Skydiver - Pontiac-Oakland Club International

transcript

SMOKE SIGNALS

This Pontiac is a Hollywood Starlet‘52 Chieftain Wagon

The Official Publication of the Pontiac - Oakland Club International July 2017

Two ‘73s With Unlikely OriginsWhat Are the Odds

Skydiver

Pontiac’s Tourist

Information Service

A free atlas andtourist information

at every Pontiacdealer.

• 1918 Oakland Memories• GMC Motor Home Retrospect

• Firebird Day at POMARC• ‘68 Performance Brochure

FOUND!1967 Firebird Show Car!

Volume 45, Issue 7 • July 2017 • www.poci.org

JULY 2017 • SMOKE SIGNALS 3

SMOKE SIGNALSThe Official Publication of the Pontiac - Oakland Club International

FEATURE STORIES 8 ........The Skydiver Show Car Found! 10 ........1918 Oakland Roadster 12 ........What Are the Odds? 1973 “A” Body 14 ........ The GMC Motor Home 18 ........Firebird Turns 50 • Firebird Day at POMARC 22 ........Pontiac’s Tourist Information Service 26. ........1952 Station Wagon is a Hollywood Starlet 38 ........Printing Pontiac’s 196.8 High Performance Brochure

DEPARTMENTS 5 ........Editor’s Note 6. ........Ridin’@ Random 44 ........President’s Message 44 ........Vice President’s Message 45 ........POCI Club History 56. ........Chapter News 53 ........Member’s Bulletin Board 54 ........Operation Pontiac Resurrection 58 ........Calendar of Events 6.2 ........POCI Directors & Chapters 6.4 ........Tech Advisors 6.5 ........Classified Ads

(background photo - Fiero display, Pontiac-Oakland Museum(cover photo by David Pascal)

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up-to-date with Smoke Signals. As in the past, this issue offers a great variety of fresh material that shouldn’t be overlooked.

We are proud to reveal that a Firebird fac-tory show car that was previously thought to have been junked or lost years ago has recently surfaced! Read the details in Mike Noun’s story.

Featured on the cover is a beautiful 1952 Chieftain wagon with an interesting past which includes some time in the Hollywood spotlight.

Elsewhere in this issue we have a mem-ber’s memories of his 1918 Oakland and a brief retrospect of the hugely popular GMC Motor Home.

Also, read about Firebird Day, a pair of ‘73 “A” body cars, Pontiac’s 1950s version of AAA and much, much more!

EDITOR’S NOTE

Tim Dye

Cruise nights, parades, tours, shows and national conventions are now in full swing. It’s time to be driving your car, but be sure to give it a good inspection first.

We have already had a successful trip to Kansas City in the 1972 Grand Ville (story forthcoming) but very soon we’ll be hitting the road again in another Pontiac that has been sitting for some years. I recently drove it around town, got some gas, and let it idle a while.

Everything seemed pretty good, but I was not happy with the brakes. They felt a bit spongy, so we’ll flush the system and do a thorough inspection before heading out on the next trip. Anything can happen with vintage cars, but you can head-off unforeseen prob-lems with a little preventative maintenance.

Along with the many fun outdoor activi-ties happening this time of year, its great to stay

Drive Time!POCI OFFICERS

PresidentWayne F. Beran, 5128 Oak Center Dr.Oak Lawn, IL 60453 (708) 425-2826

pontiacwberan@aol.comVice President

Larry Crider, 12510 West 67th St., Sapulpa, OK 74066; 918.798.2765pontiacfun@gmail.com

SecretaryPeggy M. Cox, 7345 Old Springville Rd.

Pinson, AL 35126 (205) 602-6463peggymullinax@yahoo.com

TreasurerSimone Young, 4803 NE 144th St.

Smithville, MO 64089 (816) 820-0239simoneyoung36@yahoo.com

POCI BUSINESS OFFICE Office Manager

Paul Bergstrom, PO Box 68 Maple Plain, MN 55359Phone: (877) 368-3454

Fax: (763) 479-3571pociworldhq@aol.com

SMOKE SIGNALS MagazineEditor

Tim Dye, 205 N. Mill St. Pontiac, IL 61764 (815) 844-0282

editor@poci.orgCreative Design/Graphics

Pontiac Vintage Press205 N. Mill St.

Pontiac, IL 61764 (815) 844-0282chief.pontiac250@gmail.com

Commercial Advertising CoordinatorPaul Bergstrom, PO Box 68

Maple Plain, MN 55359Toll Free (877) 368-3454

Ph: (763) 479-2111 • Fax: (763) 479-3571pociworldhq@aol.com

Contributors to this issueMike Noun, Thom Sherwood,

Bill Flora, Derik OlfieldScott Scheel, Aspen Pittman

Smoke Signals (ISSN 1042-4571), July 2017, Volume 45 No 7. Published monthly by Pontiac-Oakland Club

International/Pontiac Vintage Press 205 N. Mill St., Pontiac, IL 61764. Periodicals postage pending or paid

at Maple Plain, MN mailing office. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to: POCI, P.O. Box 68,

Maple Plain, MN 55359.

Articles, letters and editorial comments found in Smoke Signals represent the views and opinions of

the individual authors and are not necessarily those of POCI or any of its officers or staff.

The Pontiac/Oakland/GMC Trademark(s) are used with the permission of General Motors.

@Ridin’ RandomWHAT’S GOING ON IN OUR HOBBY WORLD! News - New Products - Literature - Trivia - Information and More

If you have material for Ridin’@ Random, send it to editor@poci.org

MOTORAMA Dreams FulfilledThe one-of-a-kind 1953 Pontiac Parisienne has been a proud part of

the Chicago-based Bortz Auto Collection since the 1980s, but it wasn’t until just recently that POCI member/restorer Joe Bortz could consider this particular Motorama Dream Car “complete.”

Through the combined efforts of Bortz, Dave Holls (former GM Vice President of Design) and a talented fabricator, the Parisienne’s long-missing removable Plexiglas roof panel that was meant to enclose an otherwise exposed chauffeur’s compartment, has now been accurately reconstructed from scratch and will soon be ready for its debut!

Smoke Signals readers can look forward to the complete story of the Parisienne and how its newly-resurrected roof was meticulously designed and built during an upcoming installment of our ongoing Road to MOTORAMA series.

Last Call for xXx GTO Ride Along Contest Entries!Hurry! If you’re planning to attend the 2017 POCI Convention in Fort Worth later this month, you’ve only got a few days left to enter the

xXx GTO Ride Along Contest announced last month.One lucky winner will be taken on a thrilling one-lap ride around the banked oval NASCAR track at Texas Motor Speedway in the actual

screen-used xXx GTO Flame Car (buckled-in to the very same seat that Vin Diesel once rode in!) during the Ames/POCI Welcome Night festivi-ties on Wednesday, July 12th. The winner will also be presented a $50 gift certificate from Ames Performance Engineering.

Be sure to submit your entry question or short essay by email no later than Saturday, July 8th. For complete rules and entry details, see page 59 of the June 2017 issue of Smoke Signals. Good luck, and hang on tight!

RIGHT: Longtime POCI members may remem-

ber the Parisienne being on display at

the 1990 convention in Kansas City.

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Gifts, Clothing and Memorabilia

With a special interior, special trim tag, and a VIN showing it was the fourth ‘Bird built, one lucky owner found a golden parachute!

Pontiac-Oakland Museum receives phone calls and emails from Pontiac enthusiasts around the world nearly

every day asking for information, photos, and documentation pertaining to Pontiacs. Every now and then, one of these re-quests piques the interest of museum director Tim Dye when a person mentions they have an unusual Pontiac or a rare piece of memorabilia.

A few months ago, Tim received such a call from a gen-tleman who was about to purchase a 1967 Firebird 400 con-vertible. His description of the Pontiac’s somewhat rough condition and blue color sounded all too familiar, but when he mentioned the car had an orange interior and there was evidence of orange paint in many nooks and crannies of the body, Tim’s ear’s perked-up. He quickly realized this car may require further research.

Tim then forwarded the basic information to yours truly and, after speaking with the owner at length, I, too realized there was something very special about this car. The owner first described the strange orange interior. It was obvious from

Skydiver

FOUND!

1967 Firebird 400 Show Car

his description that the exterior of the car had at one point also been painted orange.

With a certain amount of pride in his voice, he then in-formed me that the car’s VIN ended with ‘00004’ — indicating

by Mike Noun

FOUND!

a very early production car. And, on the cowl panel’s trim tag, the word “SHOW” appeared. In my mind, things were begin-ning to add up...

After receiving photos from the owner, one particular pic-ture of the interior confirmed that I had seen this odd mosa-ic orange-and-white pattern before. I was able to match-up his car’s interior to that of the 1967 Firebird 400 convertible named “Skydiver” that wowed crowds at the 1967 Chicago Auto Show. It was a perfect match!

The Skydiver was a show car with a unique custom two-tone orange-and-white interior and special pearlescent Tan-gerine exterior paint. With an entirely orange interior (a col-or never offered by Pontiac on a regular production car), the most unique part of this show car was the orange-and-white seating areas whose pattern mimicked parachute pleating.

When the Skydiver made its debut at the 1967 Chicago Auto Show, Pontiac went all out and presented the car on a large display floor that appeared like an opened parachute. To make the display that much more visible from across the show hall, a couple of additional, vertical orange-and-white parachutes were presented off one side. The entire display was quite stunning and turned out to be one of the more memora-ble displays at the event.

After the show season was over, the disposition of the car was never documented. It was assumed that this special ‘Bird was returned to Pontiac to first have its interior changed back to perhaps a factory white color, and

then possibly sold through the dealer net-work at a discount. Unlike other special Pontiac prototype or design study cars, the Skydiver had not been modified me-chanically. It simply had a special paint job and a custom inte-

rior — both of which could have been returned to stock appearance. It is now apparent that this car somehow slipped out to the public with at least its unique interior still intact (and we can only guess as to when, where and why its body was painted blue).

The current owner claims that the seller of this unusual ‘67 Firebird had suspected he had some sort of special-order car because of the unique interior and the “SHOW” designation on the trim tag. The current owner assumed as much too and, being a knowledgeable Pontiac man himself, he contacted Pontiac Historic Ser-vices (www.phs-online.com) to at least ensure it was a genuine Firebird 400 before making an offer. PHS also informed him of its likely status of a possible ex-show car but, other than de-coding the options, no additional information

was provided.After reviewing all the available documentation, I informed

the owner that his ‘Bird was most certainly the Skydiver, and sent him a few original photos of the car from the Chicago Auto Show. Up until that moment he was completely unaware of the Skydiver’s obscure place in Pontiac lore and was very excited to hear that he made a good decision by purchasing a true show car.

Today, this one-of-a-kind Firebird requires a full restoration, but the wild orange-and-white interior is still intact along with

The unusual seat pattern, VIN, trim tag and unique orange paint were all indicators that this was not your average Firebird.

remnants of the unique pearlescent Tangerine paint in the trunk, door jambs, and many other areas of the body.

The trim tag shows a Fisher Body build date of 12C (De-cember 1966) and in place of the usual color codes nor-mally found on the trim tag are the words “SHOW” and “PRIME.” This designated that the assembly plant would not have painted the car, but rather simply coat it with GM black primer before shipping it from the Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant to Pontiac Engineering in Michigan

for additional prep work. The VIN indicates this car is one of, if not the very first, Firebird 400 convertibles produced.

What a rare and unusual find! We are hoping that someday the car will be restored to its original show car condition and displayed at future Pontiac events. We’ll keep you posted!

car we’re talking about is an Oakland “Sensi-ble Six” of 1918-’19 and, because there were

86,000 of this model produced, one would think that there would be more than a few surviving examples remaining to-day. But such is not the case. For reasons that will be explained later, if the term “lemon” was used in 1918, this car would easily fit that description.

When we purchased this rare roadster in 1974, it had only 741 miles on the odometer and was equipped with its original Northway engine. It is my belief that this engine is the reason why so few of these cars survive. Here are a few observations that might help substantiate my claim:

1) The oil filler cap is under the water pump where water from a weak packing can run directly into the oil pan.2) The water pump has no bearing and very little room for packing. Also, this pump is mounted to the engine with studs, making it necessary to pull the radiator forward to service it.3) The engine is very weak in regards to how the rod bearings are oiled. Some old-timers lament that this engine was prone to having the number two rod bearing burn out due to lack of oil.4) The pistons do not have an oil ring.5) The valve and pushrod clearance of .003 - .004” (as specified in the owner’s manual) is much too tight.

When we purchased this rare car, our first intention was to re-sell it. It would have made an excellent show car, but we knew it could never meet our expectations as a tour car.

We couldn’t find a buyer and, the longer we owned the car, the more it became part of our family. Also, we learned to over-come is inherent flaws, making improvements along the way:

1) We put a bead of silicone seal under the oil fill cap to act as a dam to keep water out of the oil pan should the water pump packing fail.2) We replaced the studs that held the water pump to the engine with easy-to-remove bolts.3) We rebuilt the water pump.4) We improved the packing nut to provide more room for better packing.

5) We installed a bearing in the water pump.6) We installed a grease cup so the bearing and packing could be lubricated.7) We balanced the “airplane type” fan blade mounted on the water pump. (This blade is really something else, with poorly installed rivets and a pulley as thin as tin!)

Jones Babbitting of Pontiac, Michigan understood this en-gine very well, and we tasked them with improving and rebab-bitting all of the rod and crankshaft bearings. Even the shims had to be babbitted.

I ordered a set of pistons with oil rings from Egge in Califor-nia and installed them myself. I set the pushrods at .008-.010” and made the usual tune-up replacements.

The coil, as originally mounted on top of the generator,

1918 Oakland Roadster

The Lemon That Became a Peach

by Bill Flora

We have driven our Oakland over 10,000 miles on antique car tours. We’ve attended four Glidden Tours, including the 1979 Blue Ridge Parkway Tour, shown here.

was defective, so I ran “dummy” wires to it and real wires to a modern coil hidden behind the dash.

Otherwise, most of the running gear remains original.After touring over 7,000 miles, our only remaining com-

plaint was that we were afraid to drive over 30mph because the engine turned at such a high rpm. To address this, we installed a Bob Green Overdrive (see “Overdrive for Old Cars” by Ken New, Cars & Parts Collector Car Annual, 1987). Now the car cruises along very easily at 40-45 mph.

Besides the engine repairs described above, we have also replaced the top and part of the upholstery and side curtains. (The original side curtains have never actually been used.)

We also had the car repainted, and we’ll continue to make re-pairs as needed and perhaps install some period-correct accessories.

We are not against judged events but, for our own economic reasons, we prefer to maintain our cars for touring rather than to restore them for show. And, we always enjoy hearing people say they can’t recall ever seeing a car like this before.

How many Oaklands of this model have you ever seen? Ours is the only surviving roadster we know of, although we have seen or heard of about six touring cars and we suspect there might be others.

Our car is shown in 75 Years of Pontiac & Oakland (Crestline Publishing), and was featured in the July 1981 issue of Cars & Parts.

Oakland owners and automotive historians may be interest-ed to learn of a couple of minor errors we’ve discovered in the Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. The picture of the Oakland roadster identified as a 1918 is actually a 1920-’21 model 34C, and the photo of the Oakland “Sensible Six” Tour-ing — incorrectly labeled as a 1920 — is actually a 1918-’19 Model 34B.

Now you get the picture and why I contend that our little green roadster has gone from being a lemon to a peach!

pikes peakOur favorite antique car

tour was held September 14-21, 1990 in Colorado. Limited to cars built prior to 1942, approximately 400 cars dating back to 1905 were in attendance.

A highlight for us was driving our Oakland over the Royal Gorge Bridge, the highest road bridge in the world.

We also drove up Pikes Peak, the highest automo-bile road in the world, com-plete with its 125 twists and

turns to the summit at 14,110 feet above sea level.During that adventure, we drove with the top down while

proudly wearing our vintage bear-skin coats. The outdoor tem-peratures were in the 20s with snow on the ground. My hands froze to the Oakland’s large wooden steering wheel as we drove into the clouds past drop-offs without guard rails. At the summit, the fog was so heavy we couldn’t see more than 10 feet ahead!

Of the 200 cars that started the climb, only 120 made it un-der their own power — including our Oakland! After descend-ing on a very sloshy road, it took me a full hour just to wash all the mud from the car.

Yes, it was definitely worth it!

Bill Flora owned this 1918 Oakland Roadster from 1974 - 2002. He has submitted some of his memories to share with POCI members. A portion of this story is used with permission from the Jan-March 1988 issue of the Bulb Horn.

What are the odds?Quirky coincidences don’t add value to these cars, but once the origins of these two Pontiacs were revealed, I knew things were “just meant to be!”

know I am often out of the mainstream (I just tell my wife I’m “ahead of the curve”), but I have always been fond of Pontiac’s

controversial 1973-‘77 “A” body style.Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to say these cars are my all-time fa-

vorites, but from early on, I have been drawn to some of the unique design elements and the low production numbers of these under-ap-preciated mid-size Pontiacs.

Today, their rarity can present some special challenges to restor-ers, as reproduction parts are few and NOS (New Old Stock) parts are scarce. Even routine maintenance is becoming problematic with a lack of some basic service replacement items.

My history with them began in 1978 when I was still living in my hometown of Lima, Ohio.

There, at a car show and swap meet, I encountered a gentleman who mentioned he had a 1973 GTO for sale in nearby Decatur, Indiana. I was especially curious to learn more about it, as I had never seen a GTO of this vintage “in the flesh.” (After all, this was the lowest production of all model years built — with only 4,806 units rolling off the assembly line.)

His car was Starlight Black with a Saddle interior. I thought the car was rather attractive and agreed to buy it.

Back home, after going to the bank to get the necessary funds for the ‘73, fate soon intervened. A 1967 GTO drove past me and I ended up using the money I had just withdrawn to buy that car in-stead. It’s not my fault — I was 18 years old and taken by the beauty of the ‘67!

The desire to own a ‘73, however, continued to simmer.Two years later, I moved to Lubbock, Texas to take advantage of

a more robust job market. I had still never seen a 1973 GTO in or around Lima, but there in Lubbock, they were almost commonplace! Right away I spotted three of four of them around town.

One in particular caught my eye; I would see it almost daily at a nearby grocery store’s parking lot. It was a Verdant Green car with a white interior in far-from-perfect shape. At least it had a rust-free body!

It took a while for me to put together a deal with its some-what-loyal owner, but I eventually managed to buy it.

I snapped this picture of what would become my first 1973 GTO sit-ting in the parking lot of a United Grocery Store in Lubbock, Texas, circa 1981. This car is today owned by my brother.

by Tim Dye

ABOVE: After the ‘73 LeMans was loaded, Doug and I discussed future plans for the car. It was equipped with optional bumper guards, impact strips, vinyl top and sport stripes. LEFT: Warranty booklet from the original owner of this LeMans showed an address with my same hometown of Lima, Ohio!

Three years later I moved to the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, taking the ‘73 with me. I landed in Sapulpa, just outside of Tulsa. (I never imagined I would move around as much as I have, but that’s just the way things worked out for me. I only mention these lo-cations as they are pertinent to the story, so please bear with me...)

My younger brother, Doug, bought the ‘73 from me at one point, and then sold it back to me and then acquired it again. In re-cent years he has had the engine rebuilt, had the seats restored, and even repainted the car. (He is now under a very tight deadline to get even more things buttoned-up on it as it is slated to be part of his daughter’s wedding this very month.)

Arthur Barrett supervised the ‘73 GTO’s load-up.

Backing up a bit... It may have been a doz-en years ago by now when my longtime friend (and current POCI convention coordinator) Arthur Barrett found a couple of 1973 Pontiac “A” cars for sale in the small town of Auro-

ra, Missouri. Knowing my infatuation with them, he alerted me to their whereabouts so that I could add them to my steadily growing collection of Pontiacs.

Instead, my brother and I agreed to go in togeth-er on everything and struck a deal with the seller. We would split up the cars and parts.

One of the two cars in this package deal was a GTO

This dealer plate was found in the trunk of the ‘73 GTO. Once the PHS came back it was verified that Frank Morton in Sapul-pa was indeed where the car was sold new.

that was in particularly rough shape. It was a true 4-speed car which meant that it was one of just over 900 built with a standard shift. According to the owner, the engine to this car had been rebuilt.

The second car was a 1973 LeMans 2-door in much better shape; it had California tags on it. The owner had been in the process of switching the drive-train from the GTO over to the LeMans but never completed the job.

Doug was interested in the 4-speed items, and the hood from the GTO was in much better shape than his. He took the Le-

Mans for parts and I got the GTO shell and the engine. Meanwhile, the LeMans’ glove-box was full of original paperwork which I grabbed (as I love all those details!)

When I was back home and had a quiet moment to look through all the paperwork, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The address of the original owner was in Lima — my very

hometown! Essentially, I had picked up a car from a small town in Missouri with California tags, yet it was originally from Lima!

The coincidences continued. Later, when I was digging through the trunk of the rough ‘73 GTO, I found a dealer nameplate em-blem. The dealer was Frank Morton Pontiac, located in Sapulpa, Oklahoma! (It wasn’t

until I sent off for PHS documentation that I was able to confirm that this car was indeed originally sold there.)

So what are the odds of picking up two cars together in a package deal in Missouri — one being from your hometown in Ohio, and the other from where you lived at the time in Oklahoma?

Early GMC Motor Home design proposal by Paul Deesen shows some of the major components which would carry through to the production version such as a wedge-shaped front, dual rear axles and large windows.

uring a period when most motor-homes resembled a huge box and their interior appointments were considered utilitarian in nature,

General Motors introduced “The Show-place That Goes Places,” a unique recre-ational vehicle which today proudly stands as one of GMC’s proudest achievements.

Today, these GMCs have a cult-like fol-lowing, with perhaps as many as 9,000 of them still registered and in service today out of the 12,921 built between 1973 and 1978.

Just what exactly makes these motor-homes so unique and how did they come about?

To begin with, overall demand for mo-torized recreational vehicles was on the rise in the late 1960s. General Motors made a decision to jump into this market, raising the standards as only they could.

Much of the necessary research, testing and groundwork was already done prior to the creation of their prototype, as GM was already producing some of the needed components and implementing the tech-nology in other products. As an example, the precedent-setting front-wheel-drive

drivetrain and suspension layout to be used was the 455-V8 motor and THM425 auto-matic transmission borrowed from Oldsmo-bile’s Toronado, in production since 1966.

To create a stable, low center of gravity, GMC cleverly appropriated the rear sus-pension previously developed by GM Bus & Coach for their city buses. This technolo-gy, consisting of two axles with dual swing arms and an air bag suspension, resulted in an ultra-smooth ride quality when com-pared to the heavy-duty, stiff-sprung, indus-try-standard truck chas-sis that their competitors employed.

GMC’s sleek, futuris-tic body was a combina-tion of molded fiberglass panels and heavy-gauge aluminum. Fiberglass was nothing new to GM; they had been using it with great success on the Corvette for years.

The net result? GMC created an attractive, consumer-friendly rec-reational vehicle that

rode comfortably, looked great, and could be serviced with GM parts readily available across the country.

GM’s prototype, officially called the GMC Motor Home (note how “motorhome” is presented here as two separate capitalized words), was first displayed in May 1972 at the Transpro ‘72 trade show in Washington DC. Production models were first offered as 1973 models.

Assembly of this revolutionary new recreational vehicle took place in Ponti-

The GMC Motor Home

by Derik Olfield

The GMC Motor Homeac, Michigan at a facility just west of the main GMC truck assembly plant. This was an older facility with a two-level layout. The chassis components were assembled on the lower level while the body was as-sembled on the upper floor. The two pieces were then mated when a completed body could be lowered down atop its corre-sponding chassis below.

When production commenced, the interior fitments were manufactured by an outside company but were later done in-house. Almost-complete interior assem-blies were slid in from the rear of the vehi-

Cut-away view from the 1973 GMC Motor Home promotional sheet.

Pontiac Motor Division was famously known for promoting their “Trans Am Territory” program with a specially-prepared GMC Motor Home. The Trans Am Territory offered a dedicated space set aside at various auto racing events around the country where Trans Am and Firebird owners could park their cars and socialize. The first time this took place was at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 5-6, 1976. Participants were treated to special discounts and a parade lap around the track.

The attending GMC Motor Home parked trackside at these events (Mid Ohio, Riverside, Laguna Seca, Pocono and other locations) was dubbed the “Trans Am Traveler.” At the peak of this program’s popularity, as many as 325 ‘Birds gathered alongside it in a marvelous display of Pontiac pride.

A short story about Trans Am Territory can be found in the April 1982 issue of Thunder Am magazine. Readers were urged to write letters to Pontiac in a grassroots effort to help save the outreach program, so one can only assume it must have been winding down by then.

To learn more about Trans Am Territory and the Trans Am Traveler, see Scott Scheel’s story in the June 2016 issue of Smoke Signals.

The PONTIACCONNECTION

RIGHT: This is Page 1 of the U.S. Patent dated June 4, 1974 for the body of the GMC Motor Home, filed November 20, 1972. Designer Paul Deesen is the first name listed on the document.

cle for final installation and trimming before the enclosing rear panel sealed things up.

Not every GMC Truck dealership location within the established na-tionwide network could become an official GMC Motor Home dealer. To service and sell the GMC Motor Home, dealerships were required to have a minimum three acres of build-ings and dedicated space, reportedly costing $250,000 or more. Conse-

ABOVE: Paul Deesen (second from left) visits with some GMC RV enthusiasts at the 4-H Park in Pontiac, Illinois. RIGHT: Another Deesen rendering.

GMC Motor HomeProduction

Promotional GMC photo showing its motorhome at Burling-ton Municipal Beach in Vermont.

1973 - 20591974 - 16641975 - 16561976 - 32601977 - 24031978 - 1879

Total - 12,921

quently, many dealerships were purpose-built standalone out-lets, separate from GMC Truck retailers.

Once at a dealership, buyers soon found themselves with a staggering array of choices. If you’re the type of person who has a hard time choosing his ingredients at a Subway sandwich shop, its easy to imagine how challenged you might have been when it came to placing an order for a new GMC!

In 1973, there were four different models, offered in six exterior colors, with no less than fifteen different floor plans in two differ-ent body lengths (23’ or 26’ long). And then, numerous accessory

1973 interior shot showing the green motif.

options were also available!Base price for the 23-foot unit was $13,569,

whereas the more popular 26-foot models began at $14,569.

The models themselves were named after various U.S. national parks including Canyon Lands, Glacier, Painted Desert and Sequoia. The model name defined the interior decor — not the floor plan. There were three standard exte-rior colors, including White, Camel, and Pine-apple Yellow.

Want something even more unique? For an extra $34, buyers could opt for eye-popping Bittersweet Orange, Sky Blue or Parrot Green exterior paint treatments.

There were only minor changes in 1974 and, as far as the exte-rior body design, there were virtually no changes during the entire six-year production run; parts from a 1973 model would work on a 1978 and vice-versa.

In 1975, there were some changes inside such as new fabrics and colors. In 1977, the Oldsmobile 455 powerplant was replaced by the smaller 403-inch displacement Olds motor.

This year also saw two special edition Coca Cola models of-fered, complete with iconic white-and-red graphics. The base model had the same pattern and graphics as a regular model, but the upgraded “GadAbout” model featured a sweeping wedge of “Coca Cola Red” that graduated to yellow near the top. Out back was a spare tire cover fabricated to resemble a Coke bottle cap.

Inside these special editions was a refrigerator that mimicked a Coke vending machine. Five of these unique GadAbout liver-ies were reportedly given-away in a contest sponsored by the soft drink manufacturer.

Production of the trend-setting GMC Motor Home never quite reached the levels anticipated and, in a November 11, 1977 press release, General Motors announced “GMC will discontinue pro-ducing luxury Motor Homes” at the end of the 1978 model year.

It was noted that around 100 trucks could be produced in the amount of space and time it took to produce just a single GMC Motor Home.

Not surprisingly, the popularity of these GMCs has only contin-ued to grow with a steadfast legion of devotees. Two publications started up for fans of this vehicle, not in the 1970s like you would

expect, but rather in 1992 and 1994.Additionally, there are active clubs for their

dedicated owners, still holding roundups and caravans around the country. Even the Ponti-ac-Oakland Museum has hosted various groups and gatherings of them in the past few years.

Meanwhile, various websites and online message boards help perpetuate their legacy, offering technical information, tours, replace-ment parts and all kinds of historical information about these unique RVs.

Today, just like our beloved Pontiac muscle cars and Wide-Trackers, well-preserved exam-ples can be purchased in the $15,000 to $35,000 range, whereas stripped, project-level units need-ing a full restoration can be found in the $5,000-up range. A recent internet search on SearchCraig-slist.org netted nearly three-dozen examples in varying conditions for sale nationwide. We won-

der if anyone out there has swapped-in a Pontiac 455-V8 to replace an original Olds motor?

If you want to cruise and camp in vintage style, a GMC Motor Home might just be your ticket!

Hess gas stations offered a series of toy vehicles, one of which was a GMC Motor Home presented as a Hess training van. This sample, donated to the Pontiac-Oakland Museum by Postoria Aguirre, shows exceptional detail.

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5018 SMOKE SIGNALS • JULY2017

FIREBIRD turns‘Birds of several feathers flocked to the Pontiac-Oakland Museum for the 3rd Annual Firebird and Trans Am Day

story & photography by Scott Scheel

Firebird was born in 1967 as the result of a compromise between

Pontiac’s general manager, John Z. DeLorean, and GM’s up-per management. DeLorean had been campaigning to build a 2-seat GT roadster wrapped around his innovative Overhead Cam inline 6, but GM brass refused to let a lower-priced Pon-tiac sap volume from their coveted Corvette sales.

Even while they kept telling him “no,” DeLorean persisted, going so far as to spend his own money to have two complete, running and driving prototypes built to make it all but impos-sible for the corporation to deny him.

Finally, in 1966, an ob-stinate GM countered DeLo-rean’s 2-seater proposal with one of their own.

Chevrolet was putting the finishing touches on a car designed to challenge Ford’s hugely successful Mustang and, with rumors of a forth-coming Mercury version of that ponycar echoing around Detroit, GM felt Pontiac should correspondingly offer a dressier version of Chevy’s all-new Camaro.

At first, DeLorean resisted, but his bosses pushed back yet again; it was that or noth-ing. DeLorean reluctantly ac-cepted the F-body program.

Pontiac had six months to ready their version of the Ca-maro for the market, and since there’s no better revenge than success, DeLorean tasked his

Firebird again redefined its market segment in 1973 with two new options: the race-bred 455 Super Duty engine and the first-ever large hood decal as seen on the Buccaneer Red example. With stan-dard 455cid power and killer looks, its Cameo White counterpart is still a formidable performer.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the Starlight Black ‘76 may have been blushing parked next to this beautifully-executed Fourth-generation ‘Bird with a shaker hood.

Two very special Firebirds were on display: a genuine 1979 NA-SCAR Firebird owned by Keith Vrabec and the museum’s newly-ac-quired special paint 1970 Formula 400 with only 434 miles on the odometer. It was featured in the June 2017 issue of Smoke Signals.

engineers and designers to make their rendition not compara-ble to, but far superior to its competition!

The Wide-Track Division would also offer an impressive range of performance capabilities in their new car. The inno-vative OHC-6 motor would serve as motivation for the en-try-level version, but buyers could instead opt for as many as 400 cubes of unadulterated GTO motivation under the hood of this yet-to-be-named Pontiac.

Many of Camaro’s mechanical, chassis and body bits were to be shared with the Pontiac, but a problem was soon dis-covered. The mono-leaf springs found in the Camaro chassis would twist and bind when subjected to the brutal torque of the bigger Pontiac V8 engines.

Some of the rarest ‘Birds carry 6-cylinder powerplants. The OHC Sprints of the ‘60s offered European sophistication at domestic prices, while the H.O. option in Fourth-gen Firebirds bumped power but stayed under the radar when the insurance bill came.

This prompted Herb Adams’ Special Projects engineers to specify traction bars to keep suspension motions under control for the new Pontiac. Its suspension was also dropped 1” lower than the Camaro, and Jack Humbert’s design staff did a beautiful job of designing a Pontiac-specific hood, front bumper (housing the trademark split grille), and tail panel.

Despite being able to alter only those three pieces, the car gained an unmistak-able Pontiac identity. The only thing now left to decide upon was a name.

Pontiac eventually settled on “Banshee,” a name borrowed from a US-built Korean War-era fighter jet fighter aircraft. The rights to use the name were locked-in, and name-plates were even ordered from their supplier.

At the 11th hour, however, Pontiac prod-uct man Ben Harrison cracked open a dic-tionary only to discover that Banshee was defined as a “...haggish fairy whose wailing foretells of an imminent death.”

Not good.

Firebird Day is all about ALL Firebirds — from bone-stock to full custom, like this spotless ‘78 Trans Am.

Pontiac had already gained a reputation as GM’s in-house hellraisers and didn’t want to draw undue negative attention from the corporation or the auto-motive press with a name synonymous with death!

With production looming only weeks away, Pontiac needed a new name that was not only representative of the spirit of the car, but one that was already licensed for use by GM. The name “Firebird” had been used by GM for three experimental turbine cars back in the 1950s. It only seemed appropriate to now have a mythical bird of prey to compete against a Ford named after a horse, a Mercury named after a cat and a Plymouth named after a fish.

Midwest Firebird Club President Ken Pitcher presents a $1,000 donation check to Ponti-ac-Oakland Museum Director Tim Dye during the Third Annual Firebird Day show, May 21, 2017. (Photo courtesy Ken Pitcher)

Third Gens are rising in popularity with res-toration parts slowly becoming available. This 1982 Trans Am was very well optioned and pow-ered by the top-shelf Cross-Fire Injection 305.

All good things come to an end — the 2002 Collector Edition Trans Am marked the final time a limited edition Trans Am would be made.

Pontiac’s Firebird was introduced to the public in February of 1967 with more than 82,500 of them finding buyers that year – quite a strong number for a car introduced midyear.

Over the next 35 years, Pontiac would build millions more of them, with a sizable number still preserved, cherished and driven by enthusiasts worldwide.

One such group of enthusiasts is the Midwest Firebird Club. Based in the greater Chicago area, the club focuses on first-generation Firebirds (1967-’69) and always represents early ‘Birds well at most Pontiac events in Illinois and surrounding states.

Three years ago, the club hosted the inaugural All-Firebird Day at the Ponti-ac-Oakland Museum in Pontiac, IL. The single-day event drew a handful of Fire-birds from the region despite the threat of rain. The club decided to have another

go last year and was rewarded with stronger participation – even drawing a genuine ’69 Trans Am R/A III 4-speed coupe that was driven from Indianapolis.

This year, the Midwest Firebird Club opened their third annual gathering to all Firebirds and Trans Ams, and was again re-warded with strong participation. 85 Fire-birds and Trans Ams spanning all 35 years of Firebird production were in attendance and filled the square in the picturesque Route 66 town of Pontiac.

In addition to the show, special tours were held around the town of Pontiac, in-cluding visits to the museum’s offsite facili-ty, the Dongbai Art Studio and to a private-ly-owned auto, boat and plane collection.

The group was then hosted for lunch at Mario’s Pizza on the original Route 66. The event was a fitting 50th birthday celebration of the iconic Pontiac, enabling the Mid-west Firebird Club to raise $1,000 for the non-profit museum.

If you have a Firebird, Trans Am, Sprint, H.O., Esprit, Formula, S/E, GTA, Comp T/A, Fire Am, Fitchbird, Firehawk, Fifth-gener-ation Camaro conversion or any Firebird, you owe it to yourself to attend this annual event. Watch these pages for future plans, or visit www.midwestfirebirds.org.

First-gens were well represented. Among them was this beautiful red 1969 400-powered droptop with a matching red interior. (Photo by Tim Dye)

CAMPING

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Pontiac’stourist

informationservice

by Tim Dye

Was offering a complimentary atlas and tourist data to visitors and customers merely a mid-century extension

of Pontiac’s earlier “Good Will” campaign?

original “Good Will” cam-paign was a long-range trust-

building effort intended to develop great business rela-tions from repeat customers. While it may best be remem-bered as a way of branding their used car business, it was originally introduced by Oakland at just about the same time the Pontiac nameplate was conceived in 1926 (see “A History of Good Will,” Smoke Signals, May 2016).

Good Will was actively promoted at Oakland-Pon-tiacs dealers nationwide for the next five or so years but then went dormant just as the Oakland brand was being phased-out in 1932.

Nearly two decades would pass, but Pontiac still remembered and un-derstood the value of a great marketing plan that included the promotion

of goodwill within each dealership’s community.That’s why, beginning in 1950, Pontiac fully reinvigo-

rated its goodwill mantra with the production of a series of printed items collectively known as the Tourist Infor-mation Service. It offered great networking opportunities for every Pontiac dealer while serving to introduce its cus-tomers to many local businesses and attractions. Was this service simply an informal extension of their earlier Good Will agenda?

Pontiac felt its dealer network should go the extra mile by offering this service to their client base. They were asked to give specific information helpful to visitors and customers. Being nice by recommending a good local restaurant or hotel, or pointing out local points of interest could only make the dealer look good and bring them more sales and service work... Good karma, right?

It was also a perfect way of suggesting to potential cus-

pontiac’sGood Will Oakland

tomers that their invento-ry of Pontiacs was willing and capable of bounding forth in new adventures near and far, whether it be a brief weekend trip or a longer, cross-country sum-mertime vacation with the entire family onboard.

This new effort began in 1950 when Pontiac pro-duced a quality atlas of the United States that mea-sured 8 1/2” x 11” and contained 92 pages. The cover featured the great image of Chief Pontiac by portrait artist Jerry Farnsworth. The first few pages and the last few pages provid-

A 1951 Pontiac unloads a boat on Sports-man’s Lake near Seminole, OK. This photo, originally from the files of the Oklahoma Fish & Game Department, is dated June 14, 1952. (Image courtesy of the Tim Dye Collection)

This is a Harris press with-in Rand McNally’s print shop. The photo depicts a pressman checking his work while printing roadmaps. His helper, or second press-man, oils the ends of the rollers, cams and the many moving parts of the press.

ed Pontiac-related items, intended to promoting Pontiac service while sharing some history of the compa-ny. Everything in between though, in-cluding the maps, game laws, radio station frequency listings and more

tourist information, was provided by Rand McNally.

The atlas itself was most likely printed at Rand McNally’s impressive

LEFT: 1950 Pontiac atlas featuring Chief Pontiac distributed by dealers. RIGHT: 1951 version of the Atlas.

Chicago facility. They operated their own print shop, complete with press-es and a bindery department. (They even produced their own globes for sale to the public!)

Pontiac distributed 500,000 at-lases the first year and repeated this complimentary road atlas program the following year. This atlas looked very similar but featured a 25th An-niversary of Pontiac mark along with a blank space provided for each indi-vidual dealer’s name to be imprinted.

Being kind must have paid off as once again Pontiac distributed 500,000 of these atlases. In 1952, Pontiac added to the program by sug-gesting dealers offer a “This is Your Town” pamphlet to their visitors. They once again planned to produce another half a million road atlases to go with it.

A memo dated March 11, 1952 was sent out with a sample pamphlet attached. Interestingly, the dealer chosen for the sample was none other than Gordon Pontiac of Joliet, Illinois.

LEFT: 1952 Pontiac atlas featured new art-work of a Pontiac driving around the globe replacing the Chief. RIGHT: 1953 Atlas, once again with a new design.

This pamphlet, which had local in-formation helpful to visitors and tourists, was a companion piece to the atlas. It consisted of one 8 1/2” x 11” piece of paper folded in half. Pontiac hoped the payoff for the “Good Will” would in part show up in their service departments. As you can see, the advertisement for ser-vice (RIGHT) is found on the back of the pamphlet.

(You might recall this very same spirited “Tiger Town” dealership story along with its featured Tiger Gold 1966 GTO in our January 2016 is-sue.)

This pamphlet highlight-ed local restaurants, enter-tainment and lodging, along with suggestions of where to sight-see, where to be en-tertained, where to worship

and, of course, where to get the very best in automotive service — your local Pontiac dealer!

Pontiac’s memo to its dealers also men-tioned they should display a “Tourist Infor-mation” decal in their showroom’s front win-dow. Evidence of one of these decals has yet to be found.

Again in 1953 (and in association with Rand McNally), Pontiac produced yet another atlas. We can only assume another 500,000 were distributed through Pontiac dealers. This one featured an image of a Pontiac on the cover and, as with the previous two years, had a place for individual dealers to imprint their name on the cover. It is believed that this 1953 piece was the final version produced by Pontiac until the 1970s.

It is hard to say now how vested any par-ticular dealer might have been with the whole Tourist Information Service program. We know the atlas itself was a goodwill success for four years but, beyond that, it is hard to know just how friendly and helpful the deal-ers really were to tourists, visitors and sum-mertime travelers.

ABOVE: the back cover of the 1953 atlas emphasized that the local Pontiac dealer was a place to go for any kind of tourist or travel information

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earliest memories of cars stem from a rather unlikely source — my dad’s 1956 VW Bug! I was about 8 yearsold, and Dad bought the car out of fiscal necessity because he was going to law school under the GI bill andwas on a tight budget.

In those days, if you encountered another Bug going down the road, you would honk (well… beep!) and wave franti-cally at the other folks who, without fail, would enthusiastically return the gesture. It was all great fun for an impression-able young kid like me.

Right after Dad passed his bar exam and landed a job in a law firm, he came home with a glorious new 1961 Bonne-ville convertible. It was white with a white top and the tri-tone red interior. Big, remarkable... and powerful! Wow, canyou imagine how different that was from the VW? That single event triggered a lifelong love for Pontiacs.

Today, after many years and as I have been able to find the time and funds, I’ve gradually built up a modest stable ofsix Pontiacs that range from a 1936 three-window Deluxe Coupe, to a pair of Safari wagons (a 1956 and a ’57), a 1964GTO 4-speed convertible and a 1965 Bonneville convertible (as a token nod to mydad and that very first Bonneville since I couldn’t find an affordable ’61!)

STAR POWERThe favorite Pontiac in my collection, however, is this 1952

Chieftain “Steel Body” standard wagon. No, it’s not a “Woodie”as many folks tend to first blurt out when they see it, though itdoes have some real wood used in its construction. More on thatin a moment…

Maybe its because this car was my first-ever postwar restora-tion project, or maybe its because she is loaded with charisma…Whatever the reason, she’s the one Pontiac that will always bringa smile to my face and to so many others who see her cruisingdown the road. Simply put, she’s got star power; you just can’ttake your eyes off of her!

BACKLOT BEAUTYI first learned of her from my local car buddy, Ken Craybil, a

high-school shop teacher who had about 100 old cars which heand his father Joe rented out to movie and TV production compa-nies in his off hours and over the summer. Ken’s fleet could neverbe mistaken for flawless trailer queens, nor were they restored. Herecognized the value of patina, knowing full well that the cars justhad to show up on time, be reliable and look good for the camera.

Though there were lots of classics to select from, each of thecars in his fleet was unique and had a distinct personality. In fact,sometimes a director would want individual cars painted a certaincolor to work best for a particular shot, and the studio would oftenpaint Ken’s cars — sometimes badly — for him. I’m pretty sure thiswas the case with his Pontiac wagon.

story and PHOTOS by Aspen Pittman

LEAD PHOTOS by David Pascal • GRAPHICS BY THOM SHERWOOD • SPECIAL THANKS TO DON BOUGHER

ABOVE RIGHT: Movies in which this car was placed include Sweet Dreams (1985), Christmas Vacation (1989), The Two Jakes (1990), Hoffa (1992), Pleasantville (1998) andfinally, October Sky (1999).

RIGHT: When owned by movie car rental supplier Ken Craybil, our featured 1952 Pontiac Chieftain wagon appeared in an episode of Quantum Leap, a TV dramastarring Scott Bakula which aired for fiveseasons on NBC. For this time-traveling-themed show, the Pontiac was painted ametallic brown color. Here it is on the setat Universal Studios with Ken at the wheel.

26 SMOKE SIGNALS •JULY 2017