PONTIAC TEMPEST MONTE CARLO

Posted on April 13, 2023April 13, 2023 by MartynL

Built on a shortened prototype ’62 Pontiac Tempest convertible, the PONTIAC TEMPEST MONTE CARLO was a hit at auto shows and major road racing events. It shared the spotlight with GM design chief, William Mitchell’s Corvair Sebring Spyder. One thing was a given at GM in the 1960s. Chevy’s Corvette was a sacred cow and no other division could bring a two-seat sports car to market. The only way Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile or Cadillac could reveal branded two-seat, high-performance sporty ve...

BUICK GNX & PONTIAC 20th ANNIVERSARY TRANS AM

Posted on April 4, 2023 by MartynL

Both the BUICK GNX & PONTIAC 20th ANNIVERSARY TRANS AM are powered by turbocharged Buick V-6 engines and deliver similar performance. But the Trans-Am, unlike the very limited production GNX, is much more available and affordable, blogs Hagerty’s Eddy Eckart. Nicola Bulgari's heavily-modified 4.1-liter Buick Grand National and Pontiac 20th Anniversary Turbo Trans Am. Photographed in Rome, Italy in 1997. Can a substitute ever be as satisfying as the real thing? It’s a question with which ...

PROTOYPE: PONTIAC XP-833 BANSHEE

Posted on April 21, 2020 by MartynL

It could’ve been a contender and given the Corvette a run for the money. But, PROTOYPE: PONTIAC XP-833 BANSHEE remained John DeLorean’s dream. Hagerty magazine’s Jonathan A. Stein takes us along to ride shotgun! Cruising along Chicago streets in this stunning Pontiac sports car and looking over a front-end landscape so curvaceous it could wear a Prancing Horse badge, I find it impossible to imagine that any automotive executive would think this prototype was a bad idea. But that’s just what hap...

’63 PONTIAC SD-421: SWISS CHEESE LITE!

Posted on June 27, 2017 by MartynL

Production of lightweight ’63 Super-Duty Pontiacs was extremely limited, but high-profile racer Mickey Thompson got the first two. One of those featured here is in the Factory Lightweight Collection. Roger Huntington writing in Hi-Performance CARS is often credited with first using “Swiss Cheese” to describe lightened Super-Duty Pontiacs. It came to him after he counted 120 holes drilled in the perimeter frame of Royal Pontiac’s Catalina, driven by Jim Wangers. A total of 18 aluminum body parts...

AHPSOC: CONSUMMATE CAR GUY HONORED!

Posted on June 10, 2015May 15, 2017 by MartynL

Automotive History Preservation Society honors CarGuyChronicles editor, author & communicator, Martyn L. Schorr. The Automotive History Preservation Society (AHPSOC) has awarded Martyn L. Schorr an Honorary Membership in the Society. “He has spent a lifetime creating written materials that are now an important part of the historical chronicle of the performance car industry and hobby. That includes magazine articles and books in addition to sales and marketing materials, advertising and c...

PONTIAC TRANS-AM: LAST SURVIVING PROTOTYPE!

Posted on November 18, 2014May 15, 2017 by MartynL

The only surviving Firebird Trans-Am prototype is alive and well thanks to a dedicated musclecar enthusiast, blogs Stephen Cox. In the autumn of 1968, Pontiac Motor Division General Manager, John DeLorean, recruited California customizer Gene Winfield to create the “ultimate Firebird”. Winfield was flown to Pontiac Engineering in Michigan, then given a pair of brand new ‘69 Pontiac Firebirds and a free hand to re-design them as he saw fit. When Winfield's highly anticipated cars emerged from...

RED BULL RACING & DAVID COULTHARD: HOT TIME IN HAVANA!

Posted on August 31, 2013May 15, 2017 by MartynL

David Coulthard and the Infiniti Red Bull Racing Team were dazzled by the creativity of Cuban car guys and mechanics. This year the 9th annual Cuban vintage car event hosted 60 antique cars and 15 classic motorcycles, which travelled approximately 45 miles through the streets of Havana. Former Formula 1 driver, David Coulthard enjoyed racing through some of the city's historic neighborhoods together with the Infiniti Red Bull Racing Support Team Manager, Tony Burrows as his co-driver. They ...