sits atop the air filter base. This was aquired "out the back door" from a friend that worked at GM at the time, who just happened to know where one was laying around collecting dust.

Both Phil's and Tom's cars are two of the three known (that I know of) with functional ram air. This ram air was never officially released for sale to the public because it couldn't pass the governments minimum noise standards at WOT. The third system is on a '73 GTO, somewhere in the southwest by my last accounts (which was nearly 8 years ago), but I've never seen it.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by RandyW

By the way, I enjoy sarcasm as much as the next guy! LOL

Glad to hear it Randy - My reply was meant in good fun! Keep the Poncho Dreams and Realities alive!

[RandyW]

Originally Posted by Alvin

Glad to hear it Randy - My reply was meant in good fun! Keep the Poncho Dreams and Realities alive!

No problem, I knew that one was going to get toasted, but since it was true, I had to tell it.

[UK SD455 MUSCLE CARS]

Some great information on this thread.... makes an interesting read!
I am a little confused about just how strict the mule/prototype destroying/dismantling policy was though.
What about these 2 cars??

http://www.firebirdgallery.com/Downl...eArticlelr.pdf

http://www.firebirdtransamparts.com/...dithistory.htm

Both seem to have slipped through the net or am I wide of the mark?
If they did, then would it not be possible for others to have done the same??

[myam]

The way I heard it is that engine parts were disapearing before they even got to the engine assembly lines. I guess the guys who got the T.A.'s were the lucky ones. SD rods were a hot item.

[mar3]

Almost 8 months later and still no proof from NHRASuperStock455SD or jodan66, the show season is over...it's quite frustrating to read through a lengthy thread like this and not get closure...