[RamAir]

Outstanding article by MikeNoun in Smoke Signals






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[muscle_collector]

please post the rest of the article

[RamAir]

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[92GTA]

Wish I could read it all, at page 3 and 4 my eyes just can't focus hard enough to read it :/

Thanks for posting tho! I was able to get through the first 2 pages ok.

[3tas4me]

Back in 1973, my cousin Bill placed an order for a LeMans with a Super Duty 455. After a period of time, he received a letter from Pontiac telling him that they could not build the car with the Super Duty engine. He then opted for the D port 455. I drove that car as a teenager several times. How cool it would have been if they had actually built it as an SD, the way he actually ordered it.

[njsteve]

If you read through my SD Formula thread you can follow along as the original owner Enrico Stein went from dealer to dealer and was turned down for almost a year, when trying to order his SD455 Formula. http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=736345

He finally got them to take him seriously when he drove to New York City, barged into the office of the Northeast zone manager and (being 6'8" tall and 285 lbs, and a former college wrestler in the unlimited class) told him in no uncertain terms that he was either leaving through the door with an accepted order or the manager was leaving through the window.

Enrico got his order accepted and the tiny local dealership on Long Island, Suburban Pontiac, actually got two allocations, just to make sure his car would get built. The second car ended up being an Admiralty Blue, four speed that is fully restored and owned by a member here.

Here's Enrico and his lovely (6'6" tall) wife Lenora celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary by reuniting with their SD455 at the 2016 MCACN Vintage Certification. (They had last seen the car thirty years ago when he sold it with 13,000 miles. It has 19,000 miles on it now and is unrestored).

[BlueRAIIITA]

Great read! Thanks for sharing. I have talked to a few guys over the years that ordered SD-455 Firebirds and A- bodies in 72 who got sick if waiting and canceled their orders to buy other cars. One guy I spoke with went to the dealership and ordered his with his best friend. He got sick of waiting and ordered a D-port 455, but his friend stayed patient. He eventually received his SD-455 Trans Am. The impatient friend was very disappointed when the SD-455 whooped all over his D-port 455 hahaha. But fate is cruel and the friend with the SD-455 T/A totaled the car. The impatient friend bought the wreck and installed the 455-SD engine in his non SD T/A. He still has the car to my knowledge.

[The Boss]

Paul Mennin in MA has recreated the GTO test car including the SD motor & RA setup - a very cool car!

[muscle_collector]

thanks for posting the article

[TTOP350]

Great story, thanks

[napster]

This article brings back a lot of memories for me. My father was a Pontiac dealer and loved the Grand Am. He had three of them as demo's during the 1973 model year.

Anyway, my father took an order for a customer for an SD in a Grand Am. He really wanted to see that car. When he came home the night the order was taken I could tell he was really excited about it. Well, when the order came down from Pontiac that the SD was not going into the Grand Am my Dad was very disappointed and had to tell the customer and return his deposit. The customer turned around and bought a Corvette.

[unruhjonny]

oh - wow!!

I haven't yet received that issue;
when did you get it?

Some really great replies in here...
That GTO looks spectacular!

[RamAir]

Originally Posted by unruhjonny

oh - wow!!

I haven't yet received that issue;
when did you get it?

Some really great replies in here...
That GTO looks spectacular!

Last week

[unruhjonny]

thanks!

I hope to receive my copy before we fly out to visit a very ill family member;
I already coughed up an obscene (to me) amount for flights - I hope to make the best of it now, and some good reading material really helps deal with airport travel.

[Super Duty D]

Someone else here is interested in this post! Me!

I have some very interesting correspondence with PMD from the original buyer of one 73 SD, from whom i don't recall at the moment, but very interesting exchange on 'where is my car' to mirror AP's topic.
I think there were 4 or 5 letter exchanges with PMD. The buyer was not happy at all with Pontiac! I hope I can find them, I know I color scanned them somewhere so I'll have to search a lot of old hard drives!

SDD!

[johnta1]

That was Mikal Woodward.

I have the pics if you can't find them.

I think he may have posted on PY before?

[SD73]

Originally Posted by johnta1

That was Mikal Woodward.

I have the pics if you can't find them.

I think he may have posted on PY before?

Mikal is my cars first owner. His letters are at the link in my profile, but here's the link to the letters and the car which they spawned.

http://pontiacsonline.com/73%20SD.htm

[Nidan73sd]

Thanks to Mike for writing another great article about the SD program

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Paul Mennin in MA has recreated the GTO test car including the SD motor & RA setup - a very cool car!

This I did NOT know!, I have to call him soon anyways, so Ill need to see this!!

[Formulabruce]

I used to have pics of the 73 Grand Am SD .. But I cannot find them now... Im sure some are floating around.