Pontiac Tempest at Daytona

[NYlakesider]

I have mention on here many times I was a street & strip racer and worked part time in my buddies speed shop/ garage in the best part of the muscle car era.

Well my buddy was a top mechanic and more of a "whisperer' in regards to getting out every bit of power out of a engine. He was good with Mopars, great with Chevies and superlative with his favorite Pontiac. Over the course of time he raced a few different "Tin Indians" on the strip and if fact held a few national records back then.

We had a lot of Pontiacs come through the shop and Dan would do his magic on them. No matter how well it ran you could tell the difference both on the street or strip after he had done his job.

One of our Chevie 396s got beat on the street by a Pontiac GTO that came from Royal Pontiac. By chance the car showed up at the garage to get a "Dan Super Tune" a couple weeks later.

We recognized the car and during the work we found out that it was not as told us by the owner a 389 tri power but a much bigger 421 tri power. Well no wonder it ran so well. The owner had bought the car used and said he did not know it had a changed engine in it.

Found out later that Royal Ponitiac was well known in putting in the bigger engine in the GTO and claiming it was just a good running 389!

Well we had the last laugh as we got our hands on a 455 built it up tremendously and puled the 421 out. At least in that era there was no substitute for displacement.

 

[4barrel]

Have mentioned my 1974 in this Forum previously but think it deserves another mention in this thread.

Ordered from the factory, it was very well equipped. As noted, it had the SD-455 motor, automatic tranny, power windows, power door locks, and REAR console. Literally every option except 8 track player. Of course it had the Firebird decal on pthe hood.

It was Admirality Blue with white seats and black trim. (Most had blue interior trim.)

Owned it for about 9 years and regret to this day selling it. Though well cared for, I never had a garage in those days and it became infected with rust and other issues. To this day wish I had the resources to (then) keep it and properly restore it. Perhaps I will someday find another one.

Be safe.

Note: I opted for the automatic transmission because A/C was not available with the manual tranny.

I think Road and Track did a test on the V SD and the 73 ran out around 150 mph in factory trim. My buddy had one in a Firebird and it shifted at 6200 rpm <455 SD>with 308 gears. The SD had solid lifters and 5/8'' rod bolts and the tune up specs were on the left valve cover. I made a little money telling Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas where to find it in Cooper Texas and they restored it a few years ago. It was red and less than 400 built. It came from a Pontiac dealer in Dallas new. The cam and large exhaust made that 8 to 1 compression run at top end.

 

[walter o]

In my younger years i worked in a body shop that did all the body work on ther race cars that ray Nickles built .His shop was in Griffith Ind .Many nights worked painting a car at 12;00 at night so it could be put on a plane and flown to a race .Once spray painted Paul Goldsmiths pants as he stood at the rear of a Pontiac we were painting at night. Worked replacing the complete roof section on Fireball Roberts flipped at Daytona and slid down the banked turn on the roof Met and talked to many of the top drivers of the time .Nickles and Goldsmith were partners in the Griffith airport and the shop at the airport ,also a trucking company .

 

[Trooperdan]

Only new car I've ever owned was a 1966 Tempest Lemans' with the ODC 6 cylinder. Big quadajet card, 4 speed Hurst shifter, even had the go-fast racing stripes, white on green! Would run the pants off any 289 2-bbl Mustang that cared to try but the 4-bbl ones were a good match. It was a lovely, high-reving engine with plenty of torque. Only problem was the overhead cam had a poor oiling system and would wear out in 50,000 miles, changing it was no more difficult than changing a valve cover... I loved that engine, only made 3 years I believe.

 

[robvious]

my first car, bought it 3 days before my 17th birthday was a Pontiac... a butternut yellow 1967 Firebird convertible with a 326 big block and a 2 speed automatic... the best man from our wedding owns it now.. it now has a Ram Air IV 455 and a 3 speed automatic... the yellow photo isn't mine, but close to what I had in high school.. the black one is my old car as is was last summer...

 

[AJ]

my first car, bought it 3 days before my 17th birthday was a Pontiac... a butternut yellow 1967 Firebird convertible with a 326 big block and a 2 speed automatic... the best man from our wedding owns it now.. it now has a Ram Air IV 455 and a 3 speed automatic... the yellow photo isn't mine, but close to what I had in high school.. the black one is my old car as is was last summer...

My first car was a 1968 Firebird. It had a 250 Overhead Cam Six cylinder with IIRC a 4 barrel carb. The transmission was a "Three on the Tree". It was my 'hotrod" at age 17. Would run well against most small block V8's. Kept it until I went to Viet Nam.

 

[H Richard]

I had the same one that Trooperdan had, Pontiac Tempest Sprint, 1966. Emerald green, off white Leather buckets, console, floor shift, OHC 6 cyl with 4 barrel. It would really squat and go. It was the first New car I ever bought, (just over $3000). Of course income at the time was probably about $8000, I learned about the warping cam and traded it off early at about 40,000 miles. One of my favorite cars, 2nd behind the 61 Studebaker Hawk I had.

 

[GypsmJim]

my first car, bought it 3 days before my 17th birthday was a Pontiac... a butternut yellow 1967 Firebird convertible with a 326 big block and a 2 speed automatic... the best man from our wedding owns it now.. it now has a Ram Air IV 455 and a 3 speed automatic... the yellow photo isn't mine, but close to what I had in high school.. the black one is my old car as is was last summer...

Wow, I would have given my eye teeth for a Bird at 17. I was a sophomore in college before I could afford gas and insurance, working part time at a Hamburger joint.

Dad bought a 1968 VW Beetle and the salesman that made the deal told him after the papers were all signed he should go to the used car lot and it would be a separate deal. They offered him 50 bucks for the trade. You had to know my Dad - I'm surprised he didn't punch the guy out.....LOL. Anywhoot, he took the old car home and offered it to me at the same price. So for 50 bucks I had a '61 Tempest to go to college in.