Best Pontiac Powered Stockers

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by oldskool

So, to many people, the '64 GTO is what started the Musclecar deal. That can be debated. But, for you guys who were involved in serious class racing in the mid '60's what were some of the quickest '64 model GTO Stockers you can remember ? Post pics if you have 'em.

This 1st one has a 2-speed ST-300 trans. The '64-'66 models didn't come with a 3-speed auto. So, I don't suppose there were too many serious '64-'66 auto trans GTO's in competition. I personally never saw a single one. I suppose this is the only pic I've ever seen of one. Don't know how quick it was.

There were a few competitive Tri-Power GTOs.
Most had a dealership behind them and a lot at stake.
The HP was just flat too high, compared to W-30 Oldses , (bigger cam ,ram air hoses, battery in trunk, etc.)
Here's a few:



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[oldskool]

I have that pic of the John Thropp car in my files. Love the tow bar.

Towed my GTO to the track, in '73, with a 472 powered Caddy. Plenty of torque. No sweat. Hey, I had to start somewhere. For '74, I moved all the way up to a homemade pipe trailer, which had mobile home axles & no brakes. But hey, I was winning races & having loads of fun !

That reminds me of this 3rd pic, which appears to be a GP pulling a trailer with a Bird on it. Have seen a few pics of Pontiacs, especially wagons, pulling other Pontiacs around.

By the way, that GTO in the top pic is a '67. I've seen very few of those on the track. I suppose the GTO racers just didn't wanna give up their Tri-Power & 4-speed. I think the 400 engine, TH400 trans, & Q-jet would have been a lot more competitive. Dial your own, breakout racing, is just tuff with a stick.

[oldskool]

As mentioned, there were a lot of Pontiac dealers that fielded drag cars.

That Stephen Pontiac car reminded me of a couple of pics I have.

One is a chrome bumper '68 GTO Stocker. The other is what I think was a poor attempt at a Pro Stock car. Anybody know how quick it was & how much it lacked being competitive ?

When I 1st saw it, I thought the "Pro" was for the Pro bracket, at a local bracket race. But, I think I read that it was actually an attempt at the Pro Stock class. That was obviously in the very early days of Pro Stock. Never knew of a dealership sponsoring a bracket car.

"...Following a 1973 NHRA rule change to allow records to be set at any national meet, at the 1973 NHRA Winternationals, "Dyno Don" Nicholson set the first official Pro Stock e.t. record with a 9.33, while Bill Jenkins turned in a record 148.76 mph (239.41 km/h) speed; later at the same event, Nicholson made a 9.01 second/150.50 mph (242.21 km/h) pass, breaking both his and Jenkins' records..."

Anybody know how the Stephen Stockers did ?

[impstocker]

Originally Posted by oldskool

As mentioned, there were a lot of Pontiac dealers that fielded drag cars.

When I 1st saw it, I thought the "Pro" was for the Pro bracket, at a local bracket race. But, I think I read that it was actually an attempt at the Pro Stock class. That was obviously in the very early days of Pro Stock. Never knew of a dealership sponsoring a bracket car.

?

I remember that Stephen Pontiac Firebird Pro Stock car running at Dover Dragstrip early 70's

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by impstocker

I remember that Stephen Pontiac Firebird Pro Stock car running at Dover Dragstrip early 70's

Do you remember what kind of times it turned ?

[Alan Nyhus]

Here's a couple pics of the Don Breen '71 Firebird 455 H.O. that later went to John Spry and ultimately to the Axemaker family. It was originally run in SS/JA but since we've talked about it here....

Indy, U.S. Nationals:



Lunati add after Don won the NHRA Points Race at Minnesota's Donnybrook Raceway (now known as Brainerd). Don beat Herman Chapman in the final, who's car is also in the add:

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by oldskool

By the way, that GTO in the top pic is a '67. I've seen very few of those on the track. I suppose the GTO racers just didn't wanna give up their Tri-Power & 4-speed. I think the 400 engine, TH400 trans, & Q-jet would have been a lot more competitive. Dial your own, breakout racing, is just tuff with a stick.

Yes, the 67 car was added to that team, along with the more well known 66 4 speed car.
I couldn't find a pic last night, even though it did appear on the cover of SS/DI ,in the class final at Indy...Still looking

[oldskool]

The next '68 Bird I'll mention belongs to Todd Hoven. He's explained to me the circumstances under which he came by the car. If he wants to add to or correct anything I say about the car, he is invited to do so.

If I'm correct, the car is the one that Roy & Mike McKinney traded to Truman Fields, in the deal in which they got the '68 that Truman had won the '73 US Nats with. Truman then took the McKinney car and began racing it. He got the C/S class win with it at the '77 US Nats.

Then he raced it for many years, with several different paint jobs. Long story short, Todd got the car & raced it for a while, with a Truman Fields Hard Times resto look. Then that look was changed back to a plain green, without all the lettering.

Todd ran it as a stick car for a while, then switched to auto. He drove it himself, for a while. Then, as many here know, he started driving a Mopar, & his brother Duane started driving the bird. Again Todd, if any of this is wrong, please correct it.

I'll look up some numbers & race results for it, since Todd has had it.

He made the field for the 2015 US Nats with a .958 under, 10.592.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2015#indextop

He won this div 1 race in 2016.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...er=30#indextop

He got the D/SA win at this div 1 Nat Open race, with 10.543. Aslo cut a .008 light. Ran a 10.533 the previous round.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...UMMIT#indextop

I'm sure Todd can tell us about any other wins the car has had,

[oldskool]

Another nice 10 sec '68 Bird belongs to Ronald prince.

At this div 5 race, he qualified with a .667 under, 10.883, and was RU.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCStory.asp?ID=316804

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2018#indextop

[oldskool]

There are LOTS of pics of other '68's thru the years.

Here are 4 oldies.

Will probably find others to post later on.

Check out that old ramp truck in pic #2. Back in the '70's & '80's there were lots of those at the tracks we ran. But most were not as old or big as that one.

My 1st was a new '74 Ford 1-ton with a 390 & 4-speed. It was baby blue & cost around $3500. Got it a little cheaper, because the '75's had already come out. This one was probably still on the lot because of the color. A friend gave me some ramps off an old trailer, and we welded 'em on the truck & called it a ramp truck. Made it too steep. So, I had to add an electric winch to load the car. And this pic shows the home built trailer I'd bought, for $500. This pic was taken in early '75, before the door lettering & decals were added to the Bird. But, TJ had already won several races by that time. The 1st two wins came while it was still in red primer. Hey, we ran local tracks. They didn't care what color they were.

And while I'm showin my old junk, that '68 ragtop reminded me of ours So, here's a pic of it, along with my first 1-ton crew-cab, a '76 model. It's the truck that carried us to 49 races in '78. Cost about $4000. They're at least 10 times that price nowadays, probably more. I haven't bought one lately.