Summer, '68. I was 14. Big sister had a '66 SS396, 4-speed. She taught me how to drive a stick in that car. She also taught me how to "launch" and shift a hot rod. One afternoon we were driving home from some outing, and our neighbor, Mike Stodell pulls up next to us at a light. He's driving his '66 GTO "TriPower" (I knew nothing of TriPower in those days). Picture it. Both cars are silver with black vinyl tops. Well, they proceed to race from the light. The GTO is leaving black stripes and "rooster tails" of rubber smoke. It is STILL walking away from that SS. I'm hooked. I want a GTO!!! It wasn't until a few years alter, I understood the difference between a 325 horse 396 and a 360 horse 389.
October, 1972. In the Air Force. Stationed in Roswell, NM. (no flying saucers around there, I can verify) Came out of a party and there it was. '70 Judge, Sierra Yellow and tan vinyl top. 4-speed! It belongs to the next door neighbor of the man throwing the party. He says they're getting divorced and the car is for sale. I made an offer, test drove it, and three days later, I'm the proud owner! About a week after racing every car I could find that would race, I run into Bobby Zamora, a Chevelle guru and BBC man. He says "You can't make a Pontiac run. Gotta use a Chevy engine." Funny, but I had beat every BBC-powered car that would race me. That included a '70 Corvette with a 454, and he was the closest race I got, but he still lost... Bobby's car lived on a trailer, so I didn't have to deal wth HIM. Good thing, too. His car went 11s...
Moved back to California after discharge. Blew up the Ram Air III (bummer...). Learned I needed to know a LOT more if I were to be able to own this car. I couldn't afford to pay someone else to fix it... So, GI Bill paid for college (engine technology, Napa College) and trade school (Arizona Automotive Institute, a decent school in those days). Found a 421 laying in a guy's back yard in Glendale. Put the Ram Air III parts on it, Ram Air IV cam in it and had a 12 second car! Beat up on a LOT of locals around Phoenix.
After that, it became a "challenge" to keep the Pontiac both competitive and moving ahead. I had to prove a point (to self, more than anyone else). Kinda got wrapped up in it from there! Had a couple very good mentors, including Red Lund (Top Eliminator, first two bakersfield "Nationals") and JD Braswell (AHRA record holder in GTOs and "inventor" of the annular discharge carbs).
Craig, that started this thread, was a profound influence. He proved, one COULD build a competitive Pontiac. He was also a California "kid". He and Kern made it all seem "possible". They shared information, even then. I guess they knew I was too poor to build a REAL race car, so I got some "free" advice... Good guys!
I learned from analyzing all the races over the years. GTO was the BEST "balance" in a muscle car. If you could beat me in a straight line, I could take you in the corners. If you could beat me in the corners, I could take you in a drag race. Later, my '65 TriPower car reinforced that. And nobody had "style" like GTO. Nobody... Name another production car of that era that had REAL wood in the dash!
I follow the same "drummer" as guys like Smokey Yunik and John Z. DeLorean (turn towards Pontiac, Michigan and bow). That is, drive something a little "different", make sure it can back up what it looks like. Follow NO "crowd". No other American car foots the bill like a Pontiac. I can only hope when I'm dead and gone, I will have left MY "mark" on the Pontiac lore.
Jim
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