Vintage Pontiac Pics
 

Thought I'd start a thread here consisting only of vintage Pontiac pics. Many may have been posted before in another thread, but let's start a thread with nothing but original pics.

Starting with the old days.... [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

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That's a bitchin' little dragster! Looks like it might be quite a challenge getting in it with that rollbar?

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The late 50's...

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: StealthBird</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The late 50's... </div></div>

LOVE those pics. Seems like the 59's never get any love.

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1961 [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

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..

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Wow, some great old pictures you posted for us to enjoy!
Thank You,
Brew

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1964! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/flag.gif[/img]

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..

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These are some old photos from my racing days back in the mid sixties. They were taken at the old fairgrounds raceway in Richmond, Va. 1966.

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Neat pics Tommy! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/worship.gif[/img]

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1965...

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Worth another look.. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]
Anderson of course became Knafel Pontiac

http://www.mcacn.com/gallery/McClurg/image0155.jpg

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-----Love seeing any of these old cars that had anything to do with &quot;Akron Arlen&quot;. Knew him back in 65-66 and sold him nuts and bolts. Great guy and way ahead of his time......Bill S

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Some experimental engines:

1963 SOHC 421 - This was installed in engineer Malcolm McKellars 63 Grand Prix. Mac just recently passed away. He was a camshaft guru, and designed some of the best hi-perf camshafts of the whole Musclecar era...

The 1968 Brabham 303 SOHC, a joint project between the famous Brabham-Repco Formula 1 Grand Prix team and Pontiac. DeLorean loved the idea of making a &quot;Super Firebird&quot; with an exotic engine, or with the help of racing team, similar to the Ford/Shelby collaboration. The Brabham 303 was abandoned when Pontiac engineers found out they were getting more power from their RAV 303 project.

The 1963 DOHC 4-valve 389 with sequential fuel injection - not making production, it was scrapped when the GM racing ban hit in Jan 1963, but this beast would have gone into Grand Prix's, Bonnevilles, and Catalinas. When the 1964 GTO hit the streets, the engine was deemed to expensive to install or make available in the GTO series, and the project was scrapped.

Another 1963 SOHC 421, with rear mounted cam belts, and 3-valve heads.

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...

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Cool radical looking engines! Thanks!

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The first pic is the prototype RAIV air cleaner as used on a 1969 GTO. This setup used 4 air inlets, consisting of 2 hood scoops, and 2 hoses, and this was how they came up with the name Ram Air IV. The setup was abandoned before production started, but a 1969 GTO was road tested by a magazine with this setup, and Pontiac issued a diagram showing the system worked.

The second pic is one of the coolest Pontiacs around. This was Jim Wangers Ram Air Firebird, known as the Blackbird, which he had built to compete in the Woodward Ave street wars. This car faced stiff competition from cars built by well-known speed shops, as well as factory built engineering cars from Chrysler, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, and Ford. The Blackbird is now owned by Dr. Eric Schiffer, who is a wealth of information about those Woodward Ave street wars.

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Second pic is Truman Fields 1968 Firebird RAII, which cleaned up on dragstrips back in the 70's and 80's, and is still around today. Truman won the 1973 U.S. Nationals Stock Elimnator title, then later went on to become 1982 and 1983 IHRA Stock Eliminator Champion. After a retirement of sorts, Truman came back in 1993 and ran the Pure Stocks, becoming the first Pure Stock car to break into the 11's.

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I would love to have the wheels off of the Hard Times Firebird.....are they Fenton's???
Brian

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StealthBird,

Great engine shots and info. Is there any more out there especially of the fuel injection? Would like to also know what has survived. A bunch of neat stuff was in the works but the racing ban and emissions getting tighter (and redirecting development attention) killed a bunch.

Paul

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Pontiac built 3 SOHC 421ci engines in the early '60s. The photo I posted earlier was the one engine that survived, and was presented to Chief Engine Engineer Malcolm McKellar upon his retirement. McKellar had it placed into his personal 1963 Grand Prix, and it's running to this day. McKellar said that during the testing, the SOHC 421 engines produced around 625 hp and were capable of turning 7,000 rpm.

http://image.highperformancepontiac....ci_engines.jpg

What's really cool about this engine is that this isn't a tri-power setup on top, it was an an experimental single six-barrel unit that Pontiac Engineering tested for the 1967 model year. But when GM pulled the plug on multiple carbs, this setup was shelved.

Below is another view of the SOHC 421 I posted earlier, the one with the belt driven, rear mounted cam drives. Check out the exotic fuel injection setup.

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StealthBird, what were the differences between the late 50's Pontiac fuel injection and the Chevrolet unit? Was the Pontiac Rochester sourced? Any websites that discuss the Pontiac F.I. in any detail? It seems like all the discussion is about the Chevy unit and the Pontiac gets lost in the shuffle. I know the F.I. pictured above isn't a production unit, it just got me wonderin'.

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The Chevy and Pontiac setups were both made by Rochester Products, and were similar. The main difference being in the manifold design, and the fuel-meter locations. The Pontiac manifold had longer runners, giving a ram effect, and was stronger in the low and mid-range areas. The Pontiac setup made a respectable 310 hp from 347 cubes, but unfortunately pushed the heaviest car in Pontiac's lineup. A 57 Chieftain with the tri-power was actually quicker than the 57 Bonneville.

All 630 of the 1957 Bonnevilles were fuel injected, all convertibles, and all of them were loaded up with every available factory option, which again made them the heaviest of the Pontiacs.

The 57's typically sell for $120K-$200K now, one of the most expensive collector cars out there.

This is a 58 unit, but the runners and fuel inlets were the same as in 57. Biggest difference between the 57 Chevy F.I. and 57 Pontiac F.I. was the plenum, and runner length. Pics are from an old post on the Corvette Forum.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...n/100_0361.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...n/100_0356.jpg

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I remember reading about his retirement, the engine gift and his '63. The single 6-brl carb was a neat way to cheat the system. I wonder how much FI development knowledge he had and whether he had any hardware.

All production Pontiac FI units shared the same basic design and some components as units used for Chevrolet (Pass) and Corvette. Their main difference was the &quot;Turkey Roaster&quot; sheet metal enclosure they were housed in on the Pontiacs. All were/are Rochester units.

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-----The 57 Pontiac plenums were made up from sheet-metal unlike the 58s which, as you can see, are cast. Chevrolet paved the way but Pontiac wasnt far behind in all this early (US) fuel injection stuff. The problem, as Stealth has said, was that Pontiac didnt expand the program out to some of the lighter bodied models. It might not have mattered though as almost all the Pontiacs in 57 weighed a bunch, and Chevrolet had the Corvette as its P.R. machine as well as its H.P. machine. As well, G.M. was already well into the cubic inch wars as an easy, cheap way to make thier sleds go faster, as was Ford and Chrysler.
-----All the 57 Bonnevilles were white with red or blue or black accents except for (I think) two which were black. One had red trim and one had baby-blue trim. I can guarantee the one with the B-B trim as a friend of mine and I hauled it out of Chicago in original, forlorn condition in 1974. I havent a clue where it is today but it is surely worth a TON!.....Bill S

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Bill,

Correct on the '57 PMD FI. At the time, FI was a gamble and there was truly caution in the GM groups as far as its performance (both mechanically and sales) and not hurting any PR lines. The Corvette was a low production sports car that GM was willing to gamble with as well as some special models in the GM Pass car line. -They were probably under a bunch of pressure with the '57 Chevy to not give them a black eye. The big story behind it all was that Rochester was was working with all GM groups and GM would have loved to put it across the board but some of the Cold/Hot start and Hot Idle issues scared the others off until it was more refined. They waited, towards the end of it all they were still not pleased and with emissions tightening it died.

Here is a pic of a '57 unit from ebay:

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: StealthBird</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
All 630 of the 1957 Bonnevilles were fuel injected, all convertibles, and all of them were loaded up with every available factory option, which again made them the heaviest of the Pontiacs.

The 57's typically sell for $120K-$200K now, one of the most expensive collector cars out there.
</div></div>

I recently inspected a Black LS6 Chevelle for a customer and there was one of these in the owners collection. NEAT car to say the least and I had never heard of them prior to seeing it.

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An odd thing about this first year Bonneville is that there's only one pair of Bonneville emblems on the outside of the car, at the rear 1/4 panels. The front fenders and trunk lid had huge &quot;Fuel Injection&quot; script emblems. Considering the Bonneville was a brand new model, you would think Pontiac would want people to know it's called Bonneville. But with all the publicity Chevrolet and Pontiac received about their new fuel injection, just seeing the &quot;Fuel Injection&quot; emblems were enough for the public to know this was the new Pontiac flagship luxury performance car.

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The 57 Bonneville is also of great historical significance, as it was the car that brought the Pontiac Motor Division out of their stuffy image of the 40's and 50's into the their new role as GM's high performance division. Bunkie Knudsen arrived at Pontiac in 1956, and he immediately changed Pontiac's image. Using the newly revised 1955 Pontiac V8, he began pumping the parts bins full of high-perf equipment, from dual quads to aluminum parts, from drag racing parts to NASCAR items, he quickly transformed Pontiac into GM's high-perf division. For 1957, he brought out the fuel injected Bonneville as a statement.

Keeping this in the theme of this thread (vintage pics), here's the 57 Bonneville at the auto show.

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The happy newlywed couple, check out what's in the background. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: StealthBird</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The happy newlywed couple, check out what's in the background. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img] </div></div>

What? Cinderella's two angry step-sisters? [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/naughty.gif[/img]

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[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/haha.gif[/img]

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----Stealth,,,If thats an original black Bonny and if the trim was always white then that would be the other black Bonneville. Not the one we yanked out of Chicago as it was black/red, and original paint. Its also possible that a few more black ones got out of the factory than I have been told.....Bill S

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Here's another rare one from the engine archives.

Pontiac was very experimental back in the early 60's. While the work of their engineers was very advanced, Pontiac didn't have the engineering budget that Chevrolet had. DeLorean and Estes contracted well known drag racers and stock car builders to make super high perf parts for their Pontiac V8's, with the possibility they could use those parts for production, or add them to the Pontiac high performance parts catalog. Pontiac knew that once a part was in their catalog, that part could be considered legal for use in NHRA and NASCAR competition. And if the part(s) caught on, Pontiac could them to their production line.

Legendary NASCAR builder Smokey Yunick was under contract with Pontiac to develop some super high perf parts. With Pontiacs already dominating the 1961-1962 NASCAR season, Yunick turned his attention towards turbos. He came up with was a twin-turbo setup for the 1962 Pontiac 389, and he tested the setup to the tune of 900 hp back in 1961. Pontiac then scheduled a twin turbo setup for the 1962 model year, but canceled the project at the last minute. It was estimated the street version would have been around 550 hp.

These manifolds are dated 06/13/1961.

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Mickey Thompson was another legendary racer and engine builder under contract by Pontiac. Mickey set the world speed record in his 4-engined Bonneville racer (&quot;Challenger 1&quot;) back in the 50's, and he also was heavily involved with Pontiac's drag racing program in the early 60's. In fact, Mickey received many of the rare SD421 cars in 1962 and 1963, and wreaked havoc on the dragstrips across the country.

He also developed some very interesting high-perf parts for Pontiacs. His cross-ram and 2x4 intakes were stuff of legend, but he also made some high end parts for Pontiacs. Before the 1964 Chrysler Race Hemi made its debut, and 2 years before the 1966 Street Hemi would hit the streets, Thompson built on Chrysler 1950's Hemi design and built Pontiac Hemi heads for the 1961-1963 389-421 Pontiac engines. Along with those heads, he built blower manifolds, and a host of other racing parts, even aluminum blocks, for Pontiac. The M/T designed Hemi heads were 100 hp stronger than factory Pontiac heads, and Thompson produced over 700 hp in race trim.

When GM's 'no-racing' mandate was passed down in 1963, Thompson went on to sell his parts independently. A lot of M/T Hemi heads were sold, and many still exist today.

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Here's my Uncle Terry, circa 1971. Behind him is his Red/Red 1970 GTO 455/4sp convertible with A/C. It was a lightly used, welcome home present to himself upon returning relatively intact from Vietnam, and he traded in his 1968 Coronet R/T that remained in St. Paul MN during his tour. I don't know if you can see it in the downsized photo, but it has &quot;455 cid&quot; callouts on the fender AND &quot;RAM AIR IV&quot; callouts on the hood. Despite his cool rides, my uncle was not particularly a gearhead, and the RAIV hood decals were added by the original owner or dealer.

I was born in '69, and have fond memories of sitting on the console of this car, looking at the Hurst T-handle shifter, and cruising with my uncle to the CLARK station on Hwy 10 in Mounds View, filling up with gas and getting his KOOL cigarettes. I also got him in a bit of trouble with my grandmother, who while babysitting found me collecting grass clippings at the neighbors, putting them in a plastic bag, and informing her that I was gathering it for my uncle. Apparently he had some grass in bags but 3 or 4 year old me worried he was running low......

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<span style="font-style: italic"> &quot;I also got him in a bit of trouble with my grandmother, who while babysitting found me collecting grass clippings at the neighbors, putting them in a plastic bag, and informing her that I was gathering it for my uncle. Apparently he had some grass in bags but 3 or 4 year old me worried he was running low......</span>&quot;

That is a beauty of a story and very, very funny [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/haha.gif[/img] ! Are you still that literal?

Great photo by the way! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

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Great photo, and great story! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

Continuing with some 1968 pics:

1968 GTO at the track - note Ram Air pan on ground

1968 Pontiacs at the Auto Show, 68 GTO centerstage

1968 Myrtle Motors 428 Firebird

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Great photo!