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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The quote in the title of our story has been stated by Keith to curious onlookers more times than he can count, as some have mistaken his Tempest for a project car. Little did they realize that what they were looking at was not a tired Tempest ripe for resto, but rather a living, breathing, and fully operational slice of Pontiac history.

Any vintage Pontiac with less than 6,000 miles on its odometer is sure to create enthusiast buzz. Now imagine if that Pontiac is a ’72 Trans Am. Now add a one-off Cardinal Red exterior finish and original delivery to an SCCA Chief Steward. Oh yeah, and a column-shift automatic.

“I always wanted a convertible to tool around in with the family,” says 37-year-old Brian Branham. “So my dad, Boyd, and I went in together to purchase this Pontiac so we could enjoy the Florida sunshine in a droptop.”

When the announcement came of Pontiac’s demise on April 27, 2009, any hopes of a new-generation Trans Am exited alongside the marque. It was an especially bitter pill for Pontiac fans already used to playing second fiddle to Chevrolet. It was common knowledge that a new Camaro was being readied for market, and with the loss of Pontiac, there was no chance that a new Trans Am would ever arrive.

In the last five years, professional sports have taken a beating in the media for a chemically-conducive atmosphere, thus amping up any competitive advantage. Such is the case when the difference between winning and losing could be the difference between getting a free ride to college or paying for one, making it to the pros or being stuck in the minors, or being a star rather than a benchwarmer.

Jim Mattison of PHS Automotive Services had a very rare Formula that was factory equipped with the W72 400 and four-speed, and was actually sold in the state of California when new. We told you all about it in the July 2012 issue of HPP. Here are a few more photos of it that were not published in the story.

When the NHRA revised its rulebook for 1962, stating that only factory-installed components were legal for stock class competition, Pontiac responded by making its SD-421 a factory-installed option on Catalina and Grand Prix models. The 405hp beasts were not intended for daily transportation and carried no warranty—their sole purpose was destroying enemies.

Jerry Eckerle is a Pontiac loyalist who was fortunate enough to be of driving age at the zenith of the musclecar era. And while many of his contemporaries back in the day pored over the relative attributes of PMD’s performance machines in the hopes of someday buying one, this veteran lived his automotive dream. “I bought a used ’67 Firebird 326 H.O. four-speed convertible in July 1967 upon returning from Vietnam,” he tells HPP. “I traded it in on a new ’69 Firebird convertible in December 1968. It was equipped with a 350 H.O., a four-speed, and a 3.90 Safe-T-Track rear.

I was 1984 and I was a senior in high school when I got my first Pontiac—a red Firebird Formula with leather seats, T-tops, and a 3.23:1 rearend.

For many hobbyists, how they ultimately select one car over another at a Pontiac dealership to become its owner is a story they’ll cherish for the rest of their lives. Some say they were magically drawn to a particular car; others say they established a bond with the car from the moment they saw it.

This is the first car I’ve ever restored and I did all the work myself,” says David Rosenbauer of his ’81 NASCAR Pace Car Trans Am.

Is it genetic? Are some of us born with a desire to own and build Pontiacs, or is it learned? Since his parents were never really big on Pontiacs, for Kentuckian Eric Emmerich it appears to be learned from his uncles, Bud and Jerry—two hot rodders who sold their Chevys once they discovered the GTO. “They found the Pontiac to be more powerful and better looking than the countless Chevys they had owned and raced,” Eric tells HPP.

My grandfather and grandmother always drove Pontiacs, and I can remember my parents inheriting some of their hand-me-downs when I was a small child. My father had a ’54 Star Chief when I was a very young boy. Once I got older, I wanted to get a Pontiac of my own, but my taste leaned more toward the musclecar era.