Looking for 1970's statistics

[oldskool]

'66 was the last year of Pontiac Tri-Power. And the '66 Tri-Power is said to flow a bit more than in the previous years.

Lots of '66 Goats were raced. I assume the winningest was raced by Knafel Pontiac. I know it won at least 1 nat event, with Arlen Vanke driving. I call it the "Trophy Car", because of the famous pic of it, with trophies sittin all over it. They actually had 2 '66 Goats. I assume they ran the same set-up.

Royal Pontiac also ran a '66, as well as other Pontiac dealers. Right now, I can't think of a single '66 Big Pontiac drag car.

[oldskool]

Big changes for Pontiac '67 models.

(1) The new Firebird

(2) New 400 cube engine

(3) New Q-jet carb. Actually it wasn't the 1st year a Pontiac engine used a Q-jet. Some OHC Six engines had a Q-jet. Also, not every '67 Pontiac V8 used a Q-jet, if 4-barrel equipped. The 326HO had an AFB.

(4) TH400 trans in Birds & Goats. The '64-'66 Goats were limited to the 2-speed auto trans, called a Super Turbine 300, by some. But for '67, a TH400 came behind the auto equipped 400 engines. It resulted in quite a few auto trans Pontiac drag cars.

(5) New 428 engine. A 428 Pontiac engine would not be a big player in drag racing, 'til the GT classes came along & the Edelbrock heads were made legal.

For sure, the Limelighter GTO(pic #1) & the Stan Long Bird(pic #6) were nat record holders.

I suppose the biggest '67 Pontiac winner of all time is the '67 Bird that Randi Lyn Shipp has been driving for a few years. Think she has at least 7 nat event wins in it. Bryan Phillips has also been running a 10 sec '67 Bird Stocker, for quite a while. These are the 2 quickest '67 Bird Stockers I can think of. Joel Larkin runs the only '67 SS Bird I've been aware of, in recent years.

Of the pics below, I suppose the SS GTO is the most recently active. I found it on a Winter Nats Q-list early in this century.

[oldskool]

1968 @ Pontiac

(1) New round port RA2 400 engine, with 041 cam.

(2) New A-body design.

(3) Open chamber D-port heads.

(4) New 350 engine, including a 350HO.

The '68 Birds have probably been the most popular drag Pontiac body, ever. No telling how many '68 Birds have been used for Stock racing.

I suppose the most famous were driven by Truman Fields & Mike McKinney. Between them, they have several big race wins, class wins, & nat records, driving '68 Birds.

There have been several '68 Bird Stockers run mid to low 10's. Some are still active. Have also been some '68 GTO Stockers, thru the years. None active that I've seen on any Q-list, lately.

Not many big '68 Pontiac Stockers, that I'm aware of. The "Walton's Mountain" car is the only one I have a pic of.

[oldskool]

'69 @ Pontiac

(1) RA4 engine in Birds & Goats.

(2) There came the Judge !

(3) Last year of the 428.

Quite a few '69 Birds & Goats raced in their early years, especially the orange Judge models. Very few, in recent years.

Bruce Noland is the latest '69 Bird racer. He has the T/A tribute car. John Schloe still runs his Stocker. Keri Angeles still drives the '69 9 sec SS Bird.

There were quite a few '69 Pontiac nat event class winners, back in the early years.

Art Peterson has the only active '69 GTO I know of. It runs SS.

[oldskool]

'70 @ Pontiac

(1) Birds get a new body style, referred to as the 2nd gen Birds. Had new Formula & Trans Am versions available.

(2) 1st year of the 455 Pontiac engine, but not available in Birds.

(3) The GTO got a slight body style change, tho it still used the '68-'69 hood. Judge continued, but with a taller rear deck "wing".

(4) RA4 engine continued.

(5) Some hp Birds got the Chevy 12-bolt rear.

(6) Some Pontiacs got a real Powerglide trans, with a dual pattern case. They are now quite rare. I saw 2 of 'em. Bought 1. Not a high performance option, just mentioned it because it was unique, for a Pontiac.

The most famous '70 Bird had to be the RA4 powered Formula, raced by Scott Burton. Before he sold it, it was the quickest Pontiac powered Stocker, ever, having turned some real low 10's, & even dipping into the the 9's, in legal Stock trim, but at a bracket race.

When new, Knafel Pontiac did real good with a '70 GTO, running mostly in AHRA events, IIRC.

Bill Eadelis has a '70 SS Goat. I'm sure there would have been lots more '70 Bird Stockers, if the 455 had been available.

Todd Kuhn has been racing the only active '70 GTO Stocker I'm aware of, for quite a few years now. It has qualified for the US Nats.

[oldskool]

'71 Pontiacs

(1) Compression lowered.

(2) 1st year of the the round port 455HO engine. RA4 engine dropped. The 455HO engines have won lots of races, beginning back when they were new.

(3) Last year of the Judge

(4) Completely different hood & nose on GTO.

(5) Some A-bodies were T-37 & GT-37 models. I've seen the T-37 described as a "Poor Man's GTO".

(6) Bird bodies had very few changes. Non-T/A models had short rectangular front fender vents. A 1-year-only item.

There were probably lots of '71 models raced. The most famous T-37 I can think of was raced by Rock Running. It was later raced by Ken Shawver. Don Turk is racing it now.

Most famous '71 GTO had to be the one raced by Mick Leiferman. It was a nat record holder for at least 5 years, & he was RU @ Indy, 3 years in a row.

Scott Underhill held the E/SA record a few years back, in his T-37.

Some of the most famous '71 Birds were raced by Max Sterling, Gary Moore, & the Green Brothers. The Axemakers had a nice '71, driven some buy Sam Reuland, and still active by new owner. Scott Burton may be the most famous Pontiac racer who ever raced a '71 Bird. He actually claimed several year models, with his early '70's Bird. Not sure exactly what year it was, from the factory. For racing purposes, it was pretty easy to change from '70 thru '73 model body, by making just a few minor changes. Don't have a pic of his Bird when he was claiming to have a '71, but there are records of it @ Indy, on DRC.

Here are pics of just 4 A-bodies & 5 Birds.

[oldskool]

'72 Pontiacs

(1) 455HO continued pretty much unchanged.

(2) GTO got a slightly different front cap, with fender vents, just behind the wheel well opening.

(3) Birds pretty much unchanged. Fender vents dropped. Grills had "honeycomb" pattern.

(4) 455 D-port heads had better flow.

Lots of 455HO Pontiacs have been raced, from their 1st year. I suppose the most famous '72 GTO may be the one Sonny Ray ran in SS. He won several nat events with it, & David Rampy won his 1st nat event with it. It was also a nat record holder. We saw it race at the '78 Cajun Nats.

Todd Hoven won a nat event & class @ Indy, with a 455 D-port '72 GTO Stocker.

The Axemaker '72 GTO Stocker did pretty good. Larry Maxwell had a strong 455HO '72 Lemans Stocker. A lady from Canada drives it now.

Truman Fields ran a '72 GTO for a while. Held a nat record with it.

Gary Wood ran a '72 GTO, a couple of '72 Lemans wagons, as well as a '72 Bird. The Wagons got some class & division wins. Charlene Wood won the Grandnational race, in Canada, one year, with one of the wagons, which were named "Tons-a-Fun". Gary got a class win with the Bird.

The most famous '72 Bird is probably the 455HO Formula, driven by Brad Burton. He won lots of races with it & won 2 nat Stock championships with it. Before Brad started racing, Scott Burton also claimed a '72 Bird at some races, including Indy.

Lee Bannister won several nat events with his '72. It had a Formy hood & T/A fenders, but apparently passed tech at the big races. Bill Foder has it now. Last pic I saw of it, it had T/A fenders & hood, but no T/A wheel flares. At recent races, I think he's been claiming a '73 model.

Gary Moore set the SS/J nat record with a '72 Bird.

Have lots of pics of nice '72 Stock & SS Pontiacs. But I'll just add the single post limit of 9.

[oldskool]

'73 Pontiacs

(1) 1st year of the SD455 engine. They've won lots of races thru the years.

(2) The A-body got a radical body style change, which most Pontiac fans did NOT like, & still don't.

(3) No major change in the Bird body. They got grills with a large rectangle pattern. The SD455 Formy used the T/A shaker hood.

(4) The X-body Ventura got a Pontiac 350 as an option.

Because of the unpopular look, not many guys have run a '73 GTO. I suppose the most famous Pontiac racer to run one was Mick Leiferman.

But, from the time they 1st came out, there have been lots of SD455 powered Birds raced. John Clegg bought one new & got the D/S win @ Indy, that year. He soon switched it over to SS. They updated it a couple of years back & J.B. Clegg still runs it. It has run some mid 9's.

Bob Michael built an SD455 powered '73, raced it a while, then sold it to Don Kennedy.

One of the most famous '73's was the Herslow & Morlock SD455 powered T/A. It was a nat record holder as a Stocker, & made the cover of SS&DI mag. They switched it over to SS. It ended up being a multi-year record holder. A later owner was Phil Szupka. Then Phil Monteith got it & switched it over to a '74 model. Sal Biondo got a nat event win in it.

Michael Brand has been running a D-port '73, but in the last couple of years has switched to an SD455. His wife drives it some.

In recent years, the '73 455 D-port had the NHRA hp factor lowered, & some of the 455 D-port powered Birds have been running strong. One of these Birds has been passed to several different owners, beginning with Adam Davis. & is now being raced by C.W. Hoefer, in div 7.

[oldskool]

'74 Pontiacs

Pic #1 is the H-O Racing Specialties SD455 '74 T/A. In '77, it set the SS/KA nat record @ 11.31. That sounds real slow in light of today's 10 sec Pontiac powered Stockers. We saw the H-O Bird @ the '78 Cajun Nats.

#2 is the Al Vanis '74 Ventura, which won Stock @ Indy '74. At that race, Rock Running won his stick class, in a '74 GTO.

#3 is the Bill Rink '74 GTO Stocker. It ran real strong 'til NHRA noticed & gave the combo a big hp factor hit. Bill then switched the car over to SS. It's won class @ Indy, several times.

#4 is Brad Koivisto's '74 GTO. Since Bill switched to SS, this is the quickest '74 GTO Stocker. It's run some high 10's. Probably the ONLY '74 GTO Stocker to ever do so.

#5 is Don Turk's '74 Grand Am, which he has sold. Don Elgin has been running one, out on the West Coast, for years. The 4X head 400 engine has proven to be very competitive, thru the years. So, there have been lots of A-bodies & Birds that have raced it.

#6 is probably the most famous '74 Bird Stocker. It is the Mulry & Aceves 400 powered record holder. It actually set records in J/SA, K/SA, & L/SA. They had to swap the body parts over to make it a legal Trans Am, in order to set the L/SA record. This pic shows it in the T/A trim. Bob Mulry qualified it at the top of lots of Q-lists, many @ more than 1.5 sec under.

#7 is Carroll Warling's '74 Super Stocker, with a GA nose. It set the SS/MA record, in this trim. He also runs it with a Lemans nose. I think he currently runs it in GT, with an iron head 428.

#8 is a Duncan & Michael Lemans. I assume that's Johnny Duncan & Bob Michael.

#9 is a McCoy & Michael GA. Bob Michael has had a hand in LOTS of top Pontiacs, thru the years.

There have been lots of competitive '74 Pontiacs. Several are still competing. So, I have plenty of '74 pics. But I'll just post these 9, for now.

[oldskool]

'75-'78 Pontiacs

Only have pics of one '75 Stocker & one '76 Stocker. The '75 is a Formula Bird & is still being raced by Ryan Warter, up in the Northwest. He's won the Northwest Nats, & some smaller races with it.

The '76 Bird was raced by Mike Morgan. He made the show at Indy a few times, & got a class win there. Last I knew, Kevin Love, from Canada, owned the car.

The '77 & '78 Pontiacs have been quite competitive, at times. In recent years, the '77 models, with the base 400 engine, have been competitive. NHRA has given that engine a big hp factor hit, if you run it in a Bird. But, it's still 260hp, in all other Pontiac bodies, in which it is legal for Stock.

So, in recent years, there have been some '77 Lemans Stockers running the base 400. Bob Michael built one, sold it, then built a '77 Catalina, running the same engine.

There have also been some competitive '77 Birds, running a Pontiac 350, in both Stock & SS. Dave Ribeiro owns the former Michael '77 Lemans. He also ran a '77 Bird record holder. He says that since the 400 powered Bird took such a big hit, the 350 is probably now more competitive. I've read that Tibor Kadar ran good in a 350 powered '77 Bird Stocker

The most famous 350 powered '77 Bird is probably the gold Formula Super Stocker that was raced by Sal Piacentini, then by Mike Morgan. I think Mike ran some mid 10's & won class @ Indy one year. Was RU in class, to Bill Rink, a couple of times.

The most famous '78 Bird is probably the Ken Shawver SS Bird. He won class with it several times & was #1 qualifier @ Indy one year. Monte Howard also drove it to a couple of Indy class wins. Jack Good owns it now. Monte recently drove it again, @ Indy.

In '79, the only 400 was in a stick Bird. Haven't known of any '79 400 powered Stockers. Billy Nees & Don Himes are the only guys I know of who have fooled with '79 301 powered stuff. If there were(are) others, Billy would know. Of course, the 301T cars were in the '80-'81 model Birds. There were several that were very competitive. Rick Unterseh has one now. He said he bought another & will build it for his wife to race.

I have LOTS of these pics. But here are 9.