[Jack Gifford]

Sorry i don't know how to up-size this image. It's scanned from the June 1962 issue of Hot Rod Magazine. The Herbert Cams ad includes this- "The most remarkable thing about these feats is that they [Garlits & Swingle] can do it with either a Chrysler or a newly installed Pontiac engine." Say what?! If anybody should know about Garlits ever running a Pontiac it would be me- but this is news to me (I just recently bought this issue of Hot Rod that I was missing). I first met Don in the pits at the '61 Nationals, I was at the '62 Nationals when Mickey Thompson beat Don for Top Eliminator, etc., etc., and I was already a Pontiac fan by then (already had swapped Tri-Power engines into two hot rods). How could Garlits have ever run a Pontiac without me knowing? Anybody got better memories of this?

[Joe's Garage]

But it's a fuzzy five-decade-old memory.......

[mgarblik]

Steve Barcak, Pontiac Heaven would be one of the few who may have some additional information about this cool find. I don't find it hard to believe. Don Garlits was always a winner and wanted the best and fastest hardware available. In 1962, that would have been a PONTIAC engine with Mickey Thomson hemi heads. Love the old magazines, always great stuff to discover in them.

[Steve C.]

This is some amazing footage from the 1962 NHRA Winternationals that captures action on the track as well as some totally fantastic stuff from the pits like Don Garlits...

http://bangshift.com/bangshift1320/a...ine-dragsters/

Note the short clip of the dragster and the engine starting around 1:28 ???

I grew up in Southern California. I had just turned 16 that year and I remember asking my mother if I could ditch school during the week and drive out to Pomona.


.

[77 TRASHCAN]

You could probably send Don's daughter, Donna an email. She runs his museum for him, she could inquire for us....just a thought. I got to meet Don at an IHRA race in Tulsa, the last year that IHRA still had races around the country. His hearing loss seemed to be nearly 90% at that time....

[Bill Hanlon]

Jack:

Would a flattie Ford do?

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...1fe74b03c1.jpg

[mgarblik]

Absolutely great video footage. Just love it. We have been so fortunate to race with Arnie Beswick and match race with Dyno Don and a few other legends. These guys are the real hero's of the sport when innovation, determination, and endless hours of hard work paid off in wins. Nostalgia drag racing is as close as we will ever come to having that great feeling. Thanks for posting.

[Stuart]

There was a lot of fast and furious claims going around in the 'Cam Wars' ads in the magazines at the time, in between Isky, Herbert and a few other manufacturers. Some of it was factual, some of it was digs at their competitors, some of it was just hype. At the same time, Garlits was running through a lot of development on his cars and there were things that may have only been used for a few races, and probably a bunch of stuff that never made it out of his shop.

I've seen that ad before myself but hadn't picked up on the mention of a Pontiac engine. If I had to guess, it was something he looked at briefly but then he went back to working with Mopar engines (besides Hemi engines in various displacements, I think he ran an RB series 413 engine for a while as well.)

[Jack Gifford]

Originally Posted by Steve C.

... footage from the 1962 NHRA Winternationals...

Appears to me like Indianapolis Raceway Park in '62 (Nationals, not WinterNationals)?

[Don Keefe]

I have seen that before and I took it to mean that Garlits was probably messing around with an M/T Hemi Pontiac to see if it had any significant advantages or that he intended to and the ad writer(s) jumped the gun a little. Alternately, they may have just slipped in that phrase to let the few people out there running Pontiac Hemis know that they could get cams there.

[HaloMedic]

not to brag but I run into don at local Car shows. I will ask ive been to the museum a couple of times lots of other dragsters and engines from fellow racers don't recall a Pontiac W/ Mickey Thompson heads there but I could have missed it

[johnta1]

Jack, here is some good news.

This is from Don Garlits:

I tested a Pontiac engine in SR III at Lions for Mickey for several weeks
and of course the wedge head was no Match for the 57 Hemi Chrysler. It was
this test that forced Mickey to build several sets of Hemi heads for the
Pontiac engine that would eventually beat me at the 1962 US Nationals on
gasoline!
I would sure like to find a set for the Museum!

Don Garlits



Swamp Rat III pic




I emailed Steve Barcak and Tom S about the hemi heads.

[Stuart]

There you have it, right from the horse's mouth. Never knew Don did any Pontiac testing.

[mgarblik]

Isn't it just great to get this kind of first hand information! That's why I love nostalgia drag racing so much. The legends are leaving us, one by one. Talked to Arnie Beswick several times just this week, mostly about Vic Edelbrock. These guys have a real story to tell and I enjoy taking as much in as I can.

[Jack Gifford]

Thanks a lot John! I'm glad to fill in that piece of the puzzle.

Strange that he mentioned wanting a set of M/T hemi heads for his museum- I thought that his museum already had one of them on display?

[johnta1]

I'd have to go look again.
I don't remember seeing any?

His place has a ton of stuff now, and is getting bigger still.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Attendance would like at least double if the place was renamed...

Don Garlits Racng Museum & Speed Shop

[TedRamAirII]

He does have a little building on the side to sell a few car parts. Usually parts no body wants. He has quite a few original cars, early Fords and all. Lots of racing stuff, Smokey Yunick's Dyno. Worth it if you are near, dont know if i would drive from out of state just to go there. He has a car show there, maybe monthly, that's a good time to go.