[71GP76TA]

Originally Posted by 77 TRASHCAN

Wow, never seen one of those???

I saw a black one in the early 90's. Appeared to be original paint.

[Hesster1977]

So, working my way chronologically thru my stash, some will be a good read, some a maybe not so much. I am just picking and choosing as we go.
Here is one of a number of articles on the "Ram Air V".

I probably posted a different article (a HO Publication Article) on this Engine in the Other Post, but it is buried deeper than a Alabama Tick.

So there is some interesting commentary in this, and maybe somewhat subjective.

Like the comment - "To put it bluntly, the Ram Air V was a poor performing engine". No flow bench's back then? Caught up in the whole Tunnel Port thing.

And the Con Rod Vendor going bankrupt, - like was GM Purchasing asleep at the wheel? I read elsewhere that the RA V Rods would go out of round at Revs, maybe a little too beefy, or Rod Bolts not up to the task. Maybe the SD455 Rods were in fact the best Pontiac Rod ever...

[Hesster1977]

The "1970 GTO"
https://www.gtoheaven.com/gtostats/70gto.html

[Hesster1977]

"Rise and Fall of the GTO"
Pages 4 - 6.

[72projectbird]

Originally Posted by Hesster1977

Orange Can Am?

I know of one that's been all stripped down and repainted in orange. It still needs to be reassembled.

Did they make any that weren't white?

[Hesster1977]

The 1963 Grand Prix 421 HO.
Although not quite the beast like the 421 Super Duty - a hardcore 11.0 and 12.0:1 compression race engine- the 421 HO was a more suitable mill for street driving, boasting Tri-Power and 10.75:1 compression. The engine was much more streetable, and still churned out a massive 370 hp and over 460 lb-ft of torque.

I think there were 267 Built

[sdbob]

What I heard for the unibody Chryslers.They would put lead weights in the frame that were greased good. The weights would slide forward (equal weight on front)then apon first burnout would slide to the rear for drag racing traction. Then scale check hit the brakes to slide forward.

[Hesster1977]

"Tale Feathers"
Story on the development of the Firebird Hood Decals, known as the "screaming chicken".

Anyone who has installed one of these knows it is a challenge - once it locks in place you are done, and don't freak out with numerous "bubbles", just prick 'em with a pin and let the sunlight bake them out.

[Hesster1977]

The "Hurst SSJ Grand Prix."
Low production - (200) ea in '70 and '71, a few '72's, with One of One in Black as shown in this article.

[TRADERMIKE 2012]

Originally Posted by Hesster1977

The 1963 Grand Prix 421 HO.
Although not quite the beast like the 421 Super Duty a hardcore 11.0 and 12.0:1 compression race engine the 421 HO was a more suitable mill for street driving, boasting Tri-Power and 10.75:1 compression. The engine was much more street- able, and still churned out a massive 370 hp and over 460 lb-ft of torque.

I think there were 267 Built

Mikes Reply:

I have the X-400 in this Article, here it is:

[Hesster1977]

The '71 - 72 455 HO T/A.
Article from Pontiac Mag Feb 1985.
What a great car, would love to own one. 480 Ft Lb Tq and .83 G in the corners - Impressive -stump pulling torque. That is what matters on the street
Not "very" Rare at 3402 total produced, with 1353 Manuals, but who wouldn't want one to show off!
I don't hardly ever see one at the many car shows here in MI.
Yeah - there were 455 "HO's" supposedly in 75-76 but at 4000 lbs and ~200 HP, the glory days were long gone. My Bro had a '76 455, and I and my '77 Bandit, and all was still cool given the stickers on the hood scoop, even at the anemic 200HP ratings..
Check out the '"Lady 'Bim" in black in the photo shoot. Guess that was hot in the '80's.....

https://www.motortrend.com/features/...tiac-trans-am/

[HoovDaddy]

Originally Posted by Hesster1977

The '71 - 72 455 HO T/A.
Article from Pontiac Mag Feb 1985.
What a great car, would love to own one. 480 Ft Lb Tq and .83 G in the corners - Impressive -stump pulling torque. That is what matters on the street
Not "very" Rare at 3402 total produced, with 1353 Manuals, but who wouldn't want one to show off!
I don't hardly ever see one at the many car shows here in MI.

My dad was an engineer at the Tech Center and brought a blue one with black interior home in '71 with an auto. I loved that car mostly for the cornering. I had a '71 Z28 at the time and the Trans Am was so superior in every way. He had it for a few days, and back then everywhere we went, people stared at it like they'd never seen anything that wild before with all the spoilers. This was in the Motor City mind you. We took it on Woodward and it was pretty quick. These Trans Ams were rare then.

[Hesster1977]

More with Mr. Jim Wangers.
His inside story on how the GTO came about, as told in Pontiac Mag Oct 1982.
Fact - or some fiction?

[TRADERMIKE 2012]

Originally Posted by Hesster1977

More with Mr. Jim Wangers.
His inside story on how the GTO came about, as told in Pontiac Mag Oct 1982.
Fact - or some fiction?

Mikes Reply:

Good story, I liked the ending!

[Hesster1977]

The Rare 1963 SD 421 Swiss Cheese Catalina.
Only 15 ever built. Frame bender until they fixed it.

"It was offered at Dana Mecum’s 2010 Original Spring Classic Auction, but did not sell with a high bid of $475,000 USD."

https://www.supercars.net/blog/1963-...-swiss-cheese/

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Hesster1977

The Rare 1963 SD 421 Swiss Cheese Catalina.
Only 15 ever built. Frame bender until they fixed it.

"It was offered at Dana Mecum’s 2010 Original Spring Classic Auction, but did not sell with a high bid of $475,000 USD."

https://www.supercars.net/blog/1963-...-swiss-cheese/

Should be 14 built.

Unless you count this non swiss cheese 421 SD with aluminum.





K

[Hesster1977]

As I stated in my Post #1:

"I have a stash of Pontiac Documentation to share with Forum readers".

Yeah - it may not be NEW info for some of us seasoned Pontiac aficionado's, but you may find it nostalgic and interesting reading, as some of the articles were written 30 - 40 years ago.

So as another certain Sticky Thread has gone "away" where I had posted some of this stuff, I will continue here for readers to ignore, or hopefully enjoy.

Here is a Article from the Pontiac Mag, August '83, on the "Rise and Fall of the GTO". Cool back history on the development with the GM players Wangers (came up with the idea for the GTO in 1962), Estes, and DeLorean.

Pages 1 - 3.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Hesster1977

Here is a Article from the Pontiac Mag, August '83, on the "Rise and Fall of the GTO". Cool back history on the development with the GM players Wangers (came up with the idea for the GTO in 1962), Estes, and DeLorean.

Pages 1 - 3.

Just to be clear - Mr Wangers was never a PMD employee.

He worked for the advertising agency with the Pontiac account, which was McManus, John and Adams.

The idea for putting the 389 cu in engine in an intermediate sized vehicle came as a result of a Saturday morning hoist review, where the vehicle chief engineer pitched the idea to DeLorean.

Incidentally, at the time of my retirement, we were still doing these hoist review/brain storming sessions at Milford. If I had been there that day, they both would have turned to me and said "...when can we drive it?".

K

[Hesster1977]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Just to be clear - Mr Wangers was never a PMD employee.

He worked for the advertising agency with the Pontiac account, which was McManus, John and Adams.

The idea for putting the 389 cu in engine in an intermediate sized vehicle came as a result of a Saturday morning hoist review, where the vehicle chief engineer pitched the idea to DeLorean.

Incidentally, at the time of my retirement, we were still doing these hoist review/brain storming sessions at Milford. If I had been there that day, they both would have turned to me and said "...when can we drive it?".

K

That is great clarification, and input Mr. Seymore. I missed that detail in the story, and always assumed Wangers was a GM man and "Mr. GTO" given all of the articles and spotlight he received. But - on page 1 of the attachments, it says "worked for the division as a product planner", and "Chief AD Man over at Pontiac's AD Agency". So that is confusing? Exactly what part did he play?

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Hesster1977

That is great clarification, and input Mr. Seymore. I missed that detail in the story, and always assumed Wangers was a GM man and "Mr. GTO" given all of the articles and spotlight he received. But - on page 1 of the attachments, it says "worked for the division as a product planner", and "Chief AD Man over at Pontiac's AD Agency". So that is confusing? Exactly what part did he play?

"Worked for the division as a product planner" would be incorrect.

"Chief ad man over at Pontiac's ad agency" would be spot on.

K