[Dr. Eric M. Schiffer]

Say good night to the Blackbird as it is now in hibernation for the long Michigan winter.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Dr. Eric M. Schiffer

Say good night to the Blackbird as it is now in hibernation for the long Michigan winter.

I thought birds migrated south for the winter...

(lol)

[Dr. Eric M. Schiffer]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

I thought birds migrated south for the winter...

(lol)

This Bird had its wings clipped a long time ago. I just put it up on jack stands. Kind of like putting it on crutches. A cover over the car. like a blanket to keep her warm. I place a drip pan under it for the only things that do migrate south are the fluids. The drip pan is kind of like a large diaper for the old war horse.

[unclescratch]

In the early seventies, I had my '69 LeMans at Royal Pontiac to have the transmission evaluated. An older black gentleman (who was exceptionally mellow and accommodating) drove my car for the test. Do you know his name or his participation in all this hi=perf activity??

[Dr. Eric M. Schiffer]

Originally Posted by unclescratch

In the early seventies, I had my '69 LeMans at Royal Pontiac to have the transmission evaluated. An older black gentleman (who was exceptionally mellow and accommodating) drove my car for the test. Do you know his name or his participation in all this hi=perf activity??

No I'm sorry I do not know such a person. He problably was not there when the dealership was owned by Ace Wilson Sr.

In approximately 1970 Ace Sr. sold Royal Pontiac to Doug Spedding who put his ex Chevrolet store General Manger Bob Shaffo into the dealership. It was renamed Shaffo's Royal Pontiac. This only lasted about a year until Jim Fresard bought the dealership.

There are strong odds that it was under either Shaffo or Fresard that he was hired in and worked there.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by unclescratch

In the early seventies, I had my '69 LeMans at Royal Pontiac to have the transmission evaluated. An older black gentleman (who was exceptionally mellow and accommodating) drove my car for the test. Do you know his name or his participation in all this hi=perf activity??

Dad mentioned to me the transmission guy's name was Mack, and somehow I got the impression he was a black man.

This would have been in the early sixties, so I don't know if Mack stayed on right until the end.

K

From "My Pontiac Story":

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

"Later in the summer I saw Jesse at a drag strip and he asked me if I was ready to switch to Pontiac. At this time Dave Evans and Dennis Gray from Ford were pretty active in drag racing. I had a crank at Larry Jewell's in Inkster and a block at Jack Conley's in Brighton and was building a 428 ci engine to run. When I told Jesse that I was going to stay with Ford for a while (this is a Chevrolet Die Maker who can't get a thing out of Chevrolet but could race for Ford or Pontiac) he said ok, but that he had sold the car he had been using as a demo and for me to come down the next day to see it.

"So on Monday I made my first trip to Royal Pontiac . When I got there a mechanic named 'Charlie' [Brumfield] had just finished bringing the engine up to 368 HP spec and a guy named Mack was working on the Slim Jim transmission. It was a white Catalina with a white interior and aluminum wheels. Jesse said 'it's ready for delivery, go with Mack to test it'. Being young and innocent I said ok.

"When Mack fired it up it sure did sound good. He drove to Stephenson Highway and stopped at 14 Mile Rd in front of Jim Robbins Co [it's an industrial park now; I drive past it every day ]. I have been on some rides with street racers, Jim Wangers and Dick Jesse included, but never for a ride like this. When we got back to Royal and everyone was laughing and Jesse asked how the ride was, then I knew I had just 'been had' and that racing with Royal would be a lot of fun."

[ANDYA]

Originally Posted by Dr. Eric M. Schiffer

Say good night to the Blackbird as it is now in hibernation for the long Michigan winter.

Looks like it's getting close to the time for the Blackbird to come out of its Winter snooze

Dr. Schiffer, is there a modern day version of the High End Club and do they still meet late at night for some "bench racing"?

[Dr. Eric M. Schiffer]

Originally Posted by ANDYA

Looks like it's getting close to the time for the Blackbird to come out of its Winter snooze

Dr. Schiffer, is there a modern day version of the High End Club and do they still meet late at night for some "bench racing"?

I removed the headers from The "Black Bird" and sent them out for a ceramic (re) coating about three weeks ago. My GTO needs a few tweeks. So I'v only used my Z06 a couple of times. While sunny it temps on Saturday morning have only been in the high 30's to 40's. Not real good traction. I am not as breave a sole as so many others.

As for the "High End" club. I have to find out where these "old guys" now meet since the Big Boy they had been meeting at closed a couple of weeks ago.

I could not even begin to tell you how many gatherings of the guys are all ove the Detroit area every week.

There is a large group of "oldies" that call themselves the "Breakfast Club". They includ George Deloran and Bob Laravee. Bob is the guy who has orginized shows known as "Autorama" and "World of Wheels" around the country since the 50's. They meet every Saturday morning, starting at 6 AM at restaurant called the Ram's Horn in the City of Rochester just off Rochester Rd and I-59 . As the weather gets better you'll see hot rods, muscle cars and classics. Several of these guys will show up with a group I meet with in at the Pasteiner's Auto Zone Book Store in Birmingham, on Woodward Ave just north of 14 Mile rd, from 8 AM until 10 AM. My group is a bunch of guys from the indusrty. Current and retired VP's, designers, special project guys and just plain old car guy's.

For instance last week end Mark Stielow brought an engineering ZL1 Camaro. Mark can be seen with his '69 Camaro ZR1 called the "Red Devil" in the current Optima battery comercial and on You Tube.

I could not even tell you all of the hot cars that show up every Saturday in nice weather.

Every day and night around the Detroit area there are weekly "free" gatherings throughout the summer. Like the Dream Cruise, unless you live here you can never imagine the amount of cars that are here. After all, all of those automotive industry, supplier, mechanic's et. al., retirees need something to do...So why not fabricate something and make it better!

Heck a bunch of us went to an open house of some ones 108 car collection this last Saturday. Most of these guys came either from the "Breakfast Club" of the Ford/ Mercury Restorers". There are many hidden collections all over the Detroit area.

Sorry, but there is no short answer to your "High End" question.