Pontiacs

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by oldskool

There was no shortage of '62's. They ran lots of different classes.

One of my favorites is the A/S 421SD car that Don Gay drove.

But there were lots of '62 record holders & class winners.

You'll notice that some of these pics are of Grand Prix models. The '62 GP nose/grill gives it a different look than the other '62 Big Pontiacs.

The 62's ,with all that good Pontiac torque, were players when new..Not so today. The heads won't flow enough air ,by today's standards...Not a player anymore, even after defactoring.

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

The 62's ,with all that good Pontiac torque, were players when new..Not so today. The heads won't flow enough air ,by today's standards...Not a player anymore, even after defactoring.

Yeah, that's true for the SD engines. But, Norman Warling is doin good with his Tri-Power 389 '62 Cat. This past weekend, he qualified #1 for the 1st race & #2 for the 2nd race, at more than a sec under.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2021#indextop

I think he said Bob Michael is running the same engine in his '62 GP.

[oldskool]

Pontiac guys & dealers began racing the GTO back when they 1st came out. So, there were lots of GTO's that won races & set nat records.

But, towards the end of the 20th century, there were not a lot of GTO Stock/SS cars still racing. So, for this post, I decided to mention some of the A-body GTO Stock/SS cars that have raced in the last 20 years or so. Some still race occasionally. Some don't.

I can think of a couple of '68's. One was an F/S car, belonging to Adam Strang.

One belonged to Tim Gillespie.

The only '69 I can think of, that has been active in recent years, belongs to Art Peterson, in CA.

Todd Kuhn has been driving a '70 model Stocker now for a few years. It has the 1st year 455 engine.

Bill Eadelis has a '70 SS car.

For '71, the closest thing to a GTO I can think of is a 455HO powered T-37. Don Turk now has the Rock Running "Super Sleeper T-37. Scott Underhill held the E/SA nat record a few years back, with his.

Todd Hoven ran a '72 & won a nat event with it, back in '08, IIRC. Also got the G/SA class win at Indy that year.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2008#indextop

The Axemaker & Reuland families ran a '72 GTO for years. IIRC, Sam Reuland posted on this site that there are plans to possibly put it back on the track, for limited duty.

Larry Maxwell ran a '72 455HO powered Lemans for years. I think a lady from Canada, named Stephanie Pike, drives it now.

[oldskool]

Hey, if any of ya'll have any info & pics of competitive Pontiac V8 powered Stock/SS cars that have been missed, in all these Pontiac threads, by all means please post your info & pics.

If you have the names but no pics, post the names. Maybe there will be somebody here who has more info & pics about the car/cars.

For example: I know of a guy who raced back in the '70's & early '80's for sure. He was Stock RU at an IHRA points race, which was held at I-20 Dragway, in Tyler TX, in 1978.

His name is Billy Joe Moravits. He drove an early '70's T/A in '78. Have learned that he later raced a 3rd gen GT car. I know he ran it at the Hallsville TX track. He was/is from San Antonio TX.

Learned that his kin(uncle I think), Barney Moravits had a machine shop & built the Pontiac engines for Billy Joe.

I think I've asked here before. But I'll do it again, now. Does anybody reading this know either of these Moravits guys, anything about their cars/racing operation ?

Does anybody here have contact info for either of them ? I Googled & found that Barney's T & P Machine is closed. But you can click on the site & see the pics.

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1...oiowCnoECEIQAw

Online info shows phone number for both guys. Neither number produced any results.

[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.

[oldskool]

Here's a car I probably mentioned in the Pontiac SS thread. As far as I know, it's the only '67 Bird that has run SS, in quite a few years.

As far as I can remember, it's the only big-tire '67 SS Bird I've ever seen a pic of.

I've posted pics of some small tire '67 SS Birds from the early years. But can't remember another big tire '67.

This one belongs to Joel Larkin. It runs SS/IA. I suppose that in this time period you could call it a one-of-a-kind Bird.

[oldskool]

2 more rare Pontiacs are the 350 Pontiac powered '77 Bird, running SS, & a '74 350 powered GTO, running SS.

I only know of one of each. The '77 Bird was raced by Sal Piacentini. Mike Morgan bought it & has raced it for the last several years.

Of course, the SS GTO belongs to Bill Rink.

Both cars have won class at Indy. Mike has been RU to Bill, at least a couple of times. So, these 2 cars are both rare & quick.

In 2018, the Bird was quicker, qualifying @ #11, but Mike waited too long to leave & lost the SS/MA class win to Bill.

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

No, '77 Birds & '74 GTO's are not rare. But as 350 powered Super Stockers, they are indeed rare.

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by oldskool

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.
.

Ron Garey built a 77 Cat about 25 years ago. He runner-uped at a Div 4 points meet with it... He then went back to the Buicks.
We had a 77 Bonnie between 3 of my friends. No one ever got around to building it.
I tried to sell the roller here on C/R, cheap..Nobody ever responded. I ended up scrapping it.

[oldskool]

Yeah, I reckin some guys don't really think they're racin unless they drive some sort of Musclecar or at least something that is sorta sporty lookin.

Gotta admit that I don't particular like to see SOME of the cars on the track, which are racing today. It's not so much just the family sedan "grocery getter" type body styles. It's those really ugly compact type, "economy" cars that were REALLY slow & really ugly & the 1st ones to wear out & be junked, all over the country.

Not gonna mention any particular car or body style(except Pontiac), for fear of offending some non-Pontiac guy.

I actually don't think that '77 Catalina looks half bad, in race form. I actually like it better than the '77 Lemans body style. As many here know, he built one of those too. I think Dave Ribeiro has it now.

There have been several of those '77 Lemans Stockers that have done pretty good. The Kyle Riley "Who's Next" car comes to mind.

I remember back when the Pontiac A-body changed, from '72 over to the new style, in '73. I thought those '73's were about the ugliest Pontiac I'd ever seen. It's the rounded off tail section that looks bad, to me. I've always thought the '73 GTO was the ugliest ever made.

I like the Grand Am nose pretty good. IIRC, Don Elgin & Don Turk ran the GA nose. Carroll Warling has run both a GA & a Lemans nose on his record holding '74 SS car.

Tommy Brown runs a Lemans nose on his '74. There may be others I'm forgetting, or just don't know about.

The '73-'77 A-body I'd like to run is a '77 Can-Am. Don't remember ever seeing a pic of a serious Can-Am Stocker. As of right now, the '77 Bird is the only '77 body that takes a big hit from NHRA. So, that means that any '77 body should be more competitive than a Bird. But the Birds just LOOK so much better & faster.

Hey, as the old saying goes: "Looks ain't everything". Another saying is: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".