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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Some say it was the model that was born rich. Sired by a Knudsen, nurtured by an Estes, a DeLorean and now a McDonald. Unquestionably it is a car that has discovered the perpetual image. On the street it is known as the good guy's car-on Detroit's Woodward Avenue it is known as the Throne. It even has nicknames like the Goat, Tiger, GeeTo, Judge. At drag strips it sometimes wins ... but that's being changed. A GTO is a GTO is a GTO. While it changes every year ... it's unmistakably a GTO. In short, it's a damned pure automobile and somebody would raise hell if they started hanging moldings and non-essentials on its shell that might transpose its traditional styling. And speaking of design, meet those at GM styling who are synonymous with what we talk; right to left - William L. Mitchell, Vice President in charge of Styling; James McDonald, Vice President and General Manager, Pontiac Motor Division; Steve McDaniel, Executive in Charge, Automotive Interior Design; Irv Rybicki, Executive in Charge, Automotive Exterior Design; Bill Porter, Chief Designer, Pontiac Studios; Jack Humbert, Group Chief Designer, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac Studios.

In the mid 1960s, Pontiac General Manager John DeLorean and Special Projects Engineer Herb Adams spearheaded an effort to build a Firebird that would be competitive in SCCA Trans Am racing and provide the required street cars to a performance-hungry public. The final product was the Trans Am-a highly stylized Firebird sporting a performance-tuned suspension and a wealth of power. Dressed in Cameo White with blue stripes for '69, these Birds, though not overly successful in the series as race cars, would go on to become icons in street trim.inline_mediumwraptextright31130559/features/hppp_1001_1994_pontiac_trans_amhppp_1001_01_z+1994_pontiac_trans_am+full.jpgTrue

Some people are never satisfied. They simply want it all. Give'em a GTO and they want a Judge. Give 'em a Ram Air III engine and they want it to be a R/A-V. Tell 'em that such a high-strung engine would never have been available with A/C and is too temperamental for a weekend cruiser and they say, "Build it anyway."inline_mediumwraptextrightTake a long look. Yes, that's A/C on a R/A-V-headed and intake-equipped 455.25740056/features/hppp_1001_1969_pontiac_gtohppp_1001_01_z+1969_pontiac_gto+.jpgTrue

Greg Teeters' 1970 1/2 Trans Am makes good use of its available 530 horsepower, thanks to a one-of-a-kind 488 cubic-inch, aluminum block, Ram Air V engine. To say this one is rare is a gigantic understatement.inline_mediumwraptextright31085178/features/hppp_1001_1970_pontiac_trans_amhppp_1001_01_z+1970_pontiac_trans_am+right_view.jpgTrue

Full Disclosure:
Imran Chaudary is a close friend.We share a love of Pontiacs, and even though we live in different countries, it's only about a 90-minute ride between our homes; his in Ontario, Canada, and mine just outside of Rochester, New York.inline_mediumwraptextright26866060/features/hppp_1001_1973_pontiac_gtohppp_1001_01_z+1973_pontiac_gto+full.jpgTrue

They say you can tell a lot about a man by the company he keeps. I say you can tell more about a man by the cars that he drives. Consider my dad, Barry Hopper's, past Pontiacs: a '58 Bonneville convertible, a '58 Bonneville sport coupe, a '58 Chieftain, a '60 Ventura, a '60 Catalina post car, a '60 Bonneville, a '62 Grand Prix, a '64 GTO, (so far, all Tri-Power cars!), a '67 GTO, a '69 R/A-III GTO, a '70 R/A-IV GTO . . . and these are only the ones that come to mind quickly.

Though desirable vintage vehicles can still be found hidden in barns or tucked away in garages across much of country, in the Southwest, carports are prominent. Under some of them there is gold to be mined for the industrious car guy. Brian Buhl is one of those car guys.

Nyle says, "After final stripping with a DA sander, the body was etch-primed with Dupont products and then smooth-coated using Marsons Platinum Plus body filler on every panel. This was followed by blocking with 80-/100-/180-grit paper, in succession. Then it was primed and long and short-board blocked with 100- and 180-grit. This process was repeated until the body was straight.

In 2002, after the last Firebirds and Trans Ams rolled off the assembly line, GM Performance Division put together an elaborate, but very satisfying, plan to build the ultimate Fourth-Generation Trans Am. It called it the Trans Am 421 SD, a modern interpretation of the '71 455 H.O. Trans Am.

After owning over 100 Pontiacs, how can any one of them be so special to Andre Rayman that he's kept it for nearly three decades? He says that his isn't just any Pontiac: It's a special-order Tiger Gold, Tri-Power, four-speed, 3.55 Safe-T-Track, '66 GTO that still has its numbers-matching drivetrain. Following over 20 years of stockpiling NOS and good used parts, and a year of restoration and subtle modification, his golden Goat is on the road and out at the shows. But this story begins when Second-GenT/As could be had with turbos, a can of Coke was 50 cents, and playing Space Invaders on your Atari 2600 capped a perfect Saturday night.

"A picture's worth a thousand words."

Part I: The Early Years
There are few times in history when all of the planets align to achieve true greatness. In the world of sports, the '72 Miami Dolphins won every game of the season, every playoff game, and the Super Bowl. This amazing accomplishment had never been achieved before or since in the game of professional football.