[oldskool]

I mentioned a few of the rare Pontiac powered Stock/SS cars I know of, in other Pontiac threads.

The Indy class win by Bob Michael, in his '77 Catalina Stocker, brought this back to mind. I've never seen or heard of another '77 Catalina Stocker.

Ever since their introduction, Firebirds have been raced. From '67 thru '74, there was always something unique about each year model.

Of course, the '67 was unique because it was the 1st Bird. Also the 1st year of the 400 engine, 1st Q-jet on a Pontiac V8(I think), & TH400 instead of the 2-speed Super Turbine 300 the Earlier GTO's used.

'68 was the 1st year of the Pontiac 350, including the 350HO. Also the 1st year of the Pontiac round port heads.

'69 was the 1st year of the Trans Am. 1st year of the famous RAIV engine.

'70 was the 1st year of the new 2nd gen body style. 1st year of the shaker hood & associated 2nd gen T/A trim. Also 1st year(I suppose the ONLY year) that a Chevy 12-bolt rear end was used in a Bird.

'71 was the 1st year a 455 was offered in a Bird. 1st year of the round port 455HO engine & the 8.5 corporate rear end.

Not a lot of change for '72. But, most of the '72 engines did not have the end exhaust manifold/header bolt holes. This was NOT a good thing.

'73 was the 1st year of the SD455 engine.

In '74, the Birds got what I think were called "Federal Bumpers". There have been lots of '74 Birds running Stock & SS.

For '75, they got turn signal/parking lights in the grill. Also was the 1st year of the "wrap-around" rear windshield. This is the oldest year model of which I've run across VERY few class cars. Right now, the ONLY one I can think of belongs to Ryan Warter, up in the Northwest. He won the Northwest nats with it, recently.

'76 was another unique year for Birds. The nose & tail were completely changed. The '70-'75 Formula twin-scoop hood would still fit. But, I've also seen a Formy hood on a '76, which looked more like the later '70's Formy hoods. This was the last year of the 455 engine. But it was only available in a Bird, with a 4-speed manual trans. So, I've never seen one, in class racer form. The only '76 Bird Stocker I've seen belonged to Mike Morgan. He won class at Indy with it, back in 2014. Kevin Love now owns it.

There were several changes for the '77-'78 Birds. Main one was the front end/nose/hood. Shape of the T/A shaker was changed. '77 was the last year of the Pontiac 350. '78 was the last year of the 400 engine with an auto trans. So, there have been LOTS of these models raced, thru the years.

'79 was the last year of the 400 Pontiac engine. But, it was only available with a 4-speed trans. So, I've never seen a '79 400 equipped Stocker.

The '80-'81 Birds had the 301 in turbo & non-turbo versions. Have never seen a non-turbo version Stocker. There have been several 301T Stockers that did very well.

So, of all these Bird models, the '75 & '76 are the models I've seen the least numbers of. So, I'll post pics here of only those 2.