#1  
Old 11-19-2018, 08:16 PM
Mrp613 Mrp613 is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2018
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Default My best story

Disclaimer: I know street racing is bad. I was 18, we were out of town, and had spotters. I wouldn’t do it again.

Where I grew up there was a two lane “highway “ outside of town. About five miles out of town was a bridge over a little dribble of a large creek. The eastern end of the bridge had a nice clear line where the bridge started, then as you crossed the bridge the guardrails on each side stretched up a gentle rise. From the line on the bridge to the end of the rails was just a bit over an 1/8 mile. My dad raced there in the 60’s and 70’s, and if you go out there today you’ll still find black marks from people wanting to test the bridge.

One day in 1996 my friends and I, as well as my brother and his friends, decided to have a king of the hill event. I had my ‘71 Catalina, with a 400, 068 cam, 3.08 gears and a Saginaw 4 speed with something like a 3.45 first gear. There was a ‘75 or so Torino with a 302 3-speed stick, a ‘72 Chevy C-10 with a 350 3-speed stick and 3.73s, an ‘87 Camaro, my step brothers ‘75 Camaro .040 350 4-speed, and my brother’s ‘73 Nova 355 4-speed.

We ran single eliminations and drew names out of a hat. First up was the C-10 and 3rd gen. None of us were fast, and while the truck launched hard and made lots of racket, it had no guts and the Camaro edged it out.

I went second and drew the Torino, and honestly the 302 lacked the grunt to move that barge. With my 3.08 gears and the low gear trans I was able to get out in front easily and got across first. The Nova and ‘75 Camaro made a good run but the stripped out Nova was lighter and won by a couple cars.

The next round I got the remaining Camaro. It was closer than the Torino, but still a pretty easy win all things considered.

The main event wound up being me against my brother. His Nova was basically a shell with a very basic interior, 3.23s, a sbc with headers and an “350 hp” cam, which probably meant it was close to stock even though it loped a bit.

We got the all clear and lined them up. I dumped the clutch at 4,000, spun the tires a bit and started grabbing gears. The advantage of the wide ratio trans was it spun hard in first, but had such big drops in between gears it helped it gain traction. The Nova probably left at 5500 and did not hook at all. I was out in front by the end of the bridge but my brother was starting to catch up. I hit third and decided to leave it there as I didn’t want to pull the slight incline in 4th and was hoping I didn’t spin it too hard in third.

The Nova was picking up steam but at the end of the run I got him by about half a car. Had he left at a reasonable rpm he probably would have beat me, but while we were all dumb teenagers he tended to be a little dumber than usual.

That was the only time we really lined up as a group and there wasn’t a fast car between us. But at 17-18 years old they all felt fast and knowing my Pontiac was the fastest of the day felt great.

  #2  
Old 07-09-2020, 07:37 PM
PontiacJim1959 PontiacJim1959 is offline
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Location: Gastonia, NC
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I have too many "best" stories in Pontiacs and other makes. Back in the late 70's early 80's I got a lot of tickets and I think I had a bench in the local courthouse with a brass nameplate and my name on it. I out ran the police one time in my '67 GTO because I got a ticket at the same stretch of road the week before and could not afford a second. Got bagged by a pair of state trooper parked on an overhead bridge talking outside their cars as I turned on and up the bridge dropping into 1st gear on my '67 GTO for effect squealing/smoking tires only to look up and get waived over. Got a warning. Another time in the '67 I was on the interstate and traveling at a really high speed when I went past the cop hiding behind the bridge abutment. I went by him so fast that he never moved and I was ready to go faster because stopping would have been my license. I still have a file with many of my tickets. But back then, you just paid the fine and no insurance points. Did get a big MPH ticket where the judge asked me "exactly why do you need your license." Was a very big fine and a parking ticket when I went back to my car.

This was my first entry into a "muscle car" that started it all for me - my 1967 Firebird.

I bought my first "performance" car from a co-worker and classmate of mine named Duncan. Duncan bought the car from a co-worker and a classmate who was 1 year older than us, Paul. Paul had some work done on the engine, and had raced the car at the nearby Thompson Speedway in Connecticut in the street car division - you use your own street car. Paul lost his race and kicked the front fender putting a nice dent in it when he lost; the only dent in the car. The car was a 1967 red Firebird, bucket seats, console shifter, 3-speed manual trans, in very solid shape. The original 326CI had been replaced with a Pontiac 350CI and Paul had had the heads worked on it. It leaked oil at the rear main and he got tired of it and sold it to Duncan for $300. Duncan drove it a while, but got tired of the oil leaking and not so good gas mileage. So I bought it from Duncan for $300. I pulled the engine, my first, and put new seals in it, my first try at this too. Got it all back in and no leaks. It was a fast car. Man would this thing burn rubber. This was about 1978 and before the 1967 GTO convertible.

The girlfriend at that time and I had just left the local movie in the little town we lived. The movie was one of those that leaves you "pumped" up, I can't remember what it was. She was still in high school at the time as a senior. I had graduated. She had a friend named Bruce who drove a clean white 1965 GTO with a 350CI and 4-speed. As it happened, Bruce pulled up behind us as we were heading out one of the main streets/roads leading out of town. This street has houses on each side, businesses, a church, parked cars, side streets, etc.. - a typical rural town main type street. Bruce is winding his GTO up and dropping back then racing forward again to taught us. I respond by hitting the gas and pulling away a few times with him right on my bumper. I have my eyes in front and in the rear view mirror watching Bruce. Next thing I know I hear that GTO drop a gear and the exhaust tone climb. Bruce pops the GTO into the oncoming lane of traffic, my left, and makes an attempt to "slingshot" past me. Mind you, no traffic, but cars parked along both sides of the street and there is only the two lanes - not a lot of room. As soon as I saw the GTO break out into the the lane, I dropped the Firebird down into 1st to get a burst of acceleration and into 2nd. We were side by side racing down this street with people outside on their lawns. The roar of 2 cars racing had to have woken everybody up, and no doubt the police were called for that stunt. We were neck and neck down the street for several blocks when Bruce gave up and fell behind. The street went out of town and was a wide open barren road with a long straight stretch for several miles. The GTO tried to get around me again, but I held him off once more. He dropped back, and I thought he had quit and given up. Nope. He had dropped back and built up some speed. This time he managed to "slingshot" right past me and as hard as I tried to catch him, he was gone. After that stunt, I stayed out of town for a while and went in and out via another road system.

My best memories where with my built 409CI, but this is Pontiac's and I have a lot of great memories - but the cars are long gone. LOL

  #3  
Old 07-10-2020, 04:23 PM
nas t eh nas t eh is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Edmonton Alberta
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Before we even knew what a RA III was, my friend Scott and I went to look at a 70 Formula 400 for sale locally, this was Summer of 1978. The poor thing looked horrible, the red paint was cracked and flaking off everywhere. The interior was OK but dirty. We took it for a test drive anyway.

I didn’t like anything about the condition of the car for the cheap price. But Scott was driving it and said it felt really fast. He bought it.

After he got it home,, we cleaned it up, (nothing was going to save that paint) tuned it up, and in the process we figured out what a RAIII was. It was stripped except for gauges w tack, the RAIII(including functional hood) with a turbo400, and Non posi 12bolt with around 3.73 or so gears. The car had a Holley carb on it as bought but otherwise was stock. Scott raced anyone and everyone he could find who would street race, While some cars were close he never lost, he wanted to go faster and ended up putting a set of Hooker headers on it and line lock, then took it to the local track. On a set of bias ply F60-14 that he heated up one at a time because of the open diff. , at our elevation of 2500’ it ran 14.3 first pass. He eventually got that car to go 14.02. And only ever lost one street race, to a Dodge Dart.

One time he beat a Super Bee and the owner was mad enough he wanted to fight. We pulled over to talk like we had after many of our street races, but the guy got out and reached into the back seat for a crowbar, so we got the heck out of there.

  #4  
Old 10-07-2020, 04:00 AM
camilahenry camilahenry is offline
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It took me back to my childhood.

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