[JUDGE3]

I'm 57, my dad was all Pontiac and myself and my brother had Gto's as first cars. so dad was the main influence.

But I remember always picking up performance magazines and Nunzi was always in there doing something performance wise with a Pontiac. from there a bit later it was pete McCarthy.

[Sirrotica]

My father was my inspiration, although not drag racing. My father despised drag racing and even though he never raced anything, he was an avid oval track fan, 99% dirt tracks. My mothers father was a mechanic at a Pontiac dealer and got my dad his job there in the service department, from where he transitioned from a time keeper to a line mechanic over time. There's where the hook on owning and driving Pontiacs almost 100% is instilled in my family.

Dad was a mechanic for most of his adult life and the one time that stands out in my mind was when he rebuilt the 4 BBl carb on his 57 Star Chief and took me and another neighborhood kid for a test drive after he was done. I bet my grin was from ear to ear after he took it on some dirt back roads kicking that Rochester 4BBl wide open...……………

In the mid 60s there were plenty of late model GTO dirt track race cars, and even a few B body dirt cars running in and around my home town of Erie PA.

I know that most everyone here thinks Pontiac was best known for drag racing, but truth is NASCAR participation as well as other venues earned Pontiac a lot of ink back in the 50s-60s some of the venues were land speed and closed courses.

Later on the Gray Ghost and later the Fire Ams of Herb Adams Tom Nell and other select engineers at Pontiac through road racing and even into the 2005 era the 04-06 GTOs were getting ink on road courses.

Even though I have tried drag racing, and sponsored a few drag racers, it just doesn't get my heart beating like running 25 laps on a dirt track. I know, I'm in a very small minority here. 65 YO and plan on driving 100% Pontiacs until they take my drivers license away, except for my trucks
__________________

[ponyakr]

My first draw to Pontiac were the ads and posters for the '64 GTO. For the next few years I collected GTO ads & posters, and stuck 'em all over my walls, like GTO "wallpaper".

From '64 thru '68 I saw & heard several GTO's "makin the loop" in our little country town. A friend took me & 2 other friends for a ride in his brother's '65 4-speed GTO.

Didn't get my own GTO til early '69. But I was already a Pontiac guy, before I had a Pontiac.

[stich]

I'm 65 and I remember my dad buying a new Pontiac (Bonneville, I believe) way back from the later 50's every few years. My mom likes the way she sat in them. Whatever mom, I just loved how they looked and smelled back them. Did'n get to own my first GTO ('69) until I was about 21 .

[Lee]

I'm 52, but started reading Hot Rod before I was 12 (summer of '78). With Smokey and the Bandit being an influence, and Hot Rod talking about the end of the 400 & 403, I persuaded my dad to buy a '79 Trans Am the next year.

A few years later I was working in the parts department of the local Pontiac/Cadillac dealership. Around this time my cousin (like a brother to me) bought a '78 T/A, and he & I spent the next 8 years swapping a variety of cams, heads, intakes, carbs, etc...

I also made friends with a group of guys who all had Trans Ams and Formulas. We'd get together for weekend thrash projects, to help each other. We did our first 455/6X built around '87 or so. I was amazed at the interchangeability of Pontiacs, and how the PMD engineers apparently left "easter eggs" for us to find and play with! I was amazed at how cheap and easy it was for us to build high-12 to mid-13 street cars with mostly junkyard parts (late-80's to early-90's).

Undoubtedly, the person who inspired me to raise my goals and aim for higher performance is Jim Hand. Jim is the FIRST "guru" I had come across, who was not trying to sell ANYTHING - just spread the gospel and share knowledge.

In chronological order, my influences have been:
Burt Reynolds
Hot Rod magazine
My cousin & friends
Jim Hand

[stags]

Friend of mine from junior high - his father worked at a dealership. They sold VW's but the owner had ties to Marsh Pontiac so there always a Poncho in the driveway. I remember his mom's '68 Bonnie. Rode like a cloud and had the best sounding AM/FM/8 track I ever heard. I rode in that one often and even got to drive it some few years later. Senior year he got a nearly new '69 GTO 4spd conv. which would be mine later. In between I had a '68 Firebird convertible 400/400. He was the one that got me started on Pontiacs, specifically convertible Pontiacs, and I'm still at it today.

[rtp]

Yes Dad for sure
Passed recently at 98 and was still talking about early SD's 425A trophy and Ram Air.
In 1962 we flew back to Pontiac and watched a 62 Bonneville convert be assembled and then drove it back to Utah just because you could do so at the time. It was a 425A trophy and a stick.
Those were the best days.

[Mrp613]

My first ride was a '77 1/2 with a 250 auto. The trans was bad and finished off the junk 250 on the way home. I was 15. Dad traded labor and some Chevy parts to a guy for a 220hp 79 400 out of a TA. We put that and a th400 in the truck with its 3.50 gear. I started looking at the firebirds because of the engine I had. Then I'd look through the Chiltons manuals looking at all the engine specs. I decided I wanted a '66 GTO. Wound up picking up a '71 Catalina 2 door for $150 and put my 400 in it with a Saginaw 4 speed. I then picked up a '70 GTO roller for $500 and built my first engine with the original 400 from the Catalina. Being 18 I made a few dumb parts choices and wound up with a .030 400 with 96 heads,a magnum 292 cam, 3 tube headers, performer rpm intake and a 750 Carter running through a 2500 stall and 2.79 gears in the GTO. I had fun but it liked to bend valves. I kept the drivetrain and traded the GTO for a '71 formula, and added a 3.73 posi. My engine did better in the formula, but I sold it to cover closing costs on our first house. And somewhere in there I bought my '66 Catalina from a car crusher for $400 when I was 18, replaced a lifter and drove it. It had a mid 70's 400 with 4x heads, auto, and craptastic 2.56 gears. I traded it, then spent 10 years looking for it. Found it again, gave $300 for it this time with no drivetrain, and have been putting it back together on a tiny budget. The fun part was delivering pizza in high school and college in all those pontiacs.

[gtokid1968]

My love started at like 14 years old. All the kids in my neighborhood were older than me most by 2 years.
I had been working on everything I could get my hands on! Bicycles, lawn mowers, mini bikes, anything.
So it didn't take long before they started coming to me to help them with FM converters, headers, brake job's hell everything.

1 of the kids had a 69 GTO bench seat, auto, green with white interior nothing fancy. It was all stock it was still registered in his older brothers name which worked out good for us because he was a captain in the police dept. of your town, Hammond IN. Plus it had an official FOP large sticker in the middle of the back window.
Anyway he almost NEVER got beat, new Mustangs, Corvettes we would drive around every night looking to street race someone new and most of the time drinking beer(1980)

I cant even count how many friends that I helped trying to make their car faster to beat Tony's GTO but it just couldn't be done!!!!!
Once I learned how easy it was to make more power with a Pontiac I Have been in love with them ever since.

It took me 20 years to get a nice GTO had to pay a small fortune, but back in the day I never had the money even when they were cheap, had a son early and did my best to raise him right. In fact his first 3 cars were all Pontiac's! He still has the first new car the wife and I ever bought 1999 GP GT 4 door. At one point both of our boys were driving Pontiacs.

[Half-Inch Stud]

It was Jimmy Carter. 55 MPH national speed limit, fuel lines, parked V8 cars.

So I bought a 68 LeMans down the street, when i was 14. My mom said "there's a nice car for $350 in the driveway"

Oh, Maybe it was my mom.

[PurelyGTO68]

I was 16 year old, my father had a '65 GTO 4 speed, my Uncle had a '73 Lemans Sport Coupe with 400 ci , 4 bbl, dual exhaust manual transmission. We heard about a local shop in town that specializes in Pontiac performance called Purely PMD. Only have to hang out at their shop for a little while before it gets in your blood.

[Chief of the 60's]

When I was a kid I rode a minibike in some fields across from my house. At the end of the main path was an old closed up gas station that was being rented by a bunch of drag racers. In that garage was a '65 GTO and a '68 400 Firebird with Tri-Power on it. I immediately fell in love with the GTO. Later that year, a guy on my newspaper route was using a '65 GTO as a winter car while his '68 AMX was in the paint shop for some custom paint. When he was done with the GTO, I bought it for $150.00. It was suppose to be $175.00 but by the time I got it the snow tires were bald (go figure) and he knocked off $25.00. That was 1971. In 2006 I sold my entire '65 GTO cars and parts collection and that GTO went with it. Its still like a death in the family. Although, that 400 Firebird that was also in that garage, still lives on and in my avatar. 1972 custom lacquer paint and all.

[FireJudge]

1970 I was 8 years old. I am the youngest of 6 kids. My older brother pulled into out driveway with a 68 Mayfair Maze convertible GTO. He had Corvettes and Chargers but the convertible GTO always stood out. When i turned 16 I bought a 67 Lemans for $550. Wrecked it and then bought a 71 Formula Firebird. I had it for 7 years then i got married. 2 years later 1991 I bought a 68 Convertible 400 4 spd Firebird. I still have it. 5 years ago I purchased a 69 CR Judge.

[eaglesan13]

When I was fourteen years old (1972-ish), my older brother Rick bought a Palmetto green 1965 GTO, tri-powered four speed car, with a 4.11 posi in it. I still remember my first ride in the car, being shoved back into the seat while he went through the gears. I was too young to drive at the time, but I was hooked on fast cars from then on, so I guess it was my brother Rick who got me into Pontiacs..

When I turned 16 and got my driver license, I went through a couple of cars before buying the GTO from Rick. It was my first Pontiac, and although it wasn't then nicest Pontiac I've ever owned, I was definitely one of the coolest.

Here is a picture of my brother standing next to the GTO sometime around 1973.

[mgarblik]

Unlike so many lucky people on the forums, my father was NOT a car guy in any way. A car was an appliance that needed constant attention and $ spent on it. As such, he had mostly AMC junk and a few marginal Fords. I had 5 sisters and no brothers, so no family Pontiac influence. However, I was a car nut and engine nut from the time I could walk.

Here is my top early influence. Mike Harper. A best friend. I had a 69 Chevy Camaro conv. My first really nice car. It had a highly modified SBC, big cam, ported heads, aluminim high rise manifold, modified manual valve body transmission, 3500 stall converter, some mods for better traction. Mike Harper comes over to my house and says "look what I just bought?" It was a 68 2dr. Bonneville, absolutely beautiful with only a 400 4bbl. and 29K miles on it. He says, "you won't believe how fast this car is". I said, "right" and out to the street we went for a race. We left from a standing start and I jumped out to a 1/2 car lead and that was all. By the time we were going 30-40MPH, that damn Bonneville was past me just pulling away smoothly. We ran 3-4 times, my car was running fine. Same result every time. 2 weeks later, the Camaro was sold and that was the last Chevy "performance" car I have ever owned. For the next 45 years, I have been enjoying Pontiac V-8 magic.

[Scott Thelander]

I am 58. in 1982 I lost my girlfriend/Fiance to a drunk driver . I/We would often go to the cemetary to visit her ,sometimes at night .
Well at night
we had to jump the fence in back and park on the side of the road in a housing developement. I drove a 1970 442 W-30 with 29,000 miles
4 speed and 433's ... there was a 68 GTO convert parked with a flat tire ,a couple houses down from where I would park and jump the fence..
one night on our way out we got busted by an old man ... he confronted us and made sure we wernt vandalizing ... but he was more interested in my Olds .... come to find out he owned the GTO ... we checked it out .. asked why it was just sittin with a flat tire ..
the 4 piston discs were leaking on one side and it was parked .... bought it the next night for 550.00 ... bled the brakes on the side of his drive way and brought along a spare and drove it home 30 miles lost the brakes about half way home.... used the ebrake and compression from the 4 speed to slow it down ..... I still own it today ....put 225,000 miles on it in 15 years.....vedero green black black 4 speed ...
I always like the GTO my uncle had a 66 tripower 4 speed car never got to ride in it my folks wouldnt let us
and wrapped it around a telephone pole sideways in 71 with my mom and dad in the back seat on the way home from the bar and country dancing ..

Scott

[dv657172]

In my senior year of HS (1983) I worked as an intern at Krogers Erie marketing division HQ in Solon, OH and met a great lady with a green 69 GTO. Fell in love with that car.

In 1987, sold my daily driver and wanted a muscle car and found a 1972 GTO at a used car dealership. Test drove a better condition and cheaper 63 Ford Galazie but the red 72 GTO just wouldnt let me go. So $4,750 later it was mine.

Turned out that the dealership owner's son was also into 71-72 GTOs and his bestfriend was the then husband of the lady I worked with in 1983 who had the 69 GTO. Small world.

Still have the 72 and other GTOs. Still in love with all of them despite ignoring them for years to chase a Wall Street career. Making up for lost time now with them. Hence all the questions I post for help and advise, which I appreciate greatly all your replies!

DV

[unruhjonny]

Question:
Who influenced you to pontiacs, pontiac performance?

Answer:
I don't know that I can answer that.
I do recall my dad having a couple second gen Firebirds when I was younger (born 1977), but by the time I was thirteen, he moved eight hundred miles away, so any influence he may have had was kinda gone...

I always kind of liked cars;
As a kid, my favorite toys were often Hotwheels, and I clearly recall my favorites to be a '63 Splitwindow Corvette, and the 'Hotbird'...
I recall my uncles on my dad's side always kind of liking cars, and one of my uncles in particular had a '78 Z28 for a short while...
Another uncle had an '88 GTA, after suffering through driving a Chevette, and being gifted a V6 third gen Camaro... I loved that GTA.

I had a friend in grade eleven, who was actually a weirdo, but at the time his dad was letting him drive their (then only ten year old!) 1983 Firebird SE, it was a V6, but it was enough to reignite my interest in cars.
I come from a GM family, and since the Mustang didn't really interest me (stylistically) I naturally veered towards the Camaro & Firebird.
I bought a couple of those readers digest books (does anyone recall the red padded cover Camaro book, or hte silver padded cover Firebird book?), then the odd magazine...
Then I bought a 'Popular Hot Rodding' magazine which was a Firebird special - and I was hooked!
Shortly there after I found HPP...
I loved the looks of so many years of the Firebirds (I really do like them all), and through my interest in Firebirds, I became interested in GTO's and early 70's Grand Prix's...
But I dreamed of a 70-73 Formula with a manual transmission (at hte time I had never driven stick, only heard of the merits of stick)...

After high school, my dad and step-mom (through my step-mom's mother; step-grandmother??) gifted me my Formula;
But it was my choice - within a reasonable price range, I could pick anything I wanted...
Looking back, maybe that was the pivotal moment for me.

If you have never taught a kid with zero experience to drive stick on a car with over 400 ft-lbs of torque, you should... just wear a neck brace! (my bad; I was so worried about blazing the tires and losing control!)

Maybe it's a good thing that the GTO's still demanded a hefty premium over same year Firebirds back in 1995;
I have never looked back.

[ramairthreegto]

I suspect I was conceived New Years Eve 1967 in the back of a yellow tri power 1965 GTO my father had recently bought from his older sister,
Leading to the marriage of my parents.

[besserspat]

I'll spare you guys why I ended spending my entire life in racing and the car industry. .

So I'll somewhat fast forward and laser focus only on the Pontiacs ( because I own and like other brands too).

As a kid I truly appreciated "The Rockford files" then "Smokey and the bandit" made me want a TA.

One of the movies that I knew every lines by the age of 12 was "Slap Shot". To this day I still lust over owning Reggie Dunlop's 1970 GTO Gold/ Black Vinyl top, 4 speed, maybe not the movie car but ill build a clone and I would blast Maxine Nightingale's " Right back where we started " or "A Little bit of Saskatoon" in the 8 track....

When I was 14 one of my best friend's was a true gearhead , they had a huge garage at home, his das was a me hani
and his entire neiborhood was filled with automotive tradesmen.

He had a soft spot for Pontiacs, my I wanted Camaro and Corvettes. When we were 16 he was driving a very clean black on red 79 Lemans built like a Grand Am. I had a white 1980 Z/28.

One nigh we borrowed his dad's S15 pick up and a Uhaul car dolley because he had bought a reddish 1978 Trans Am project advertised in the Auto Trader
magazine.

The car was 4 hours drive away, when we got there it was quite rusted and the red paint was quite faded along with the black chicken on the hood ( northeast car).

But the freakin's stance that car had, parked in the weeds , the shaker hood, 255 60 15s on 8" snowflakes all around , Hadtop, and a swapped 455 and 4 speed in it.,

Opened the driver door to discove the hurst T handle, black velvet buckets and the machined dash bezel....

I told myself that my Z28 was just a pale version of what this TA was all about.

I think that was the car that somewhat sealed the deal for me when it comes to Ponchos

The kicker is my friend kept the car maybe 2 months and sold it back when he realized how much bodywork the car needed... He never told me he was selling it , pretty sure he didnt want me to buy it lol

Peter