My Pontiac Story

[Keith Seymore]

How we lost our Second Pontiac:

When we left off we had a record setting B/S '64 GTO, and things couldn't be going better. Class wins coming every weekend, trophies stacked up like cord wood. In fact, Dad made a deal with the local track owners; he would not take a trophy or cash for a win if they would let him race for free the next weekend. They gladly accepted.

Too soon it was late summer/early fall, and late summer in Michigan means time for the Michigan State Fair. Royal was well known for having a display at local auto shows, fairs, etc. and they decided they would like to have a car on display at the Fairground. Taking inventory of the fleet, after assessing which vehicles were available locally and taking into consideration the appearance of the various cars, they decided they'd like to use Dad's car as the display vehicle. Naturally Dad was flattered and said ok.

Remember the arrangement with the title (ie, Dad had the registration, so that he could plate the car and drive it on the street; Royal held the title with a "Manufacturer's Lien")? That is about to become significant, once again....

While the car was on display a potential customer took notice. One of the salesmen, apparently not aware of Dad's arrangement with Royal and seeing that they had the title, assumed the car was available as a demonstrator and was able to close the deal. The car was sold and, after the show, immediately shipped to the new owner, back east somewhere.

Dad came down early the next week to pick his car up only to find (once again) it was gone. After a flash of deja vu, this time he was not only frantic but he was royally p.o'd. Not only did they sell the car, but sold it complete with all his hop up tricks, headers and tow bar brackets still installed and slicks (mounted on wheels) still in trunk! He was furious and scared, at the same time.

Once again he found Dick Jesse: "Dick, that was MY CAR! I need some money, or another car...or SOMETHING!"

Dick, ever the consumate car salesman, calmly replied: "Van, I want you to settle down. Your new '65 is here."

Our '64 GTO on display at the State Fair:



For a discussion on finding and interpreting this photo, see thread: http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=549092

[Keith Seymore]

How we got our '65 GTO:

I have been building up to how we got the '65 GTO that we still have.

Now: back to the Fall of 1964 and Dad, once again, finds himself without a car and without compensation. Dick Jesse, as was his custom, had some tricks up his sleeve and was able to convince Dad that all was well. It would, once again, require a trip over to the Engineering Building.

They met up at the appointed time and made the short trip from Royal Oak to Pontiac; Clearance through security had been prearranged and they drove through the gate and around back. Staged behind the building, as if on display, were 5 white 1965 GTOs - stripped down jobs with no radios, undersized radiators, heater delete(?), red or blue vinyl interiors, tripower cars with manual transmissions, manual steering and manual brakes, steel wheels and dog dish hubcaps. They may have even had some improper trim, like Lemans trim or front grilles/headers. These cars were obviously built with one thing in mind, and that was to traverse a quarter mile as quickly as possible.

Now, here's the rub: somehow Dad got it in his mind that these cars were Engineering vehicles, built with thin gage die tryout material to take advantage of the weight savings. Someone had decided that, rather than scrapping this test material, it would be a good idea to build a complete car out of it.* He always maintained that Dick told him that outright; whether it was true, indicating that Dick had was more connected with the Factory than was previously thought, or whether it was a salesman's fabrication designed to sweeten the potential deal, we will probably never know.

Dick asked him: "So...which one would you like?".

Dad replied: "None of 'em...they look like taxi cabs!"

Dick: "So... what do you want?"

Dad: "I want a black one..."

Why Dad was so emboldened to turn down one of these special cars and ask for something else I'll never know. Dick wasn't sure there was enough material left to build one more car so off to the office area they went. A few phone calls were made and it was determined that there was enough material to build one more car. An order was placed** and Dad needed only to sit back and wait for the car to arrive.

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* Dad was also informed where each of the vehicles went:

One Dick kept for himself, altered the wheelbase and turned the car into the "Mr Unswitchable" funny car. He actually got in trouble for cutting this Factory car up and had to rely on his cunning and "good looks" to keep his job.



One was given to Packer Pontiac and driven by Howard Maseles. I have talked to Howard about this car.



One went to Knafel and was driven by Arlen Vanke:



One was shipped to California, where Cecil Yother terrorized the West Coast

One (probably the one Dad refused) was shipped back east somewhere, thought to be repainted and raced by Myrtle Motors (?).



** I did not know this until we did the HPP article with Jeff Koch but Dad did not specify the options on this (his) car. Apparently the order was created by a clerk in the front office; seeing that this was a Royal/Jesse vehicle he or she may have clicked the correct performance options but then also added some "showcar" options too: back up lights, door edge guards, AM w reverb (although the reverb was nonfunctional; it was packed with lead for ballast) and throw in floor mats. The car was also oddly optioned in that it did not include the tach or rally cluster - referring to the build sheet shows the car was spec'd with option 504 but directed to "build without", as though they were temporarily out of material. Besides the unusual reverb, the car was also delivered with the battery already installed in the trunk and the hood cut for use with a primitive, prototype ram air pan.

[Keith Seymore]

Picking up the '65

After a few days the call came. The build of the car had been expedited, to avoid being trapped on property due to an anticipated UAW strike, and was ready to be picked up.

There was only one complication. My mom was due any day with my little sister, Jennifer* and in fact Jenny was born on Thursday, September 10th of 1964. We went to the hospital on Thursday, but on Friday, instead of going back, we picked the car up and drove it home. Actual delivery date for the car: Friday, September 11th: a full 10 calendar days before the "official introduction" and documented delivery date of September 21st.**

No money was exchanged (he was still taking advantage of his $3100 purchase of the Catalina) nor was there any paperwork (ie, window sticker, build documentation) provided. The only documentation was a penciled note on the Owners Manual envelope: "No COD".



This time, though, he did get something very important, and something that would change the course of his luck: a "clear" title...







* Actually, my sister's name was supposed to be Elizabeth. Dad had already made the phone calls to relatives informing them that my sister had been born and was named Elizabeth. However, either due to the drugs or out of spite for my Dad not being there (or both), my mom stated her name was Jennifer when filling out the birth certificate and she has been Jennifer ever since.

** John V has pointed out to me that these dates to not line up with his published information on when the UAW strike (mentioned in the link) actually began. One explanation might be that there were actually "pockets" of local strike activity before the National Strike took hold (Pontiac being one area affected); another explanation could be that we went down to "look" at the car on Friday and actually drove it home early the next week. In either case, we were fooling around doing car stuff rather than going to see my mom and sister in the hospital. Mom is still (in a good natured way) "mad" about that....

[Keith Seymore]

Race Career for the '65

I had mentioned we had very good success with both our '63 Cat and our '64 GTO, both being undefeated in NHRA class competition. You probably expect me to say the same thing about the '65, and I wish I could, but alas I cannot. Although we did very well*, by now there were some local players on the scene that had really stepped up their program and were causing us some problems: Art Noey, from Shaker Engineering, for one. We traded the record back and forth but Art was a significant thorn in our side.

The car was actually lighter than it needed to be for B/Stock. One technique for making the weight break was to roll through tech with the tow bar (and safety chains) still in place, toolbox and slicks in the trunk, fuel tank full of fuel and me standing on the scales! After passing tech, all those items would come flying off/out of the car in time for competition...**

* Dad used to "toy" with the locals a little bit. As his reputation grew, he could tell they were waiting for him to choose a class before they would enter (choosing a different class). He used to wait until the last minute, then write the class designation on the window and then watch his competition scramble to sign up for something else. Similar games were played through the week, as his buddies would, as discreetly as possible, ask where he thought he might run that weekend (so that they could better their chances by running at a different track).

The other thing he would do is never "tip his hand" or show what the car was fully capable of until it was absolutely necessary. During time runs he would make one pass, launching hard and coasting through the top end (to make sure the car was performing on the bottom half of the track). The next pass he would launch easy and then run hard on the top end. He would never win by any more than he needed to, and would only run hard when pressed to do so. Then, when he did make a good, full, hard pass he would often see his competition taking off the windshield wipers, pulling their floor mats out, removing the rear view mirrors, etc in an effort to gain back some bit of performance!



** We did get caught "light" on one occasion. Dad made a pass and, before he retrieved the time slip, the tech official directed him across the scale.

"I don't want to go across the scale" dad said.

The tech official unrelentingly directed him back. "I really don't want to go across the scale" dad said.

"You have to - you just set a B/Stock record" the tech replied.

"You can keep your record, I'm not going across that scale!"

Well, he did, and it earned him a brief "vacation" from racing at that particular track.

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We also had the opportunity to do some "tire testing" with this car. Back sometime between '65 and '67 we did some work for M&H and tried out a new style of slick called a "wrinklewall"...

We made about 6 passes and after we were done they let us keep the tires.

So that next weekend we went to Ubly Dragway and ran those tires. Some of the locals saw us running (and the times we were running) and so they started airing down their traditional tires. They were wallowing all over the place and really it was kind of unsafe. It got so bad the track announcer finally got on the PA system and told everyone to put the air back in their tires or he would throw us all out...

[Keith Seymore]

"The Gasket Story"

As I mentioned, our '65 GTO was built early in September of 1964. There were rumblings of a strike that year, so the build of our car, a factory "demonstrator" - if you will - was hastened so that it could be out in public before the strike hit and not be trapped on GM property. As a result, Dad and I drove down on a Friday and picked the car up from the Engineering Building, complete with three 7.75 whitewalls installed, one 7.75 redline and a 7.35 whitewall for a spare. A three speed was installed in the car and the intended four speed was loose in the trunk. As expected, the following Monday the UAW went out on strike.

Naturally, we had the GTO home for about a day before Dad started tearing into it, prepping it for race usage. Heads off to be cut .030", thinner head gaskets, shimming valve springs, recurving the distributor, etc. As he started putting the car back together he went to set the intake back on and (...as we now know...) the pattern had changed from '64 to '65. He didn't have any of the "new style" intake gaskets, so he called Superior Pontiac/Cadillac in Flint and asked them if they did. They said "sure, come on down" so he went in and (...guess what...) they didn't. They had the '64 style. He informed them of the change and started calling around to find gaskets. He called Royal; same result - "yeah, we got 'em" (...they didn't...). Jesse had him call the manufacturer and he nearly had a deal finalized, saying they could send him a couple until they realized he was a private individual rather than in some "official" capacity. Dad was getting ready to get some gasket material and make his own when Jesse had a bright idea: they could get some out of the Pontiac motor plant. He had heard Jim Wangers was heading over there to do some kind of marketing presentation and, since the plant was on strike, Dad should be able to get in there and get what he needed. The deal was struck and the time set. Dad was to wear his best suit and was going to get into the plant with a "Press" pass.

Dad was supposed to meet Jim at his office one morning shortly thereafter. After sitting in the waiting room for quite awhile Jim emerged from his office; they hopped into Jim's big yellow 2+2 "School Bus" and after a quick stop for an early lunch they made it over to the entrance at the Pontiac facility. The place was awash with activity, as there are all these UAW employees out picketing in front of the plant. As they drive through the gate, Jim saw someone he knew so he stopped the car to shoot the bull with this guy. That was fine until Dad saw someone HE knew! Pretty incriminating for him to be going into a plant, while it was on strike, him in a suit, and a UAW diemaker at that! He said "Jim, get me outta here!" pulled his suitcoat up over his head and they zipped through the gate without any further incident.

Once inside, Jim took his portfolio and papers and went up to the front offices and Dad headed out to the floor. Imagine an empty plant during shutdown: lights are off, everything is quiet, just a few individuals in sitting around playing cards or table tennis in the break areas. Finally, a guy showed up on a three wheeled scooter and says "Whattya need, Slim?". Dad said "I'm the guy that needs the gaskets". So he hopped on the scooter and they wind their way back into the bowels of the plant. They pull up to a work area and, sure enough, here are baskets and baskets (...and baskets...) of gaskets. The guy hands Dad a stack about two feet high and says "How many do you need?". Dad grabbed enough to reassemble his motor plus a few extras and they got out of there. Needless to say, for a few weeks after that the local guys were calling us to see if we had intake gaskets so they could put their cars back together.

As far as our car, we had it back together shortly thereafter. By the time of the "official" introduction - "Pontiac Day" at Detroit Dragway on Sunday, September 27 - we were already tuned up and hit the ground running, making some low 12.90 passes in B/S trim.

[Keith Seymore]

The Beginning of the End (and the End)

For 1966, Dad was given an OHC 6 cylinder Sprint to race. With some modifications he was able to get this car to run in the 12's. After spending all season developing the car and getting it to run properly, it was returned to Royal and sold as a factory demonstrator.

He didn't prefer the new '66 GTOs to his existing '65 and elected to keep his car (it probably didn't hurt that he kept the car at home now, and did not bring it down when looking at the '66s. Having a clear title in his possession was helpful, too).

For the 1967 season he elected to run our car, but in the B/Modified Production class. This class was a little less restrictive than the stock classes, and allowed him to run the newer tripower, better heads and a larger slick. It was in this configuration that the car ran it's best ever ET of 12.23 at 118 mph.*



For 1968, we had a new GTO with a few unique features: it was a 400 2 bbl (Ram Air), auto trans column shift, Rally ones with redlines. The most interesting feature, though, was the car was silver with black up around the back window. It was a test car for an appearance package, and they were trying to determine if the scheme should be done with stickers (on the line or at the dealer) or with paint.



By now the "bloom was off the rose" with Royal. Either it was the drain of being told where to race, when to race, how to race (and, in some cases, who would win) or it was the dynamics of trying to work with a team, but Dad was pretty much done. He left in late 1968/early 1969, running our car independently until it was unceremoniously parked in 1974.



Royal would be sold a few years later and the "Glory Days", for us, were done. Just like the Pony Express, which captures the imagination of Americans even though it existed for 10 short years, Royal Pontiac would stir the minds of young men both then and for years to come.



* It was also in this configuration that the car was parked and sat untouched until the mid to late 1990s. Other than replacing the 1.65 rocker arms with 1.50 arms, and reshimming the valve spring shims, the car is currently, today, sporting these same modifications and is fully functional.

[Keith Seymore]

Not Really the End

We didn't know it at the time but the car would be parked for nearly 25 years.

By the fall of 1974, Dad would be diagnosed with Rhuematoid Arthritis, which he would struggle with for the rest of his life. It was severe enough to be nearly disabling - to a lesser man - but managed to slow Dad down. He was not able to drive the GTO since he could not push the clutch in without significant pain.

I was distracted with racing my Chevelle, which I am still running today. I recall in the mid 80's, for a special outing, we borrowed a set of slicks and I stroked the car to an easy 12.40 pass. The car sat again after that brief exercise.

Finally, in the late 1990's, I was able to convince Dad to let the car sit at my house, more secure in one of the back barns rather than in the front garage at his house. While the car was in my possession I was able to secretly reinstall the redline tires and rally I wheels, as well as do some minor engine modifications to get it running again (replaced the aluminum valve spring retainers, reshimmed the valve springs and rebuilt the carbs, cleaned out the fuel tank). I was able to surprise him for his birthday with the correct appearing and nicely running car.

[Keith Seymore]

September 2015:

Well - it was bound to happen....

Took the GTO to the hardware store over the weekend and rolled over 5000 miles.

It was kind of a big deal (emotionally) for me. I knew it wouldn't stay under 5000 forever - I took it to church a couple weeks ago and figured that would be the day. Unfortunately it landed at 4998.8, so that gave me a couple more weeks to think about it. The trip yesterday blew that number away.

I'm over it now, though. Anything less than 10,000 is ok with me.

[Keith Seymore]

August 2016:

The big news I suppose is that we were able to execute a photo shoot with the GTO. This took place last Sunday evening at a small local airstrip with photographer Al Rogers.

The idea is for future publication in one of the enthusiast mags in the November/December timeframe. I have already provided the accompanying text (1000 words, first person).

K

[Keith Seymore]

December 2016:

Here's the internet version:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/clas...NnY?li=BBnb4R5

The print version is scheduled for this month's Muscle Car Review, hitting news stands on December 9th.

K