[Craig Hendrickson]

I may be opening up a can of worms here or maybe even "Pandora's box", but I think this is an interesting topic for young and old.

I'll start as one of the "Old Guys".

Spring 1966. I'm a 2nd (Junior) Class Cadet at the Air Force Academy. I have very little interest in cars, other than getting me to someplace to where "The girls are." In those days, as a 2nd, one could borrow on a signature loan about $2,500 to buy a car for 1st year (the only ones who could own a car). So, I go to an Oldsmobile dealer known to "give deals to cadets." I order a 1966 442 the way I want it (I forget now what that was). Somehow the order never gets processed to the Oldsmobile factory. In the summer of 1966, I call the sales manager there and he informs me that "my 442" will not be produced and I should buy one from his inventory. I'm thinking: "Huh???" I happen to be in Hollywood working a summer job at the time and start looking through the LATimes ads. I find a 1965 GTO 4bbl 4-speed being sold by a "little old lady from Pasadena" for the right price. I buy it and it could not have served it's purpose for the next year any better (girls loved it).

1968-1970: I'm at Houston Manned Spacecraft Center on assignment from USAF to NASA. I still have my GTO. I start participating in drag races at Houston Intl Raceway (a mostly dirt track) south of Houston on Saturday night for fun. Big block Chevies are kicking the ass of GTOs, except for Gay Pontiac located nearby. I have no hook-up with Gay Pontiac, but I do meet all the guys there. I'm still in this strictly for fun. After all, "we" have to put people on the moon.

1971-72: I marry a Baytown gal and move to Los Angles Air Force Station for my "real USAF job". I start racing my 65 GTO at Lions and other drag strips extant. Shortly, I meet Kern Osterstock, the "O" to my "H" in "H-O Racing Specialties". We decide to mutually convert my 65 Goat into a 65 LeMans NHRA E/MP 326. See for details:

http://www.originalho.com/HO326EMP.html

1973: Stuff happens. Eventually I resign my USAF regular commision as an officer and start H-O in the closet of my house. Then, I find the income to rent a little space up the street. Later Harvey Crane of Crane Cams walks thru the door. And that is the beginning of H-O story in the 70s. Rest of story elsewhere.

The point of this post is: one can never tell where one's life influences or choices will take one, can one?

Craig

[poison heart]

I love that link! Great history. I wish I was around back then.

I got into Pontiac by accident. My dad's not really a car guy and never had anything cool except old trucks. I got into old cars in high school after seeing my friend's '59 Fairlane but I didn't have the money to buy one. I saved up my graduation money and bought my '59 Buick in 2005. When I went to get the title in San Antonio the guy told me "oh you bought that old blue car? There's one identical down the road for sale real cheap...hell, you could probably 'steal' it from him." I drove down the road "that's not a Buick that's an Oldsmobile or something." I got home looked it up, "1959 Pontiac Star Chief 4 Door HT." I thought "cool" but didn't put much thought into it. Fast forward about a year, I'm workin for my dad over in that part of town, I thought "maybe that old Pontiac is still there." I drove out there and there it was still sitting there. I waited a few hours for the owner to get home from work. His mom came home and gave me his number. I called him up and made a deal for $1000. His grandpa bought it brand new from Superior Pontiac (still exists) in San Antonio, Tx in 1958. It's a 4 door ht Star Chief automatic and is an original tri power car, no AC, no PS, no PB, no power seats, just 4 doors and tri power!

I got more and more into Pontiacs and then decided that I want to build a '63 4 speed dual quad car like the SDs. I found a '62 Cat 389 3 speed and decided that was close enough for me. I'm too poor for GTOs but I'd like to get another 60s 2 door some day.

[Goatster69]

It all started before I was even born!

My grandparents ran the local International Harvester and the Oldsmobile dealerships in a small town. My mom grew up driving her brothers 69 442 and later her own Javelin. I was brought home in a 73 442 with a 455 in it.

When it came time for me to look for a car my parents wanted to make sure I had a car powerful enough to pass quickly and go over a local small pass without problems. We looked for Olds/Pontiacs for a year or so before coming onto the 69 GTO in 1989. We bought that car and it has been with me to this day. I have taken it camping in the mountains, out through the fields working harvest, through high school and college and now it sits in the garage getting a little attention every now and then as I can afford.

Needless to say in the early years I was kind of lost because all of the parts through GM had just been discontinued and all I had was the parts catalogs from PY and others to look through. Then I found the different web sites and Pontiac became a disease! Now I spend about 2 hours a day on average searching the local want ads, craigslist, ebay, PY, and other boards dealing with Pontiacs, parts and other cars.

Now my 7, 5, and 2 year old children will race into the garage when they hear the goat fire up and they beg to go for a ride....which I am more than glad to oblige - hopefully starting another generation of fans.

[performerrpm]

i got started pretty early, my older brother +8 years when i was 11 bought a 77 firebird that our new neighbor come trailering home one day. at first it wasnt for sale but after 2-3 months he lost interest in it and also needed a new mode of transportation so my brother offerred up a running 76 ltd and he took it. the car came with all new parts to assemble the 400 and a rebuilt t-350 and the guy helped him put it together while i done grunt work on it. i did get to drive it though so it was worth it. then luck would have it, 1 year later my dads friend needed a lift back to oklahoma from nevada and bought a 66 lemans thinking he would drive it here and possibly sell it to my dad for double the 12 hundred or so he paid for it but he spun a main bearing just across the ok state line and limped it in to my dads shop where he only got 800 out of it: the car looked prettt sharp but my dad was chevelle guy and though he fixed the 400 and repainted it he just wasnt interested in it so he gave it to me when i was 12 and called my mom one day and said for her to bring to his house to get the car which she did. i damn near wore the starter out in the back yard for 2 years and almost wrecked it a couple times sneekin out at night. when i was almost 16 me and the car had to move to my dads house where i got my license a ran the piss out of it for 7 years. its been burned up had the top crushed from a bad hood latch and redone both times. hopefully this frame off ive been doing since 02 will fair a little better. though ive had to put it on the back burner a few times ..... marriage 3 kids house. i should have her painted this winter. looks like iam gonna be the only pontiac guy in the family for awhile since my brother has takin an indefinate break from hot rods for now and just hunts and worries about his harley and tractors these days

[NoMoCEO]

I got started in '77 because my Dad thought he would hold out for another 100 dollars.

Local Chevy dealer had a '69 Chevelle w/327 that had belonged to a priest. 27,000 miles. $1200. I even talked to the priest. Needless to say, I lost out on that one.

My future Brother-in-Law had just totaled a '71 Lemans and even though I had never seen it in one piece, I thought it looked nice and added that to the list of 2 door A bodies I would be willing to drive.

Ended up with a nice '70 Lemans. Learned to paint on that car, etc. It was eventually traded for my first new car, a '78 Trans Am. Except for a little break to expiriment with a Vette and '55 Chevy, all my toys have been Pontiacs.

Like everyone else, wish I had kept the first one, by here in New England, they didn't last long those days. Abotu 10 years ago, a '70 showed up from Fla. I had torn the entire floor out of my bathroom and had several other expensive construction projects going on and really couldn't afford to be buying toys. I went and looked anyway.

Had to have it. It was kind of brownish with a white painted roof. I immediately painted it the color of my first car and put on a vinyl roof. I still have it.

As my 30th reunion came around this year (I didn't go, but old friends were in town) I had people saying "I can't believe you still have your car!"

[Mr. P-Body]

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

[goatman65]

Go to the thread,'Do you know your car's history' posts 49-55 for my answer.

[455Grandville]

Great aunt & uncle bought the GV new. When she was no longer able to drive she gave it to me with 19K orig miles in the early 1990s.

[just501]

Was looking for my first car. I was fifteen and looking for a first gen camaro. Had never seen a first gen firebird at that point, but bought the first one I did see! Next two cars were pontiac too!

[Kitch428m21]

My 84 year old dear old dad was telling me just last week that he knew I was a car guy at the age of 1.
An imported "made in Japan" toy car was given to me then with a never seen before friction motor in it.
He said I looked at curiously, set it down, pushed forward a few times, and had it all figured out in less than a minute.
Our family transportation at that time was a 1950 Pontiac Chiefton Str8.
That's how it all started for me.

[71GP76TA]

My dad had Pontiacs when I was growing up.....

1964 GP 421 3-2 4 speed
1967 2+2 4 speed w/hood tach
1967 Ventura 428HO 4 speed
1964 GTO convertible
1970 Bonneville
1981 Trans Am
1957 Chieftan 2 dr hdt w/ a flame job

The first car I ever rode in was the 2+2

[Go-Tee-O]

Around 1978 (eighth grade for me), my Dad called all excited about buying a '70 GTO ragtop, 350hp/4 speed, Pepper Green, green interior, black top...for $400! Said he almost stood his '66 Newport on its nose when he drove by it. I learned to drive in that car, when I was 13. I was in college in '83 when he lost his storage for the car, and had to sell it I tried everything to raise money to get it, but I had no means at the time *sigh*
I got a '67 coupe in '85, and now have a '69 basketcase coupe, but I will always regret missing out on dad's '70 vert.



BTW, this is after a new quarter panel, repaint, and white top

[Jerry H.]

I was lucky as a kid. Although he was killed in a car accident when I was only 1 1/2, my dad was a car guy. He was one of the first to put a SBC in a 40 Ford. My mom married another car guy. He treated me just like a son of his own. They bought a new 62 maroon 2 door Bonneville. I still remember how beautiful the interior was on that car. They traded that in for a Noturne blue 63 GP w/ 8 lugs. He took me to the drags in late 62 or 63 and I saw a Catalina with that beautiful '421' emblem on the front fender. I was hooked. My first car when I had drivers license ( I owned a couple before then) was a 65 Lemans coupe. Shortly after that I added a worn out 65 Goat with tripower and some funny looking wheels that I pulled off and put on a set of chrome reverse steel wheels. It turns out they were Hurst wheels! I don't even remember what I did with those, probably gave them away or tossed them somewhere. And as they say, the rest is history. I've owned dozens and dozens of Pontiacs since then.

[Keith Seymore]

My story is kind of long, so I put it here:

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=560524

[barrierblue66]

When I was 16, my uncle got into an accident with his '70 Tempest. 350, powerglide, manual steering and brakes BUT had AC...go figure, he was always kinda cheap So my dad says, hey you'll be needing a car soon, he'll sell it for $300. So we replaced the front fender and control arm damaged in the accident, and had it painted the original Verdoro green. I owned the car for 8 years, and made lots of mods; 3 more paint jobs including an Earl Sheibs $69.95 special - man did that paint wear like iron......also dropped in an Olds 403 motor, intake and Holley carb, shift kit, converter, and 12 bolt 4:11 rear. Had so much fun with that car, drag raced on the weekends, cruisin...then sold it for a '74 Vette, not sure why. Still loved Pontiacs, and wouldn't get my Goat till 2 years later (which is another story in itself)

Here's some pix of the different paint jobs...............

[drailed]

My father got me into cars from when I was a young kid. He had a 67 GTO that he sold when I was a baby but still was into cars and took me to shows alot. After I got my license he supported me with the hobby by cosigning a loan to buy a 64 Lemans when I was 16 after giving me his old 1980 Subaru with plywood floors for a daily beater. I think he more or less was reliving the years he missed out on raising and supporting a family and im thankful for it.

[GT182]

I remember my dad's Pontiacs in the 50s, especially the 57 StarChief mom wrecked with me in it.... I was 7 years old and hooked. He co-signed for my first 66 GTO in 1970, which I had for only a year and paid on for a total of 3 years to pay it off. Yep, no comprehensive insurance to cover me totaling it in April of 71. Man snowbanks are hard up in Northern NY in April. I had my second GTO in 73 I believe but could never get it started and sold it. 34 years later in July of 2007 I found the one in my sig and bought it. I have the right insurance now in case anything happens. LOL

[arob63]

I remember my father always had this real cool looking blue car that seemed like it did 100 miles per hour on the street. I think he bought it when I was 8. At the time I did not know that it was a 1979 Formula, with a 400 and a 4-speed. I loved going for rides with him in that car, especially since my mother and him were divorced, so I did not see him as much. We could always tell when he was coming because we heard him from down the street. After that car, my father owned a 1972 Grand Prix, with a 455. That car threw a rod and cracked the block. I thought he was going to cry when that happened. He also owned a 1970 Catalina, 400ci, another GP I believe, and currently he has a 1972 Lemans. I learned how to drive on the Catalina. Talk about a big car . I used to read his issues of HPP and I did not even know what most of the articles were about, I just liked the cars in them! But now I have my own 2nd gen and I am loving it!

[Axle07]

When I was a real little kid my dad used to take me, my brother and sister for rides in his 75 firebird. When he bought it, he pulled the engine out and put a bigger cam in it and that made him happy enough, us too. I remember him throwing us to the back of the seat when he would take off. When i finally was old enough to drive he got me an '87 Chevy Blazer with a little 2.8 liter V6. He had been sold his firebird. Over this past summer i was looking for a trans am. I had saved up all the money I made working and was determined I would buy one. I look at everything close to me from 1st gens to 4th gens and decided I'd either take a 2nd or 4th. Eventually I found a 1977 Trans Am for $1500 bucks. That got me that Trans Am, 1 extra hood, 2 extra front fenders, and 2 extra front bumpers. I've spent all summer and all my cash on this beautiful car and I wouldn't trade it for anything. So I'm just starting to become a Pontiac guy but I plan to buy a 4th gen Trans Am in the future and a GTO Judge would go in there nicely as well.

[Craig Hendrickson]

These are some great stories, guys!!!

I'll add another one to keep things going.

In early 1973, before H-O Racing got going, I had just purchased a 1970 GTO for cheap from somebody who knew virtually nothing mechanically about it. It's problem was that it had headers which were smashed in on the bottom, so it would not breathe out the exhaust side at all. I fixed that by putting in another set of headers.

On the Sunday following my purchase and fix of this GTO, my wife at the time drives me down to Kern's shop in this GTO to do some work on on our E/MP Tempest. About 1/2 hour after that the California Highway Patrol calls and states that my wife has been in an accident on the I-405!

Kern and I jump into his truck and rocket up the I-405. My wife is OK since she saw the rear end-er coming. The 1970 GTO had a high back seat and my wife was only 5'2" and traffic had stopped ahead of her, she saw the guys coming at her from the rear, so she braced herself before the impact. No one was seriously hurt, although the GTO was smashed like collapsed accordian (totaled).

BUT... the first thing my wife said to me was: "Honey, I'm sorry I wrecked your new GTO!!!". I could have cared less about the GTO (it was not new since this was 1973), so I told her that I was only glad that she in particular and the other people were OK.

My wife was a "car person." She completely supported my leaving the USAF and starting H-O Racing. Without her support, H-O would not have happened.

Craig