Super Stockers from the past...

[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 !

[oldskool]

The Pontiac Powered GT Cars

Many of these cars were racing more than 10 years ago. So, maybe that qualifies for "from the past".

3rd gen Birds have been very popular for GT racing. So, if you use a 3rd gen body, it's gotta be a '92 or older. And if you use a 350 or larger iron head Pontiac engine, parts of it must be from a 1979 or older model year. So, an iron head Pontiac powered 3rd gen Bird IS from the "past", in a manner of speaking.

#1 Phil Monteith's Pontiac powered "Hatari" 3rd gen GT Bird is well known to Pontiac racers. It took Peter Biondo to his 1st SS nat championship, IIRC. Then later, in around '04, Bruce Fulper drove the car to an Indy GT/DA class win.

While lookin at this '04 SS class winners list, also notice that Ken Shawver won SS/LA & Carroll Warling won SS/MA.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2004#indextop

#2 As we all know, lots of drag cars have changed hands. Some have had several owners & are still racing. A currently active 3rd gen is now being raced by Scott & Brad Burton. It was previously raced by Steve Smith. I think it ran a 400 for most of it's GT racing life. I think it now has an alum head 428. I could be wrong. Scott didn't change the color from when Steve ran it. It's still white, with a blue stripe right up the middle & over the top. Pics can be seen on Auto Imagery.

I think most here know Scott & Brad Burton. They're long time Pontiac racers. Scott ran the quickest Pontiac Stocker, ever, a B/SA '70 RAIV 400 powered '70 Formula Bird. And Brad has won a couple of Stock nat championships in a '72 455HO powered Formula Bird.

#3 Another strong running 3rd gen was raced by Vic Santos. Bill Kennedy runs it now. For years, the car would qualify near the top of the Q-list. It was 400 Pontiac powered. At the 2015 Dutch Classic, Vic was #1 qualifier, @ more than 1.2 sec under. Then future owner Bill Kennedy qualified #2 in his Chevy.

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

#4 Greg Meyer has another real nice 3rd gen GT car. I think it still has 400 Pontiac power. Don't know when he 1st raced it. But I just found it on the 2009 Indy Q-list, @ #82. So, he's been racing it for over 12 years.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2009#indextop

#5 Lynn McCarty & family have a couple of GT cars. One is a black 3rd gen Bird. Lynn was also driving it at Indy '09. So, he's had it running for at least 12 years.

#6 I know of at least three 4th gen Birds, that have run Pontiac power. Leo Glasbrenner ran one. I can 1st spot it on DRC, with Pontiac power, in 2013. I think he ran the alum head 428 engine.

#7 I have one listed as a Johnny Duncan car. Don't know when he 1st raced it. I also have it listed with Sam Biondo driving. Don't know who built it, or when. It's now being raced by the Pickett & Agneta team, with John Agneta doing the driving. I think Phil Monteith is helping them, & may have built the engine. Not sure.

#8 The most famous Pontiac powered GT car is probably Phil Monteith's 4th gen "Hatari". It carried Peter Biondo to his 2nd & 3rd SS championships. It had 400 Pontiac power for several years. I think it was switched over to alum head 428 power, a few years back. Not sure of the exact time. Could probably look it up on DRC, by the class change. Anyhow, several guys have driven it, including several of the Biondo clan. Don't know how many races it's won. But it's quite a few. DRC shows that it was @ Indy in '98, listed as a '98. In 2000, it was listed as a 2000 model. I think it was the same car, with different body parts, but not sure. Notice the champs #1 on the window.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r1998#indextop

#9 There have been other body styles used for Pontiac powered GT cars. Don Kennedy has a Sunfire. There are a couple of Cobalts. All 3 of these cars have been Indy class winners. The Robert Cruzen Cobalt has recorded the quickest time, of 8.90. Several SS racers have just decided to run in GT, with their reg SS legal Pontiac. Other guys have run a Pontaic body that came with a Pontiac engine, but are using a different Pontiac engine, for GT racing. One example of that is the Larry Maxwell '68 Bird. I've read that he is running a '74 350 Pontiac engine. Pic #9 is of Carroll Warlings '74 GTO. I think it has a 400. He's also changed engines in his '74 Lemans. I think it now has an iron head 428.

[mopar68]