Paying Tribute to the Legendary Knafel Pontiacs.
Those who attended the 2006 Ames Performance Pontiac Nationals were treated to a very special display. It was a reunion of some of the surviving cars and people behind the successful Knafel Pontiac "Tin Indians," raced out of Knafel Pontiac in Akron, Ohio, from 1959 to 1970. The head "Tin Indian," William J. "Bill" Knafel, passed away on February 1, 2006 at the age of 79 after a long history of health problems. The display paid tribute to Mr. Knafel in a way that he no doubt would have enjoyed.
The Knafel "Tin Indians" helped shape Pontiac's performance image through a long line of racecars over an 11-year period and a longer string of victories. As a personal friend of Pontiac General Managers Elliott M. "Pete" Estes and John Z. DeLorean, Bill Knafel was one of a few Pontiac dealers across the country chosen to act as a "backdoor outlet" for racing activities. GM was officially out of racing, but the automaker did help a few select dealers and privateer racers on a "don't tell anyone" basis.
Knafel Pontiac fielded the most successful stock class drag racing effort of the era, setting more stock class records than any other General Motors, Ford or Chrysler drag racing team.
In 1966 alone, the team racked up an astounding 27 victories in one season with the GTO featured here. This "Tin Indian" ran consistent mid to high 12s in the 112 to 115 mph range (best of 12.22, according to Arlen Vanke) and competed in C/Stock in NHRA and BB/Stock in NASCAR. It also earned major national Stock Eliminator wins at the NASCAR Winter Nationals in Florida and the NHRA Spring Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee.
Those were the kind of results that a success-oriented enterprise like the "Tin Indians" were capable of, and the full factory-sponsored teams just couldn't keep up.
After more than a decade of racing successes, the Knafel Pontiac drag racing swan song was the setting of three different AHRA national records with Norm "Sonny" Tanner behind the wheel of the '70 "Tin Indian" Judge. The changing of carburetors (2-barrel, 4-barrel and Tri-Power) between rounds made the Goat legal in three different classes.
Over its one-year career, the Judge competed mostly in AHRA's GT-2 and GT-3, and F2 FA classes. Its best pass was an 11.61 at 119 mph in GT-2 class trim. Among other wins on its way to the national championship, it also garnered two major victories, including the 1970 Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee, and Pro Am Nationals in Rockingham, North Carolina.
Merle Green, a longtime Pontiac aficionado and owner of the '66 "Tin Indian" GTO, arranged the reunion of the cars not only as a tribute to Mr. Knafel, but also to introduce the Pontiac world to the cars and drivers that made the "Tin Indians" so successful. "We didn't know until the last minute if it was going to come together," Green said in a recent phone interview. "Even though Pete Woodruff wasn't given much time to promote the reunion, it came together quite nicely."
The drivers in attendance were "Akron Arlen" Vanke, Larry "Doc" Dixon and Norm "Sonny" Tanner, and the cars were Mike Guarise's '70 "Tin Indian" Judge, Merle Green's '66 "Tin Indian" GTO, Tim Benko's '63 421 SD Tempest coupe, Paul Glasgo's '70 Magnum 400 replica and Chuck Tonge's replica of "Mrs. B's Grocery Getter," built a few years back by Wally Abela. The two cars we are focusing on here are the two "Tin Indian" racecars, the '66 GTO and the '70 Judge.
'66 "Tin Indian" GTOWhen Merle Green bought his '66 GTO for $150 back in 1979, his friends thought he was crazy to buy such a beat-up car. Even back then, $150 didn't buy much, but he knew what he was doing. "I was looking for a solid '66 GTO to build a high-option car out of," Green recalled. "It was in need of a lot of work, but it was definitely worth saving."
Although the car was pretty shabby, Merle saw its potential. Back then, there was nothing in the way of reproduction parts, so restoring a GTO required searching dealer parts departments for NOS pieces, and swap meets and wrecking yards for serviceable used parts.