When the NHRA revised its rulebook for 1962, stating that only factory-installed components were legal for stock class competition, Pontiac responded by making its SD-421 a factory-installed option on Catalina and Grand Prix models.
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Jerry Eckerle is a Pontiac loyalist who was fortunate enough to be of driving age at the zenith of the musclecar era.
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For many hobbyists, how they ultimately select one car over another at a Pontiac dealership to become its owner is a story they’ll cherish for the rest of their lives.
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I was 1984 and I was a senior in high school when I got my first Pontiac—a red Firebird Formula with leather seats, T-tops, and a 3.23:1 rearend.
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Installing a quarter-panel patch, inner trunk side-filler panel, and outer wheelhouse on a GTO
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For the past two months, High Performance Pontiac has brought you to the edge of your seat with drag race action from our Pavement Pounders Shootout
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This is the first car I’ve ever restored and I did all the work myself,” says David Rosenbauer of his ’81 NASCAR Pace Car Trans Am.
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The 32nd Annual GTOAA International Meet, held July 4-7, 2011, in Portland, Oregon, gave GTOAA members and non-members alike the opportunity to immerse themselves in the popular culture of the GTO
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In the process of owning, restoring, and driving your Pontiac, problems will crop up from time to time. Be they routed in age, outdated technology, or poor initial design, you still want to fix them with a better part to avoid future hassles.
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My grandfather and grandmother always drove Pontiacs, and I can remember my parents inheriting some of their hand-me-downs when I was a small child.
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Whether you prefer your Pontiac be equipped with an automatic transmission or a manual, nothing feels better than a positive high-rpm upshift into Second gear that chirps the tires while accelerating at full throttle.
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With the engine block for our 455-based stroker mule engine completely machined, Craig Wise of RaceKrafters will now work on the rotating assembly, which includes the crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons, rings, and rod bearings.
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What’s one of the first things you admire in a First-Generation Firebird’s cabin?
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Is it genetic? Are some of us born with a desire to own and build Pontiacs, or is it learned? Since his parents were never really big on Pontiacs, for Kentuckian Eric Emmerich it appears to be learned from his uncles, Bud and Jerry—two hot rodders who sold their Chevys once they discovered the GTO.
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On June 26, 2011—the actual day of Jim Wangers’ birthday—Pontiac hobbyists gathered to honor a man who has dedicated his life to promoting Pontiac and supporting the Pontiac community.
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History can be elusive. There are those who spend their lives chasing it down; others, whether through circumstance or other means, become a part of it. Still others are determined to recreate it as a pleasant diversion from what is invariably an unsuitable present.
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With a total of 865 registrations, 210 popular vote showcars, 103 cars present for Points Judged certification, and 86 non-judged “Road Warriors”—all of which were driven to the event—the 2011 POCI Convention held in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on July 5-9, 2011, proved to be a rousing success as conve
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If you recall from last month’s issue, High Performance Pontiac brought its Pavement Pounders Shootout to Norwalk, Ohio, in August 2011 for an action-packed day of drag racing at Summit Motorsports Park
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How much can I mill down a 6X-4 head? I’m building a stock 455 that’s 0.030-over with flat-top pistons and an “068” cam.
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Today Super-Duty Firebirds are so coveted that hobbyists go to great lengths to salvage a relic. Just 252 Super-Duty Trans Ams were produced during the ’73 model year, and value and rarity make them worth restoring. So what about a ’73 Super-Duty Formula? Only 43 were produced—10 with a four-speed.
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We are all aware of the many recent advancements in performance part engineering for a traditional Pontiac engine.
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“I didn’t want a race car,” says 46-year-old Steve Prouty of his and his wife, Julie’s, ’69 Firebird. “I just wanted a stylish, mildly modernized, and competent performer that my family and I could comfortably enjoy on the road.
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For those who prefer a stock appearance in their Pontiac’s engine compartment right down to the battery, you have a few choices—buy a reproduction battery, a sealed maintenance- free reproduction battery, or disguise the modern aftermarket battery you already have with a battery topper to appear fac
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I drove my replacement ’99 another year and a half until September 2001, when I followed my new wife’s suggestion and went down to the dealership to trade my ’99 for a new ’02 WS6. A week later I drove home a Silver Metallic automatic model with 3.23 gears.
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Growing up in Detroit in the late ’50s, the coming of the new decade meant more than watching a new model year for Pontiac unfold upon its home playing field. It also meant the birth of a new era of looks and performance targeted to America’s youth and youthful-thinking, on-the-go population.
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