Diz Dean's GTOsome "Claims to Fame"
Cool!It's always great to hear from folks with well-known vehicles; here's one of them. I left the Legend article large enough to read because of the great history; if it's too small, click the little 'expand' icon in the lower right of the opened picture (if your computer is set to auto-size pictures). Here's the word from Mr. Dean:
"I ordered this car in Gulfmist Aqua from Wilt Pontiac in Warren, Ohio. It has a 462
engine, 400 turbo, 3:42 gears, and runs mid-thirteens. The stripes and emblems are
airbrushed, it has a rare bench seat, an 8-track, and under 50K miles. It has been in
magazines, videos, calendars, and was People's Choice at the GTOAA Nationals in '95,
'00 & '04. I also have a '64 GTO, a Fiero, a '55 Chieftain, and an '01 GP GT SE. I
love my PONTIACS!! Diz Dean" ( dizpontguy@aol.com )
Remember this garage find that headlined NEW RIDES a while back? Check it out...
"I thought I would send a few photos to show the progress my son and I have made on our 74 Ventura project. About a year ago our car was in your "New Rides" section. As you can see, the body was in pretty good shape so few changes are apparent on the outside. Tinted windows and new tires and wheels are about it.
"We did overhaul the 350 ci engine and make a few changes. It's been bored .030, balanced, upgraded to MSD ignition, and given a little dress up under the hood. Went with Performer level intake and cam. We installed a stereo system without leaving a footprint in the car. The new console in the floor accommodates the added speakers and a gauge panel.
"We've
recently purchased a shaker hood and will probably paint the car and change
the hood next spring. Air conditioning is the next priority. Ventura
enthusiasts shouldn't worry. All original equipment (hub caps, intake, hood,
etc) will be safely stored in case we want to take it back to its original
look. For now, it's perfect for a 17 year old kid.
"Thanks also for
the great web-site. I don't think we would have ever been able to
envision just what a cool car this could be without the great contributions
from the enthusiasts from around the globe. Please keep up the good and
time consuming work.
Scott and Weston Roberts" ( ScottRoberts@Freightliner.com )
Writing in from New Hampshire, Jerry ( 74gto@comcast.net ) gives us the scoop on his GTO interpretation. That cowl hood looks and fits great! He sent a boatload of new photos but the site update was already nearly complete. But these will do nicely, I think!
"Hi there, this is my GTO clone. It has a 462 Pontiac, 4 speed, 3.73 posi, new quarters and fenders; working the interior now. Can't find the right looking rims for it...
"I have a lot of information on a lot of stuff that fits this car, like a 7 inch power brake booster from a '60 Buick (needed valve cover clearance) heater core relocation ('69 Nova, get the heater core box from the big block, works awesome) home made posi (slid out my axles, put the chuck from a '75 Trans Am 75 right in with the shims). The 455 came from a 71 Grand Prix. Waiting for the front bumper to come back from chroming, I also pushed the front and rear bumpers in 3 inches... there's so much more I would be writing all night... thanks, Jerry"
A '71 All Re-Done!
It was quite surprising to see
this pretty '71 re-done, since it appeared to be in such remarkable
condition. But there's always room for improvement, and this great car
has gotten a serious update. The deep green is hard to photograph, but no doubt looks
awesome in person! Here's the word from the proud restoration team!
"Finally
getting around to sending you an update on our Father & Son project 1971
Ventura. We last sent you pictures and you posted them in Feb. of 2004. We
have completed a frame off restoration in 2007 of the little 71 in time for
his senior year of high school, complete with the following:
Complete suspension overhaul with all polyurethane bushings
New front and rear high performance shocks and sway bars
Converted all drum brakes to front and rear disc brakes
Drop springs front and rear
Changed from open to 3:08 Positraction rear differential, rebuilt original
driveline
Every nut and bolt changed to stainless
All brackets, hood hinges, pulleys, inner fenders, etc blasted and powder
coated
Complete color change (Polo Green), all parts painted off the car then
installed
New Interior changed to black with new vinyl roof, all original chrome
polished and reused
Hidden stereo system
2 ½” Stainless Dual Exhaust system with crossover
"He has many hours of work in his 1st car and really enjoys seeing the results on your website. Thank you, Sam and Scott Wells" ( fswells@charter.net )
Pure Pontiac Again
Kenny Cunningham ( kenneth_cunningham@hotmail.com )owns this track-burning Ventura. He's got the bumpers tucked in and looks like the rear wheel wells were trimmed or rolled in at some point.
"(Here are) pics of my car, a 1971 Ventura, 400 + .060, Eagle rods, flat top pistons, Crane cam, Turbo 400, 3800 stall and brake, 4:56 gears (complete Moser rear).
"Car was a 50th b-day present from my wife. The car has gone 10.27 at 130 with a 427 Chevy before I got the car. It now is all Pontiac. It's a labor of love, thanks, Kenny"
Nothing motivates me to get back to work on the website project car more than a well-executed post-74 X-body like this. I even have the same spoiler ready to go! From Canada, please meet one beautiful SX-y car!
"I am the
second owner, and I did some personal custom touches myself.
Engine: 350, Bored .060, 501 lift 292 dur cam, aluminum Intake
308 posi (Factory), 4spd (Factory)
Original SX car (NO CLONE, and have documentation to prove this),
Darren" (
darrencarie2@eastlink.ca )
" Hi, here are
some pics of my 74 Olds Omega. Original 350 engine, original 350 trans,
crank was lightened balanced, flat top pistons, Proformance cam, roller tip
rockers, heads were ported, polished and milled, 2" valves installed,
aluminum Holley intake, Street Avenger carb, and Mondello HEI distributor.
"... I'm glad you like the color, I searched a
long time to find it. I never dreamed it would be so hard. I told the body
shop I wanted light green...sounds real simple, right..? Wrong! Long
story short, one day I saw a 2003 Malibu and I said that's it, that's the
color. Believe me after 5 years of restoring and hunting for parts I could
tell you a lot of stories! On June 21 I'm taking It to Carlisle to show.
Carlisle is pretty big on the east coast ...thanks, Rail Guy" (
shoop2@embarqmail.com
)
I think the pictures speak for themselves--- from the overall vibe, to the accented seat covering, to the clean engine compartment! -Ro
< hard at work!"Bought this car a few years ago and have been restoring. Dropped in a bored 455 and 4-speed and runs high 7's in 1/8th. Car was originally blue. Wayne Mitchell ( wayne1965gto@hotmail.com )"
<NOT Don's car, but its twin!
"Hi, just wanted to share a couple pics of my 1973 Ventura Sprint that i just finished restoring. I got the stripes from Al Pipher (see his ad on our parts page -Ro) and they look great. It's an all-original car with 74k on the clock. It's well-appointed with correct 350 Pontiac motor, 350 trans, power steering, power brakes and a/c. One thing I must share with you is that these Sprints are bringing well north of $5K now in good shape." ( surfingsafari@triad.rr.com )
(L) Indulging in a little 'what-if' exercise (forgive my limited Photoshop skills), I've always wondered how we could make use of all those 4-door x-bodies out there. A pair of doors from a derelict 2-door, and maybe the B-pillar section/door jamb, might result in something that looks like this.
(R) Hope you're watching the magazine rack-- if so, you might have spotted this beautiful silver 1975 Ventura featured in High Performance Pontiac recently. Kind of lame that they didn't have anyone for him to race, but we're happy to see owner Darryl Sotera's car in this nice multi-page spread anyway!
"... I am working on a new direction for my Ventura. I have a new Pontiac crate engine to go into it and a few goodies from Detroit Speed and Engineering. I will keep you updated. ...James Ell"
Scott is fired up
about Venturas!
"Hey Ventura lovers, my name is Scott and I live in Fort Worth Texas and here are pictures of my two 1973 Venturas.The bright yellow car I bought when I was 17, it was originally an L-6 but I installed a Chevy 383, 350 auto trans with 200hp of nitrous (haven't used it yet though). It took 2nd place 2yrs in a row at Import vs Domestic shootout (both years I lost to my roommate in his Shelby). It's a great attention getter with 3" exhaust dumped and wicked throttle response. The best time was 7.8's in the 1/8th w/o nitrous. The pale yellow car I bought at a police auction for $110.00. It's a hatchback L-6 with a 3pd manual floor shift (rare?) (YES). I plan on only painting it red and putting in at V8 and 4spd.
"The Ventura-loving doesn't stop there, my little brother currently owns a 74 Ventura w/Pont 455, 4spd manual trans. It's his 2nd 74 to own, I got him his first Ventura out of a field when he was 14 and together we got it roadworthy by his 16th birthday. I found his old car on youtube just by listening to the rattles. I e-mailed the guy and indeed it was the same car (SMALL WORLD HUH!). Ventura, Omega, Apollo owners share a unique bond...we know we don't own Novas but we know own a better-looking car and I wouldn't trade my Ventura for a Nova for anything. To make people aware of "lesser known X-Bodies" I say you can't spell Nova (NovaOmegaVenturaApollo) without the other X-bodies!!!. THANKS FOR THE GREAT WEBSITE, Scott Wakefield" ( yellowventura73@yahoo.com ) Amen, bro!
Dyno results!
"Hi it's Mike
Adair. Put a new hood on the car. Paint colour not right, but looks good,
hope you like. Engine out this summer, 474 going in. Here's the dyno sheet
and pics of the car. Mike Adair
pontiacmike04@hotmail.com ".
Mike picked up this pristine '73 out of our ad section
from Toronto Canada and originally planned to just dress it up with some
nice rims and dual exhaust. Guess his enthusiasm for the car has
increased somewhat!
(R) Patrick "Rick" Varain ( aleeon@sbcglobal.net ) sent us a recent snapshot of his '75 Ventura posing with another x-body stablemate. He changed hood scoops and put a rear spoiler on, also shown in the Project Car section.
Department of Reminiscing...
"Hi, my name is Bill. I had the pleasure of owning a 1974 GTO Custom Hatchback that my parents bought me in May of 1974. I drove that car to college at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater for one year. I then transferred to UW Stevens Point. My goat was a pre July one that came without the factory air pump. After two years and about 25000 miles, I replaced the stock exhaust with a pair of Hooker Headers and a 3 inch exhaust into some great sounding Big Daddy glass packs. I drove that car on BF GOODRICH RADIAL TA’s G60 14s. At the drag strip, with open headers I ran a respectable low 14’s with the automatic tranny. I have severely regretted selling it ever since. My car was Buccaneer Red with white interior and the hatchback version.
"No matter what anyone may tell you the automatic was a much faster car than the manual (recently confirmed by High Performance Pontiac mag -Ro). If you have done your research as I’m sure you have, you’ll know that the pre-July GTO’s had the true Pontiac 350’s, that produced approx. 20 more horsepower than the GM or CHEVY motors that came after. Somewhere I have the original window sticker along with a picture that I hope I can find and I’ll send them your way. Bill ( pschrank2@wi.rr.com )"
(R) Late-night surfing turns up another battered Ventura, gutted for racing in Williamsburg, KY.
A Hurst Olds Omega???
Now, this sharp but curious
vehicle created quite a stir! The owner sent his photos to this site and
shortly after listed it for sale on ebay, after which we got multiple
inquiries asking about it. Typical comments were "There is an
ad on EBAY for a 1978 Hurst Omega, it just doesn't look real. It is yellow
and all the Hurst Olds that I have seen are white or black and gold..."
and "I found this on eBay, is this thing for
real or a phantom?"
The
owner claimed the glove box to be autographed by George Barris, the famous
customizer, and the car seems to exhibit some styling cues of his. The
owner also stated he'd seen 3 of these cars so far, but until proven
otherwise, my guess is that this is most likely not a factory offering. Perhaps it was an
aftermarket creation, like the 1977 Ventura Sprint.
(L) "Here are a few pics of my 1978 Buick Skylark. The '78 is my main focus now for a restoration/street rod project (he also was selling a '77). I had emailed you before with some questions a year or two ago and you were a big help. Thanks again and I love your website. -Jeff from New Jersey ( jeff.bunting@gmail.com )" Glad to be of help, Jeff!
"Hi I live in the Montreal area, if you remember I sent you some pics from my Skylark for sale some time ago, I've sold it but just bought it back, trading my 74 gto for it. My gto was too trashy to put back on the road so the guy wants the skin to put it on a track to be a vintage stock car. But at least I've recovered my 75 Skylark which is streetable and doesn't need inspection to put back on road. The Skylark has no running engine at present time but maybe I will put in a 350 Pontiac or a 350 Chevy. She also needs a brake job and some tlc but hope she'll be back on the road this summer... thank you for the great site. Eric Villeneuve ( promotionvsracing@hotmail.com )
X-Bodies
FAR from HOME
Once again we hear
from the southern edge of the globe! Writing through a translator,
please welcome Lizandro, who owns a Nova, but has the true x-body spirit.
With very little editing on my part, I think his message will come through
if you read carefully.
"Greetings from Chile.
I find your website very interesting for fanaticos Pontiac. Perchance, it
counts that I am with the idea of restoring a 1977 Chevy Nova after which
you attached some pictures, I hope I can be of any help to any reader of
your page. I live in the south of Chile. Here at the end of the decade many of
the 70s cars were sold: Chevrolet Nova, Buick Skylark, Pontiac Phoenix. I hope
to fulfill a dream that I have restored my Nova and re-circulate
through the streets of my beloved city. We keep in touch with whoever wants to
share their experiences with these beautiful cars. Forgive any error in
writing because I do through a translator. Write to
liguja@gmail.com Greetings, Lizandro"
Bernie's Back!
Manila resident Bernhard Floedl
sends in some recent shots of his '71 wearing its glowing new paint.
The motion shot is very cool, nice job! Here's the latest from Bernie:
"The second photo (is from) a meeting of the members of the Muscle Car Forum Philippines, which gets together every second Sunday of the month. We vote where to meet and at what time and then who ever has time shows up. The forum is quite nice, check it out: http://musclecarsph.1.forumer.com/index.php?act=idx The Ventura turned out to be quite popular among the members, see: http://musclecarsph.1.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=614 . Now everyone is waiting how my new project, a '71 Plymouth Duster 340 is gonna turn out (see http://musclecarsph.1.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=589 ). Anyway, all the best! Till soon, Bernie"
video! (.mov format)
"Hi every body. Thanks for your mail. I take this video clip to show the tail lights. I work hard in this point, the tail lights original wire is bad, but I reconstructed all. And I invent the lights up in the back panoramic glass. In the future I invent other tail lights, and front lights. Thanks for all."
(top) Craig Antonio ( cmantonio@sasktel.net ) has two full-size Omegas, but he's also working a smaller project:
"I am building a 1/25th scale model of a 1974 Omega... Most parts are custom made as there is no model kit available. It is a 72 Nova body being highly converted to look like a 74. I will have big bucks into this by the time it is done. Model kit 20.00, Ventura resin kit 50.00?? I almost have the rear tail light assembly done for the model.
(bottom) Eliezer Perez is another avid model fan, and
among his many contributions is this fictitious model kit off of ebay, where
someone glued some cleverly-done graphics onto a box. Oh, what could
have been :-) He writes in about another find:
"How's everything, the site looks excellent as always. I just wanted to send you this link where a modeler built up a 73 Ventura, it looks kind of cool, I thought you might want to see for yourself.
http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o33/moose5147/73%20VENTURA%20WIP/ ELIEZER PEREZ"
( eliezer@systemusa.com )
There are a bunch of other assembled model kits in my archives, I'll make it a point to publish some photos next time around. -Ro
(R) A Sprint from an earlier time, showing the very first iteration of the "Sprint" logo. This car may have been out of our ad section...it's been too long to remember.
- Jerry (owner of the
green GTO clone above) writes: "I
just saw your video sightings on Venturas, there is a nice 74 Ventura that
gets thrashed in the movie called "Smokey Bites the Dust"...
- A guy named Dave
spotted another X-body: "In the movie, "No Country For Old Men",
there is a scene with a Buick Skylark, it was closer to the the later part
of the movie (in the hotel and pool scene part). The scene was
somewhat long and you could clearly see the mid-70s, blue-colored 2 door
Buick Skylark with white side moldings, in the background of the guy
talking."
- Of course, speaking of Skylarks, surely you've seen the x-body Skylark parked at the very beginning of the "Fast and Furious" mega-hit, which appears in several of the early camera shots as the movie's hero pulls into the diner (or whatever it is) -Ro.
As always, any owner who wishes to have an "X-body sighting" photo removed for privacy reasons, can just drop me a line at pontiacv@pontiacventura.com , thanks. -Ro
Got some cool non-Nova X-body photos?
Your pics are welcome, just email them to
pontiacv@pontiacventura.com
(jpg file format preferred)
We DO accept pics of the '77-'79 Nova Rally and '74 Spirit of
America, because they are cool and pretty rare, too.
