Super Stockers from the past...

[oldskool]

I'll begin the this post with the SS/FA '68 "Yellow Bird".

#2 is the John Angeles & Pete McCarthy SS/IA '68 Bird.

The most famous '68 SS Bird may be the Roy & Mike McKinney Bird. Have pics of it in blue & red. I assume it was the same car, with different paint. But I'm not sure. In red, it got some BIG air ! Too much, sometime. Needed wheelie bars. Pic #6 is of a Comp Cams ad, with the McKinney Bird in it.

#7 - Just remembered an old wagon which held a nat record for more than a dozen years, IF the pics indicate fact. I can't verify all the record years. Whole car may be bogus. Don't know what class/classes it ran, or who owned it. Maybe somebody here knows the car & can provide more info ?

[oldskool]

Will began this post with 3 '69 SS Birds.

#1 is a small tire SS/F stick Bird.

#2 is Phil Monteith's RAIV '69 "Hatari" Bird @ Indy.

#3 is the John Angeles Bird, with daughter Keri driving. In 2000, she drove it into the 9's. it's been said that was the 1st 9 sec pass by a 400 Pontiac powered reg SS class car.

#4 is SS/G "Chief Justice", which is a small tire Super Stocker.

#5 is Art Peterson's '69 Goat. I have later pics of it, in 2 different colors. Don't know when he 1st raced it.

#6 is the "Packin Poncho". Apparently, Royce Fowler never ran it in NHRA. All the pics I've seen show it with a hood scoop. We saw it at the World Nats, in Amarillo, in either '75 or '76. It had a snorkle scoop. Have seen other pics showing it with a much wider scoop.

[oldskool]

Right now, not a lot of '70 model Pontiac SS cars come to mind. I'll take a look at my files & see what I have. Will probably have to finish this post with mostly '71 models.

#1 Just as I thought, VERY few '70 SS Pontiacs. I don't have one from the early days. I do have one, which I think is still active. It is a '70 GTO. Runs SS/IA. Looks to have "Ram Air IV" on the hood. Owner listed as Bill Eadelis.

#2 And then, in 1971, came the 455HO engine ! These engines were very competitive, in Stock & SS, & a few still are. This Towne Pontiac '71 Bird has NHRA Nat Record Holder, on the roof.

#3 Don Breen won a race with his '71 SS Bird & got some ink on a Lunati Cams ad.

#4 is a Royal Automotive SS/HA Bird. I like the way it looks. Just LOOKS like a competitive car. And it's an old school small tire car, with slappers.

#5 The '71 T-37 models were popular for drag racing. I have this one listed as belonging to the White bros.

#6 Here's a T-37 that got some ink in the HPP mag. I think I read the article, but can't remember all the particulars. IIRC, they did a complete resto on it.

#7 Know very little about this one. Sponsored by Smith Pontiac & Dynamic Automotive.

#8 I'll finish this post out with a couple of '72 SS wagons. This one has Stealy & Hamilton on it. I assume that was Jerry Stealy & Jay Hamilton, who I've mentioned on this site running Pontiac Stockers.

#9 This is a '72 stick wagon. Only one I've run across.

[oldskool]

#1 I'll begin this post with what is probably the most famous Pontiac Super Stocker. It's certainly the most famous '72 GTO Super Stocker. It belonged to Sonny Ray. He set at least 1 nat record, with it, & won some big races. David Rampy also drove it to his 1st nat event win, at the '83 Cajun Nats. We saw it run & took pics, at the '78 Cajuns.

#2 Gary Moore drove a '72 455HO SS Bird to a nat record at the Amarillo World Finals.

#3 Another '72 GTO record holder was driven by famous Pontiac racer, Truman Fields. He got the SS/K class win @ Indy in '72.

#4 Burnett Pontiac sponsored SS/JA Bird. Great shot of an old 5-amber tree. That's what we saw. Who knows what year most of the big tracks went to the 3-amber tree ?

#5 3240 is Bob Michael's perm number. So, I reckin this was another of his many Pontiac powered drag cars. Looks like the major sponsor was Golden United insurance. Has an Ellison decal over the rear wheel well. So, I reckin Ellison at least did the machine work on the engine. It looked to be another of the small tire slapper bar Super Stockers. Don't know if #4 & #5 Birds are connected in any way, other than the gold color. Bob raced & sold lots of Pontiacs. So, these pics COULD be of the same car, I suppose.

#6 The White bros won the SS/JA class @ Indy '72.

#7 Pontiaction '72 GTO. I think this is the same car that Phil Szupka drove for a while. Same name, anyhow.

#8 Dynamic Automotive '72 SS/JA Goat.

#9 Didn't see any other '72's in my files to post. So I'll add this shot of the White bros SS/JA class winner @ Indy.

[oldskool]

For Pontiac, '73 was the year of the SD455 engine. So, there were some SD455's used for SS racing, thru the years.

#1 One of the most famous was the Herslow & Morlock T/A. It made the cover of SS&DI mag. Made some noise as a Stocker, then moved to SS

#2 H&M car as a Super Stocker. "Celluloid Hero"

#3 Phil Szupka later raced it, using his "Pontiaction" name.

#4 Bob Michael built one.

#5 Don Kennedy bought Bob's Bird & painted it Blue.

#6 Jack Mullins built one. We saw it at the '78 Cajun Nats, with For Sale signs on it.

#7 Glen Tinsley bought it from Jack & ran it for a while. I know you're not supposed to lock the brakes up at the finish line. But it made a great pic !

#8 Another famous '73 SD455 Bird belongs to John Clegg. He bought it new & won D/S @ Indy, right away. Soon switched it over to SS. A couple of years back, they updated it & J.B. Clegg has run some mid 9's with it.

#9 I think this one belonged to Lloyd Robinson. Someone correct me, if I'm wrong.

[oldskool]

Will post some '74 Pontiac SS cars. But, 1st I'll start with one more '73 SD455 Bird, which belongs to Bill Abrams.

#2 H-O Racing Specialties SS/KA nat rec holder '74 SD455 T/A. Glen Tinsley ran it for a while. I think it is the same car that J.B. Clegg ran into the mid 9's. Somebody correct me if that info is wrong.

#3 Johnny Duncan

#4 Tony Reiter

#5 My caption says this was Lloyd Robinson @ the '80 Gators.

#6 Wilbert Thornton '74 SS/LA T/A.

#7 Carroll Warling '74 SS/MA Lemans record holder. He has run it with both a Lemans & a Grand Am nose on it. It obviously had the GA nose in this pic. It ran a 400 engine, which has been very competitive in both Stock & SS, thru the years.

#8 This is a pic that shows just over 1/2 of a '74 SS T/A, driven by Bill Foder. It has a big "400" on the shaker scoop.

#9 This SS/JA T/A belongs to Billy Ingels.

[oldskool]

I'm posting this 1st pic just because I think it's cool !

#1 It's the Wilbert Thornton '74 T/A, with a different paint job, & gettin a little air !

#2 This of course is Bill Rinks '74 GTO, in Super Stock form. It still had the older paint job. A few years back, he changed the color to red. For any who read this & do not know, Bill began racing this car in Stock. He's posted here that he made the mistake of going too quick & got a huge hit from the NHRA hp police. At that time, he switched the car over to Super Stock. The car is still active. Don't know if currently active cars are OK for this thread, or not. If not, & they offend anyone, if that's you, DON"T LOOK !

#3 Looks like Bob Peters was the driver of this Peters & Michael '74 Grand Am. Assume it was another of the many Pontiac drag cars that Bob Michael had a hand in.

#4 Assume Johnny Duncan was the driver of this Duncan & Michael '74 Lemans.

#5 This GA has McCoy & Michael on the door. May be the same car that's in pic #3. I don't know.

#6 This '78 T/A has Bob Michael & Bob Peters on the door. IIRC, I read that Bob Michael built this car after he sold the SD455 Bird to Don Kennedy. Could be wrong. Once again, looks like Bob used A Hines for the engine machine work.

#7 One of the strongest running Pontiac SS cars, ever. It's a '78 T/A. It was the #1 SS qualifier @ Indy one year ! Was an Indy class winner several times. Also won class at other nat events. Was owned & driven by Ken Shawver, for many years. Then Monte Howard drove it for a few years. He was nice enuff to send me these & several other pics & info about the car & his experience with it. It now belongs to Jack Good.

#8 '07 was one of the 2 times that Monte won class @ Indy with it.

#9 IIRC, the GT Super Stock classes were added in the '80's. If I'm wrong, somebody post the correct info. Anyhow, Pontiac racer Don Kennedy had a big hand in writing the original GT rules. So, I'll end this post with Don's 1st GT car, which was a Pontiac(SD455 I think) powered 3rd gen Bird. There have been lots of Pontiac powered GT cars, since then. So, THANKS Don, for your part in getting this class established !