1968 & 1971 Pontiac Firebird - Farm Equipment They Ain't

You've read about them a thousand times, old race cars that were hot in their day only to fade into history once they lost their competitive edge or their owners tired of the sport. Sometimes, we publish retrospectives with faded vintage photos and pontificate about where they could be now. A few lucky ones are rescued from junkyards or barns once discovered, but the great many leave only their race record, memories, and rumors of their whereabouts behind.

Well, this story is different--very different. The "Acre Maker" Pontiacs campaigned by Gary Moore of Tulia, Texas, in the early '70s in NHRA Divisions 4 and 5 are not only alive and well after setting multiple national records and winning many races back then, but they are still raced by current owner Danny Martin of Wellington, Texas, and his family.

The '68 Firebird, dubbed "Acre Maker II," and the '71 Formula 455 that was updated to '72 specs back in the day and dubbed "Acre Maker IV" can be seen at various Pontiac events down South each year, including the Pontiac Southern Nationals in Dallas, where we got our line shots for this story.

Danny's interest in the Acre Makers dates back to his early 20s: "I saw the cars race back in college. I watched Gary Moore over the years. I didn't know him real well at the time, but I knew Lyndel Warren who owned both cars later, as he lived in the area too. He worked for Coca-Cola and campaigned the Formula as the "Coke Machine." The Arenas brothers who were also local and worked for Coke at the time owned the Pontiacs, and we bought Firebirds from them a few years ago."

Currently, Danny races the '71 Formula and his son Brent runs the '68. Son Greg films the cars at the races and Danny's wife Linda keeps the whole thing together, this when the family isn't busy running their local tire business. Danny says that he plans to continue to race the Acre Makers for fun at the events of his choosing, which means that these racers will still compete but won't have to be constantly thrashed to run in highly competitive NHRA or IHRA drag racing like they were back in the early days, as you will soon see when we delve into the ownerships of the previous racers.

THE GARY MOORE ERA
Gary Moore was into Pontiacs and drag racing in the '60s. He recalls, "We ran the Acre Maker '61 Ventura (an homage to the family farm) in NHRA E/S and F/S with a 368hp 389. I loved the look of those Pontiacs and PMD was cultivating a high-performance image back then. I liked to go fast and with that car we won NHRA Division 4 in 1968 and set three national records with it. Then in 1969 we won class at the Winternationals against Car Craft's 340 Dart project car. "Later, we built the '68 Firebird with a Ram Air II engine to run D/S. The Pontiac ran fairly well but was never a killer. It was my wife's favorite, but it broke too much to suit me.

"When Pontiac decided to get into racing, we built the '71 455 H.O. Formula four-speed and campaigned it in H/S. I ran all year and it never broke. We placed in the money at every meet and we set some records with it. Pontiac helped that year with some parts and they were wonderful to work with. We tested parts for them, funny-looking pistons and a few other things.

"In 1972, we updated the car to a '72, built it to run in SS/J, and were quite successful. At one point we even put an automatic in it just to set a mile-per-hour record. My wife Ann helped with the car a lot. She was very astute. A good crew is a fantastic asset. We also had sponsorship from Motor Wheel Corporation and they were very cooperative. The car carried both front wheels on launch and was a hoot to drive. Winning a points meet with it by outrunning some big-name people was great, as was setting national records."

THE LYNDEL WARREN ERA
Gary later sold the '68 to younger brother Lee. Lyndel Warren bought it in 1974 and ran it through the '75 season, and the car was very competitive, setting national records in IHRA B/SA.

Lyndel told us, "We built a fully legal NHRA motor and changed a lot of the combination. I was always changing cams and we had the heads done. We ran 4.33 gears and shortened the headers and we picked up 2.5 tenths. Of course I had to adopt the combo to the automatic trans since it was set up for a four-speed the way Gary ran it. ATI was helping with parts, so we did a lot of converter changes and other tweaks to get faster. The '68 was unbeatable and unbreakable that first year. We won 14 area races and went on to hold many local track records.

"That Pontiac paid for my house. It got to the point where we just took it off the trailer, washed it, and raced. It won when it shouldn't have. It had a nose for the final round. Gary built it that way; that's why it's good to get his old throwaways."

The '68 was referred to as "Lil Bird" when Warren raced it, but it was not lettered as such. Rule changes made the '68 less competitive in the coming years (ultimately it was sold to Robert Arenas in 1986).

By January 1977 Lyndel was looking for a more competitive ride. After some discussion between Gary Moore and him, Lyndel decided to buy the '71 (updated to '72) Formula. Warren swapped an automatic into it, and even though the chassis was set up for a four-speed, the combination worked very well as it carried the wheels competing at events including the Winternationals twice.

The original plan was to build a "killer" in F/SA with the Formula, but Lyndel related that when he and Gary got to Pomona in 1977, they found out that they would have to race in E/SA instead, where they wouldn't be competitive. The next year Lyndel returned prepared and was low qualifier at the Winternationals.

"I was so proud that big-name racers I had seen in magazines were asking about us at Pomona because we were going so fast," Warren remembers. "The Formula [now dubbed the 'Coke Machine'] carried the wheels off the starting line and ran right on the record at 114 mph. People were cheering as we came down the return road, 140,000 people cheering for the Coke Machine--that's my best memory of that Pontiac."

Later, after it retired, the Coke Machine was sold to Mike Lamberson in 1983. He sold it to someone else, and finally Johnny Arenas bought it.

THE ARENAS BROTHERS ERA
During the Arenas brothers' ownership, the Pontiacs were repainted, and they still wear those coats today. Robert Arenas tore down the '68 and built it as a bracket racer, running it from 1986 forward. He remembered, "In 1988 I took it to the Musclecar Nats in Dallas and won King Street. The Bird would out-60-foot a lot of cars, so I would get them off the line. It was running 11.30s at about 120 mph at the time." It later ran mid-10s. Robert's brother Johnny bought the Coke Machine around 1990. It was already being used as a street car; since the 455 H.O. motor was freshened, Johnny continued to drive it on the street for years. As you already know, both Acre Makers eventually ended up in the hands of the Martins.

CONCLUSION
And so our story has come full circle. It's about Pontiacs, racing, and friends who all lived close enough and who all cared enough to ensure that these two race cars would be prized by each successive owner. For those reasons we will never have to place the Acre Maker II and IV race cars in the "Where Are They Now?" file.