Pontiac's SD 455

[L78steve]

I had a 74 SD back in the 80s. In stock form it was a turd. With a true dual exhaust system, 041 spec cam, carb rods,open up the shaker and a distributor re-curve, Hold on.

[1970Bluel78]

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I had a 74 SD back in the 80s. In stock form it was a turd. With a true dual exhaust system, 041 spec cam, carb rods,open up the shaker and a distributor re-curve, Hold on.

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You must have had a lemon. My buddy bought one new ( still has it ) That car lights em up at will. The dist is recurved and the scoop opened also, but otherwise all stock

[RichSchmidt]

They are very rare cars,more rare then Yenko/Copo cars.70 thru 73 Firebirds have a rabid following that rivals or exceeds that of their first gen counterparts.The SD cars were the last of the Muscle era Muscle cars,and were legitimatly fast in the road tests of the day,because of the fact that the engines were powerful,combined with the fact that the much wider radial tires gave them much better showroom stock traction then bogblock cars of just a few years earlier that ran on 6 inch tread with bias plys.Mid 13's in off the showroom floor trim with road and track type drivers is faster then the majority of off the floor 454 Chevelles and Hemi Cuda's of that era.In today's market any muscle car going over 100K has to be the cream of the crop,but in all fairness the 73 SD cars are among the best,and are much more sought after then the much more garden variety 454 4 barrel T/A's and Formulas of that year,so I could see them commanding top dollar.Remeber that we are talking about some of the best performing muscle cars with what could be only double digit numbers of remaining examples.

[Steve Shauger]

SD are unique, but for roughly half the price and just as fast I rather buy a couple of 71-72 TA, 455HO's.

[GTO_DON]

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SD are unique, but for roughly half the price and just as fast I rather buy a couple of 71-72 TA, 455HO's.

[/ QUOTE ]Steve I hear ya but you and everyone else here is forgetting the fact this is a true survivor car with 16 thousand miles! Any 71-72 T/A with 16k on it would be in the 80-90 range also and this car id well optioned with the very rare cloth inserts on the seats which I believe only a handful were built. I think if it was a 73 T/A with these miles the owner would be asking 130-140 for it. Personally I think its a great car and I like the 74's as much as the 73's.My whole issue with the car is the fact it has to stay in a garage and you cant drive the [censored] out of it like it was built to do. Great car with nice pedigree and colors is JMHO BTW My old 77 Bandit car which is a nothing car but way cool with 10,000 miles on it just sold at auction for over 62,000 so maybe this T/a isnt that high.

[1969z280]

I want to own a Super Duty. I keep waiting for the prices to go down and they keep going the wrong way. Check out the Mecum Auction website. There are a number of SD, HO and RA IV cars coming. It looks like Pontiac heaven to me. This particular 74 looks to be a great car and a Survivor but, at that price hopefully it was never rust-proofed or under-coated. I'd like to see the red oxide. JMO, Ed

[njsteve]

[/ QUOTE ]Steve I hear ya but you and everyone else here is forgetting the fact this is a true survivor car with 16 thousand miles! Any 71-72 T/A with 16k on it would be in the 80-90 range also and this car id well optioned with the very rare cloth inserts on the seats which I believe only a handful were built. I think if it was a 73 T/A with these miles the owner would be asking 130-140 for it.

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Original low mileage is pure gold. But I'd still drive it with the low miles - they need the exercise/maintenance.

I think the reason the 74 market is soft is that it just isn't an attractive looking front end with the 5-mph bumper look and the slant nose. The 70-73 styling is so much nicer (and this comes from a guy with a '75 bird that my Grandmother bought new).



The 70-73 is so much hotter looking:

[StealthBird]

Steve, I actually disagree with you, I think the 74's are just as cool as the 73's! I like the 74 nose and tail. The 75's are ok, I never cared for the parking lights in the grille, but I think the sour note for me on the 75's is that they signaled the beginning of the catalytic converter, massive drop in horsepower, and the end of the SD-455. But the 75's are still pretty cool.

I think the 73's always go for more money than 74's because they shared the 70-72 design, which was still attached to the 1970-earlier Musclecar Era. The 74's seem to get lumped into the 75-76 era because they shared similar design cues.

[Steve Shauger]

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SD are unique, but for roughly half the price and just as fast I rather buy a couple of 71-72 TA, 455HO's.

[/ QUOTE ]Steve I hear ya but you and everyone else here is forgetting the fact this is a true survivor car with 16 thousand miles! Any 71-72 T/A with 16k on it would be in the 80-90 range also and this car id well optioned with the very rare cloth inserts on the seats which I believe only a handful were built. I think if it was a 73 T/A with these miles the owner would be asking 130-140 for it. Personally I think its a great car and I like the 74's as much as the 73's.My whole issue with the car is the fact it has to stay in a garage and you cant drive the [censored] out of it like it was built to do. Great car with nice pedigree and colors is JMHO BTW My old 77 Bandit car which is a nothing car but way cool with 10,000 miles on it just sold at auction for over 62,000 so maybe this T/a isnt that high.

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Hey Don, my comment was meant in a general sense. I was not referring to this car. I wasn't questioning the price of this car specifically (I did not even review the ad, and you know I love survivors). My point was that SD's are close to twice the price of a comparable HO. I am going to look at the car ad now. I do have some room ....

[southernfriedcj]

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...and are much more sought after then the much more garden variety 454 4 barrel T/A's and Formulas of that year

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A factory 454 Trans Am is indeed a rare Bird!