Quiz-rally innovations Pontiac

Pontiac Fiero
68th Indy 500
May 27, 1984
The 1984 Pontiac Fiero is among the most unique cars ever to pace the Indy 500. It is the only mid-engine car ever to pace the 500, as well as the shortest car to ever hold the honor. It is also one of very few 4-cylinder cars to pace at Indy. However, the engine in the Fiero pace car was far different from the 92-horsepower version found in the production model Fiero.This bored out 2.7L engine produced 232 horses and turned a lap at better than 136 MPH. The car also featured an air intake located above the roof to help cool the mid-engine car.

2000 pace car replicas were made available by Pontiac and were powered by a 2.5L 4-cylinder engine.

Les Fiero un des pires citron de GM en plus que c'est pas réparable, même les plus patient perde leur patience

-Pontiac purchased a few examples of the 308 to compare their Fieros with. The reason the Fiero is so similar to the 308 may likely be due to the fact Pontiac's goal was to make the Fiero as close to the 308 as possible with what they had to work with.

- The Fiero turned in a profit every year it was sold (including 1988).

- Pontiac spent over $300,000,000 to produce the Fiero, yet cancelled the car on a "hunch" they would lose a maximum of $20-million between 1988 and 1995.

- The Fiero accounted for nearly 1/4 of all Pontiac sales in 1984

- Spectators at the unvailing of the fastback Fiero mistook the GT version as a new Corvette.

- GM was struggling with the problem of employees purchasing Fieros before the public had an opportunity. Never before had this been a problem with a GM car.

- The Fiero was the first American car to win in IMSA GTU.

- In 1985, the Fiero won at Sears Point (one of 3 straight victories), beating such successful competitors as Chevrolet's Corvette and Ford's Mustang.

- The Fiero won well over 40 races in the 36 months it raced

Buick68 a écrit:

La "Radial-Tuned Suspension" ou "RTS suspension" était déja offerte sur d'autres modèles de la gamme Pontiac depuis 1973 dû a l'apparition des pneus radiaux , on dit que c'était beaucoup plus doux comme roulement . Une badge Rally RTS identifiait les voitures en étant équipé , un peu comme la badge ABS des années 90 ...

Buick68 a écrit:
C'est drole , c'est en 80 d'apres ce que j'ai trouvé que la Turbo Trans Am conduite par Johnnie Parsons menait la file ... en 79 c'était une Mustang conduite par Jackie Stewart !

Buick68 a écrit:Assez spécial l'histoire des "swiss cheese" et encore Mickey Thompson impliqué dans ca

The Pontiac Super Duty program, which had begun in 1961, had progressed rapidly throughout 1962. Pontiac's engineers became research and development leaders by constantly testing their new 421 SD. After they had flogged the various combinations and had squeezed all available horsepower from the unit, the next logical step appeared to be work on the chassis and drive train. In a radical move, Pontiac created eleven very special hand-built cars, destined for a hand-picked elite team of drivers. These vehicles came to be known as the "Swiss Cheese" cars.

The base for the cars was a Catalina two-door sedan chassis because its open channel design made it considerably lighter. This chassis received a series of 30 - 3 1/2inch and 126 - 2 1/4 inch diameter holes to further reduce weight--hence the name Swiss Cheese. The cars had a special lightweight front cross member and the drive train consisted of the monster 421 SD in full battle dress with a two four-barrel intake on the redesigned SD heads. The exhaust manifolds and collector assemblies had been cast from aluminum and connected to a single exhaust system, which was lighter than a dual system yet still met rule requirements. A special ratio Borg-Warn T-85 three-speed transmission was fitted with an aluminum tailshaft housing and bolted to an all-aluminum bell housing. At the rear, a set of 4.30:1 gears were installed with positraction in an all-aluminum carrier.

Lightweight aluminum was used for the hood, inner and outer front fenders, front and rear bumpers and brackets, radiator support, and certain grille surround pieces. The cars also went into new territory by substituting lightweight clear Plexiglas for the existing safety glass on all windows including front and rear windshields.

With the long body overhang at the rear, and battery placement in the trunk, the cars could storm off the starting line. Their mid-12-second elapsed times and 120 mph speeds were among the fastest of the factory produced cars.

Of the eleven "Swiss Cheese" Pontiac Catalinas built, two are in the McGroder Collection. The very first car built was one of two cars delivered to the late racing legend Mickey Thompson. The car was used as a back-up for his program and as such has less than 100 miles. It has been restored to concours condition with all correct original parts.

The second Swiss Cheese car in the McGroder Collection is the car assigned to Royal Pontiac and driven by Jim Wagners. It was constantly raced and updated and has been restored to concours race condition including all proper lettering. The car was the national record holder and class winner at the NHRA National meet. Notably, it is one of the most photographed and publicized Pontiacs in racing history. The Super Duty vehicles in the Collection symbolize the finest and most complete representation of Pontiac race history.

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/pontiacgtos/swisscheese.html



Classement
Greaser - 6
LaGélinote - 3




1964 ... un moment marquant pour l'époque Muscle car !