What better way to enjoy a waning summer evening than by jumping into your vintage Pontiac and heading to a local cruise-in for a few cold beverages and a burger off the grill? If that sounds like fun, imagine you're in the driver seat for a moment.

Part I: The Products and the Front Brake Install
In 2004 the all-new GTO was brought to American shores from Australia. The nearly 3,800-pound Goat was stopped by two-piston floating calipers clenching 11.7-inch ventilated front rotors, and the 11.3-inch rears were squeezed by single-piston units. With reviews on style aside, media coverage agreed upon one thing, the brakes could be better. Pontiac made many improvements to the GTO for the 2005 model year, and the brakes were one of them.

The Firebird Formula has always been a dare-to-be-different Pontiac. New for '701/2, it enjoyed success through three generations of Firebirds as a no-frills, yet powerful street fighter without the flamboyance and price tag of a Trans Am.

What possesses someone to keep a Pontiac for 42 years? Robert Williford of Madison, Mississippi, would be the man to ask, since he has done it.

Lead Photo Used With Permission Of GM Media Archives
In January 1962, Motor Trend asked photographer Junebug Clark to accept a very special assignment: Pontiac had produced its famous factory-built race car, the 405hp '62 Catalina 421 Super-Duty, and MT wanted it for its cover. In the middle of winter, the magazine dispatched Clark to the Detroit Dragway for a day-long photo shoot with the "hopped up" Catalina, and his work was published in its May 1962 issue.

I bought this '51 Pontiac Super Deluxe Catalina in 1997 so I could participate in car shows with my husband, Rob. After many modifications, we finally put her on the road in 2005.

On a sunny, but cold, Saturday afternoon back in 2006, the editor made the trek to Scranton, Pennsylvania, to photograph a Pro-Touring '70 1/2 Trans Am. Artie Philipp Jr. had built it and we were going to get our HPP photo shoot in before it was delivered to it's owner, Loren Sheffer in Florida.

It seems as if nothing has escaped the effects of today's economy-and our hobby is certainly no exception. General Motors has filed bankruptcy, and the Division that lends to the existence of this very publication, is no more. Major aftermarket manufacturers haven't gained immunity, either. Some of the largest names in the business have filed for bankruptcy or closed their doors altogether. As bleak as it seems, it's simply a fact of the world we live in today.

VMP Edition
What would you say if High Performance Pontiac invited you to have private use of an NHRA track for the day, make as many passes as you wanted, and then get your Pontiac featured in the magazine? Sound too good to be true? It's not. We've been doing it for more than a dozen years.

Last month, HPP brought you a selection of bolt-on suspension kits for your vintage GTO, LeMans, Tempest, or T-37. There were so many aftermarket offerings available that we couldn't fit all the manufacturers into one issue. So here we are again with four more companies that say they can help you turn your classic Pontiac A-body into a corner-carving conqueror of the open road, the road course, or the autocross.

The third-generation Grand Prix, a gentleman's musclecar, was one of John DeLorean's most successful creations. Characterized by its strong lines, long hood, stretched A-body (called a G-body) chassis, and prominent Pontiac grille, it reinvented the luxury/performance car genre.

Arizona can be an intriguing and wondrous place. This year we decided to drive from Pennsylvania to Pontiac Heaven 11, which was held on April 4, 2009, at Speedworld Dragstrip just outside Phoenix. Once in the state of Arizona, within a 1-hour period, the weather on Interstate 40 changed from sunny and 70 degrees to dark with a sandstorm, and then to 30-degrees and snowy at Flagstaff. The effect that altitude has on weather is pretty amazing.

Once again, Pontiac has come up with a history-making performance vehicle and GM has pulled the plug. It happened to the Super-Duty Catalina when GM forced Pontiac to relinquish its role (and crown) in NASCAR and NHRA racing in 1963. However, this time GM killed Pontiac all-together, and along with it, axed the 415hp G8 GXP.

If you've got a vintage GTO, LeMans, Tempest or T-37, you already know how quick it is stoplight to stoplight. With tires squealing, and Tri-Powers or four-barrels punched wide open, it's all about memories (if you're old enough) of Friday and Saturday nights spent proving who had the quickest car in town. But pilot your Poncho on twisting mountain roads, or worse, an autocross course, and the fond memories of days gone by quickly fade into a resounding cry for help with the realization that your vehicle's suspension is about as modern as black-and-white TVs and transistor radios.

The fun of assembling a hot engine combo comes from the anticipation of what we expect it to do. If you've been following the progress of this twin-turbo, 505ci engine buildup for Jeff Hutchens' '67 GTO, then you know it's dyno time! In this installment, we show you how much power it makes and discuss some aspects of tuning its FAST (Fuel Air Spark Technology) electronic fuel-injection system.

Whether your allegiance is to the classic Pontiac muscle of the early '60s or the newest generation of GTO and G8, you have likely noticed the trend of mounting larger wheels and tires on just about anything that rolls. For most considering such an option, one universal question always pops up: How do I determine the largest wheel-and-tire package that will fit?

By early November, many hobbyists in the Northeast are in the process of putting away their Pontiacs for a long winter's hibernation. Not so for the intrepid couple-of-hundred who make the Pontiac Fall Nationals at Atco Raceway in Atco, New Jersey, the final fling of each year's show season.

Ever since I sat behind the wheel of my buddy's '70 GTO and looked over the hoodscoops (that was way back in 1982), I've been a Pontiac man. At the time, I owned a '69 442. It was a great car, but it didn't have a personality, mystique, or a defined look to it.

We all have aspirations of building up our Pontiac into the dream car that we've always envisioned in our mind's eye. More times than not, however, life throws obstacles in our path that slow or even stop progress. In the end, very few of us actually see our project through to its glistening conclusion.

You may have noticed at Pontiac events over the past several years, that a few racers and engine builders have made it their quest to build the fastest Pontiac ever. Competition to field one, be it a funny car or a dragster, has steadily heated up and the latest effort to reap positive results is Joe and Scott Roberts' Drag'N Rac'N funny car, named Dirty Bird. As of press time, this machine has run a best e.t. of 6.527 seconds at 213.16 mph with driver Dave Wilcox at the controls.

High Performance Pontiac readers already know that Pontiac didn't introduce the GTO Judge until 1969, but that didn't prevent one nostalgia-minded hobbyist from paying homage to the classic musclecar in the restification of his '68 GTO.

Part II: A Career Flourishes
Pontiac's designs from the '60s and early '70s stood the test of time, still looking as great today as they did when new-a major accomplishment. The vast majority of the most-prized Pontiacs in collector circles today were designed under Jack Humbert's leadership.

Billet And They Will Come
Chris Fesler and his Scottsdale, Arizona-based restoration facility, Fesler Built, now offer a complete line of top-grade billet aluminum hood hinges. They're made from T6061 aerospace-grade billet aluminum and feature a heavy-duty 316 stainless steel gas lift support. They're far more stabile and supportive than the wobbly, stamped-steel stock hood hinges, and are available in a variety of finishes, including raw aluminum, highly polished, brushed, and anodized. The price is $650 per pair. Fesler Built; (866) 583-9787; www.feslerbuilt.com.

Designer Kevin Morgan teamed up with Tod and Scott Warmack of Trans Am Depot of Tallahassee, Florida, to make the '10 "T/A" a reality. Starting with a production-model '10 Camaro RS SS-2, the concept "takes its cues from the '77-'78 model and incorporates everything one would expect from a production T/A," Tod says.