Agree. Beswick was the man and ran Pontiacs competitively ‘til about 1967. After that, he was overwhelmed by the other brands but, his driving has always been the best. An autographed photo of his Ram Air V Boss Bird, with his 6.95 @ 215 he signed for me hangs in my shop as a goal to beat. Still to this day, his driving skills are to envy. He is an outstanding person as well. I welcome Arnie to my events and we enjoy having him. He is cool about the cheb issue and leaves his cheb cars home as corporate cars are not allowed. Last year he debuted a new team car with 455 e head power that ran in the 8s on its shake down runs. I am glad to know one of my my childhood heros. If you haven’t met Arnie, make an effort to do so.
Also, I was hoping this topic would be more of a way of Pontiac people comparing notes of progress, ideas, parts, ETs, etc. Not meant to be a “kma, head in the sand, sos” type of situation. I have yet to go real fast. I want to. I’ve done a lot of work and spent a lot of time and money to acquire what I have. I have no problem sharing a lot of what I’ve done. My site is not an “in your face, I’m better than you” site. It is a site that is open to show what I’m working on. I’m curious what others have done and what others are doing. I won’t ever piss back unless attacked, and even then rarely. It is not my nature. Whether you are a rocket scientist or a garbage man you are capable of high goals if you try hard enough.
The amount of money you show on your 1040 doesn’t mean everything, it’s the amount of play money you have left after your expenses, etc and how much time you have to work with your ideas.
Hot rodding is where it’s at for me. Making things better, stronger and faster. It’s fun to follow stuff here to a point but, it’s better for all of us to spend more time in the garage to make our goals.
I like all kinds of Pontiacs as long as they are Pontiac powered. I like dragsters, both kinds, front or rear engine. I prefer front engine but, it is just that, a preference. I like GTOs; I drive a ’72 and have tucked away ever other year for a future Pontiac museum that I would like to build when I retire (still looking for a 64, need 1 more only). Firebirds are way bitchen too. Big cars? They are great, I’ve become very attached to ’61 and ’62s but I like ’em all. And, what about boats? roadsters? trucks? They are all special to see when Pontiac powered. It’s the same with turbos, the bottle and roots blowers. If it makes it faster, it is a good thing. My preference is blowers, the sight and sounds are so impressive. The most powerful engines in drag racing are roots driven. As a spectator and gear head , if you watch a blown car run against a n2o car or a turbo car, the blown car (with its smoke and noise and exciting burnout) steals the show, whether or not it wins. N2O is neat because it can fit under a stock hood and be stealthy. Someone who wants to have a very fast sleeper looking street car should always use it. Turbos are something I don’t have a lot of interest in. In the 70’s, my brother built a triple turbo nitrous injected 429 Ford that was bored and stroked to 514 and put it in his boat, just for kicks! He also designed and patented an intake manifold design that he used in that combination. Neat stuff. It was an absolute animal! A scary ride on the water if there ever was! Just a personal feeling but, there is no question that they can run and still, many things can be compared with them (bottom end parts, etc). Nitromethane has its own obsession and following. It is rarely used in a Pontiac, and never mentioned in Pontiac talks. It makes BIG power. It is even more interesting when using it in a blown application. It’s the same with different kinds of racing that is popular in different parts of the country. IHRA is big in the south, Midwest and the east. NHRA is popular too. The Super Street deal is cool too. The term “Nostalgia Racing” racing can be misleading and I may have been a little misleading too when I referred to the “55-6 iron head with 10 head bolts” as being competitive. I made that comment to compare that to the Pontiac 10 bolt arrangement and not to give the idea that all the stuff that runs in nostalgia racing is old, obsolete relics. Far from it, this is not flat head stuff, these are highly developed sb/bb chevs and Hemis and a handful of Fords. They are no slouches as others have mentioned here. It will take more horsepower than anyone has made so far with a Pontiac to run with them. That should be of interest to everyone that is into Pontiacs. Again, if you don’t like nostalgia racing, that is fine but, you can still learn something from another combination.
I almost got to make licensing runs yesterday. We worked on my fueler all Friday night to get it to the track Sat but, got there late. I Still got my cockpit orientation test signed off and got the car through tech without a problem. By the time we got the chutes packed and the “brew” mixed and the motor fired and checked out, they had closed the staging lanes for the day. We’ll try again in the next few weeks.
One of Pontiac Dudes comments made me think about something about my upcoming event. I am open to ideas as to different classes. If someone wants to attend and has input as to class structure, please contact me.
Steve Barcak
www.pontiacheaven.org