GMs At Mecum: Pontiac's "Swiss Cheese" Catalina

Truth be told, the Beach Boys probably never wrote a song about a Pontiac B-body. It may have been attributable to the fact that it was the Bowtie influence of the performance scene that inspired so much of drag race folklore. But in the midst of the Chevy 409's quarter-mile success, there was Pontiac's twist on the B platform, one that came along just before the end of GM's Super/Stock legacy.

Featured at the Mecum auction block this month at Indy is this rare specimen of Pontiac muscle, one of 14 "Swiss Cheese" Catalinas to run in NHRA's Super/Stock category, sporting a dual-quad, Super Duty 421 V-8. Extensively modified, the hopped-up Catalina is notorious for its modded, U-section frame and 120 "Swiss Cheese" holes drilled into the car's frame rails.

Incorporated into the 1963 drag race season, the SD Catalinas were equipped with Borg-Warner three-speeds, chasing a Posi rear differential with 4.30:1 cogs. Most of the cars, however, were converted to B-W, close-ratio 4-speeds with either a 4.56 or 4.88 rear cog.

Further enhanced with lightweight panels and other weight-saving components, the 410-horse Catalina ran 12-second passes at trap speeds of up to 120 miles per hour. An elimination of sound deadening materials, along with the car's 120-hole framerail setup and missing front sway bar, made for a 3,308-pound whip that put Pontiac in the game, even before the GTO.

It's one of the Pontiac performance world's rarest gems, and it will be featured at Mecum in Indianapolis on May 17th. Be sure to keep a lookout for this bad-ass, B-body!

The Black Sheep Of The Black Pickups: One Of Ten Marlboro Syclones Hits The Web Community At A Fat Price

All image credit: Desert Autosport

About 20 years in retrospect, there are several pop icons from the late 1980s and early '90s that we have taken for granted. For anyone who grew-up in the "Smog Era," Grand Nationals and 20th-Anniversary Trans Ams were probably among the very last on your list of sport and muscle car favorites.

But for anyone who's ever owned a GM from that era, where the General was most involved in turbo motor experimentation, you understand the "sex" that goes behind the small, but powerful 6-cylinder lineup.

Many have described the turbo-6's wastegate opening as something of a "horse sneeze," but it's a sound and feel that have become a General Motors signature nonetheless. Besides being compact and relatively economical, GM's turbocharged 3.8 and 4.3-liter V-6s offered an overall performance package for the automaker that was far less rough and tumble than your traditional small or big-block.

In the "SyTy" world, the Typhoon SUV that lasted from 1992-93 was far more practical and varied in option than its Syclone predecessor that only lasted in '91. The Syclone pickup was lighter and more uniform than the Typhoon, and in comparison to its SUV sibling, the tuxedo black Syclone carried an attitude of no-joke street race, while offering a visual upgrade consisting of stealth cosmetics.

  

The Syclone and Typhoon's dignified breed of acceleration, backed by a feathery-soft exhaust note, is a thing to be celebrated in the realm of all things GM performance, but this is especially true of the General's high-tech department. A boost gauge rises, RPM builds and with barely a sound, the turbo trucks move with speed that's as graceful as it is turbulent.

Statistically, less than 3,000 Syclones were built in '91, with about 2 or 3 trickling out for 1992. For the '92 production year, there was a white truck, and other color options were allegedly in mind, but to this day, it's the black-on-black scheme that's ingrained into the minds of SyTy buffs.

The exception to this being the Marlboro Syclone, a limited-edition variant of which only 10 were ever built. Modified with a removable back glass and T-tops by the American Sunroof Corporation, the Marlboro Syclones were given away as prizes in a 1992 contest sanctioned by Marlboro Racing. Featuring "Hot Licks" red paint, Recaro seats and a Momo wheel, this rare, turbo truck specimen was cranked-up using a "PROMPaq" chip and Borla exhaust.

It's one of GM's first apexes in high-tech motoring, and our featured example from Jalopnik and Supercar Sunday regular, Jon Betancourt hits the collector's market at a somewhat controversial price tag of $79,995.

Again, it is one of 10 Marlboro editions made, so whether $79k is justifiable depends on what kind of enthusiast you are. If you're a Barrett-Jackson romantic who cares about originality, than our featured Marlboro Syclone could be a rather smart buy. But if the 4.3 turbo motor is too outdated for your contemporary senses, then maybe not so much.

In either case, it's a GMC truck of historical importance, and if you're looking to add to your garage, then it's something to look into!

The Little Engine That Could: The Origin Of Buick's Turbo V-6, And The Path That It Paved For Compact Performance In America

* mgnta.com

Anyone who knows what a T-Type or Grand National is knows that it was the turbocharged versions of Buick's G-Body Regal that brought muscle into a decade in American automotive that simply was not known for its overall sense of construction, let alone performance platforms. This, of course was the 1980s. If you are a turbo Buick fan, then the automaker's famed 3.8-liter motor, with its sequential injection and intercooled turbocharger, is a horsepower icon that's already been well engrained into your memory.

* mgnta.com

But there's a question that we rarely ask in terms of the turbo-6's history, and that's one of its very origin. Truth be told, Buick began experimenting with V-6 engine construction as early as 1962, but it was a platform that met little, if any, success during the early part of the decade.

From 1962 to '63, the automaker meddled with a turbocharged variant of their 215 cubic-inch mill, that ironically enough was used exclusively in Oldsmobile models. After 1967, Buick abandoned the turbo V-6 idea, in the midst of a horsepower war where motor displacement took the throne.

* mgnta.com

It would not be until the mid-'70s that the company would revisit the idea, and the blown V-6 manifested itself once more in the guise of the 1976 Buick Indy Pace Car, the turbo option being made available to the public in '78 through the "Sport Coupe" option on the Regal, due to the motor's popularity in the Pace Car.

The Regal itself underwent extensive change, Buick's G-Body being shortened, while shaving-off some 560 pounds of dry weight. These were changes that helped to form the Regal into modern day muscle, but nevertheless, the best that Buick was able to squeeze from their compact V-6 was in the 170-200 horse range. Naturally, this is mostly true of the small motor's earliest manifestations, especially those turbo V-6s built from 1978-82. First, available in 2 or 4-barrel carbureted versions, then standard as a 4-barrel by 1979.

* http://www.2040cars.com/Buick/Century/1976-buick-century-regal-t-top-replica-pace-car-cutlass-grand-prix-265564/

What mostly changed about the engine's construction from the late '70s into the early '80s was the physical location of the motor's electronic, anti-knock sensor from the intake to the top rear of the block. This was due to the addition of an aluminum intake, which would've interfered with the knock sensor, or "Turbo Control Center's," function.

* http://beforeblack.net/evolution.htm

Also, better-flowing heads were installed on all 3.8 motors built in 1979, along with better performing spark plugs that reduced overall plug gap from 0.060 to 0.040, thereby reducing fouling.

The Grand National, introduced in 1982 mostly as a naturally-aspirated model, would not take on the turbo as an RPO option until '84, and it was then that Buick was able to push the GN into the 200-horsepower range. Also, 3.8 motors for '82 were opened by a new cam, valve springs and valve dampeners to allow the V-6 to run at higher speeds. Turbochargers for the model year used a smaller turbine for improved throttle response and less lag.

* en.wikipedia.org

* Beforeblack.net

The very idea of using engine load and throttle position to build intake pressure was definitely there, even by 1978, but the Grand National and even more powerful GNX would not become realities until the greater part of the '80s, after which fuel injection was introduced to the 3.8's hardware.

* gminsidenews.com

Be that as it may, Gary Bryson and Southern California's Molly Designs built a turbo V-6 Century, one backed by Buick for the purpose of attracting younger buyers to the brand. It was Bryson's force-fed, '76 Century that would become predecessor to both the Indy Pace Car and Grand National, culminating in the '87 GNX as a final farewell to the turbo Regal lineup.

* www.cars-on-line.com

They were experiments that led Buick to learn more about turbo performance, and it paved the way for what would become one of the automaker's greatest endeavors.

* www.hemmings.com

Many muscle car traditionalists like to hold to the adage of, "No replacement for displacement." For anyone who actually believed it, however, Buick concocted the perfect recipe to change their minds forever.

* buickcity.blogspot.com