Boil it all down and speed can only be obtained by controlling the air. The engine needs it to breathe and keep cool; the body needs to bat it out of the way so it doesn’t impede progress. Build for one and not the other, and trouble will follow; hit that sweet spot, that narrow harmonious sliver, and the world is yours.

Relying upon a Pontiac club and its members to help you find and restore the Pontiac you desire can be a rich and rewarding experience. That’s what Steve Laughlin, a high school teacher in Audubon, New Jersey, learned when he embraced the help of the GTO Association of America (GTOAA) to help him from purchase to podium finish on his ’73 GTO Sports Coupe.

Cold hard facts and figures rarely tell the story, whether it’s the tale of one’s life or of a car’s journey through time. In the case of Richard Sargent’s ’69 Ram Air IV Judge, the general facts are well-known. It’s one of the 6,725 Judges built, it’s part of the first run of 2,000 Judges, and it’s one of the 239 hardtops built with a Ram Air IV and a four-speed. These are all relevant facts, but there is much more to this story.

Late August in the Midwest means only one thing to a Firebird fan—the Trans Am Nationals! Each year hundreds of Birds flock to Dayton, Ohio, to take part in what has become a 27-year ritual.

Wheel design has come a long way since Pontiac instructed its factory assembly-line workers to install 14x6-inch (15x6 shown here) steel wheels on many of the Division’s vehicles. Today, Pontiac owners can choose from a myriad of wheels that put an emphasis on performance, style, and strength, as well as some that accurately re-create popular OE wheels of the past, and others that reinterpret Pontiac’s most-famous wheel designs for classic and late-model fitments.

For Pontiac purists, all-original vehicles are an invaluable resource. Each example is a treasure trove of details that provides an exclusive look at how our favorite Pontiacs were produced so many years ago. The information gathered is not only beneficial for future Pontiac restorations, it can also help discern what’s correct from what isn’t when dealing with other Pontiacs heralded as “original” or “correctly restored.”

It was one of the wildest-looking Pontiac racecars of the mid-’60s, and Arnie “The Farmer” Beswick says you can call his old ’66 GTO anything you want, but please don’t call it a funny car.

Jason Korb has accomplished what most of us just talk about—building a Pontiac that is not only quick and pretty, but also able to transport its occupants across any Interstate or down any back road in comfort.

When we last discussed our Project Pure Poncho 455-based 467ci stroker engine, Craig Wise at Racecrafters had assembled the bottom end. We will pick up the assembly process in this issue and complete it in preparation for dyno testing.

Last month, High Performance Pontiac brought you Part 1: Car Show and Celebrities, detailing the high-intensity action and excitement of the Ames Performance Tri Power Pontiac Nationals, which was held August 5-8, 2011, at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

Photographs Courtest of GM, Russ Gee, The John And Marge Sawruk Collection, and Geneva Campbell

Every once in a while, a Pontiac comes along that seems to defy accepted logic. For decades we’ve been told that no Pontiac 400 engines were installed in California-bound ’79 Formulas and Trans Ams due to emissions requirements. Then there is the curious case of this ’79 Formula. According to its paper trail and Jim Mattison of PHS Automotive Services, the Pontiac was originally ordered by Bob Warren Pontiac in Manhattan Beach, California.

It’s often said that necessity is the mother of invention. In a high-performance engine, some stock components are stressed beyond their intended capacity. That can result in individual component failure, which can then result in complete engine failure. To prevent such issues, improved replacements are oftentimes available on the aftermarket, but once in a while a weak link surfaces, and that’s when a mind like Scott Sims’ gets working.

Once upon a time, daily-driver status and 10-second timeslips were mutually exclusive. Acceleration that’ll throw you back in your seat? Prepare for miserable gas mileage and/or some high revving from the 3.90 or 4.33 gears you stuffed in your rear axle—not such a big deal in, say, the ’60s or ’70s.

You could say that I’ve been a Pontiac guy since before I was born. My dad owned a ’47, ’51 Chieftain, ’59 Catalina Safari, ’62 Tempest four-cylinder/four-barrel, ’65 Bonneville Vista, and ’70 Bonneville 455.

The Ames Performance Tri Power Pontiac Nationals, held annually at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, continues to band together a brand that refuses to fade away. The soiree’s 20th anniversary show—held last August—confirmed that Pontiac hobbyists are as loyal to the Performance Division as they’ve ever been.

Some guys play golf, others go fishing, and a few go to the gym to relieve stress. Todd Lewis restores things in his off time— jukeboxes, penny scales, bicycles, furniture, what-have-you. And as a profession, he restores musclecars at Xtreme Restorations by Todd Lewis in Slatersville, Rhode Island.

In this concluding chapter of Pavement Pounders Shootout’s Norwalk Edition, High Performance Pontiac brings you back to our private invitational drag race at Summit Motorsports Park. We have two racers from the event who both drive Pontiacs from the same model year, but take entirely different approaches in their builds. The first, according to its owner, is a street-legal, 8-second scorcher that started with a $1 buy-in; the second is a 10-second-capable bracket racer that changed hands from father to son. Let’s meet the racers.

In the past two issues of High Performance Pontiac, we’ve introduced you to the hottest new aftermarket products, which were introduced at the 2011 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) trade show, held in November 2011. We wrap up this three-part series with new-to-market products, which help you get down the quarter-mile safer and faster, tune and monitor your late-model Pontiac’s vitals with the newest technology, improve your Pontiac’s look, prevent accidental damage to your paint, and more.

A correct restoration for any points-judged Pontiac includes replicating the original component and fastener finishes, and assembly-line characteristics. The best way to determine what’s correct from what isn’t is by documenting original, unmodified vehicles. What’s found can, however, vary as the finishes and processes often differ from plant to plant during any given year, but it can even differ in a day-to-day setting at the same plant.

Project Pure Poncho is a 455ci engine that is being bored and stroked to 467 ci and built to test parts and combinations. Its purpose is to help our readers make decisions for their applications before incurring any expense or expending any effort. The first three installments were an in-depth analysis of the machining procedures that were executed by the well-known Pontiac team of Bob and Craig Wise at RaceKrafters Automotive Machine.

It was July 2002 when Mike Cude was considering buying a new Trans Ams—a fun play car to cruise beneath the desert skies of Tempe, Arizona. His son Justin, age 12 and a motorcross fan, later recalled that, “Dad was looking at a red WS6, but I saw a show on Speed Channel with Jay Leno and Tony Stewart testing out a Collector’s Edition Trans Am around the high banks of Daytona; I mentioned it to him and he agreed.”

My passion for Pontiacs started when I purchased my first car back in 1972. It was my dad’s ’70 LeMans 350 coupe. He was interested in getting a new ’73 Catalina and asked if I wanted to buy his car. I kept it for two years.

In 1998, an ’89 Firebird was used in the commission of crime in Cinnaminson Township, New Jersey. The Chief of Police at the time, John Obuchowski, filed the paperwork to seize the Pontiac through forfeiture. Once the paperwork was complete, the transformation took place for the first Cinnaminson Township Police Department D.A.R.E. car.

Does your stock or mildly modified Pontiac engine idle higher than it should because each time you try to dial it down, it runs rough? If so, this article is for you. We’ll tell you why it’s happening and how to fix it.