Click On The Photographs Above To Enlarge
The above photos of this car were taken in 1982. The bearded fellow standing next to and sitting in the car is me when I was 21 years old. This car was my hot rod and I sure was proud of it. It was fast, very fast! It had a 455 cubic inch V8 under the hood bored out to a 462 cubic inch monster, with a Muncie "M22 Rock Crusher" 4-speed close ratio manual transmission, a Holley 850 double pumper, Rhodes lifters, and shaved heads for increased compression.
The guy I bought it from had it painted a solid white with imron paint, which was beautiful. But I always wanted to restore it to the original blue-stripe-down-the-center scheme; I sold it before I did.
I never had it tested on the dyno for a horsepower rating, but because of the modifications done to it and by the way it ran, I'd say it had to have between 450 and 500 horsepower, maybe even more.
I had lots of fun with it: From a rolling start – meaning as long as I had forward momentum – I could out-run the sport motorcycles of the time period because it had incredible torque!
My brother and friends and I were all Pontiac fanatics back in the late seventies, early eighties here in Claremore. Several of our friends also had T/A's or GTO's and we had great times hot rodding around this small town in our youth.
The 72 had quite a reputation. Guys would come from surrounding counties and towns to race my H.O. T/A because they'd gotten wind of that reputation. Yeah, I know I'm bragging. But that's what guys do about their cars.
The car next to it in the garage was by brother's 1978 TA. It was fast too, and in the cornering department it was awesome.
Back in the late seventies and early eighties, kids would come from miles around just to "cruise" Claremore streets. It was quite the place to be back then. On more than one occasion, Tulsa news crews did write-ups and spots on T.V. about the popularity of the Claremore cruise scene. There could be found on our streets on any given Friday and Saturday night all makes of the mighty muscle cars of an earlier era, with their fire-breathing, ground-pounding V8's under their hoods, all of their drivers ready to make names for themselves. Kind of like in the old west, where the fastest gun fighters became legends. There were Chevelles, Cameros, Corvettes, Barracudas, Challengers, Mustangs, Trans Ams, as well as all the others I can't think of right now. There were also the sport motorcycle riders that would come to cruise Claremore, as well as the Harley guys and gals.
Drag races were frequent and kids had lots of fun. It was the place to see and be seen. Girls were checking out guys and the guys did likewise. If I could think of a movie that paralleled Claremore during this time in its history it would have to be "American Graffiti".
The cruise loop that kids would take extended from Ken's Pizza, all the way to the west of town, near where the Wigwam Chicken Hut used to be, and back to Ken's again. Kids would cruise this loop on into the wee hours of the morning, usually up to about 2:00 a.m. And sometimes my buddies and myself would stay out all night, returning home only after the sun had already come up, then sleeping only two or three hours before we got up again. Only the young could give their bodies that kind of abuse and still feel good the next day.:)
It was a great, care-free time in our lives, one that I'll always remember and was glad to have been a part of.
These photographs were sent to me by Dave Heiman, a high school friend. It was riding in this car that first gave me an appetite for Pontiac muscle cars. Dave was a heck of a driver and could really push his car's performance envelope. We had a blast!
High school friend, Dave Heiman, proudly displays his 1970 Pontiac Ram Air Formula Firebird, a hot car in its own right. Dave's Firebird.
Another shot of Dave's Firebird in front of the Claremore High School, probably around 1978 or 79. A shot of Dave leaning against his Bird in front of Claremore High School, where we all attended school. This is a photograph of my 72 H.O. after I'd already sold it. Notice the factory blue-stripe paint scheme which the owner restored it to. Another one of Dave's cars: This is a 1973 Pontiac Super Duty Trans Am, which he still owns and plans on restoring. This is the most coveted of all the Pontiac muscle cars.With only a few mild modifications, such as an 11: to 1 compression ratio, a slightly hotter than factory cam and tuned exhaust, it was easily capable of producing a neck- snapping 530 horsepower!
A picture of my brother's 1978 WS6 Trans Am. The WS6 T/A was a very good handling car. After having owned it for several years, my brother installed a 455 motor in it which made it a screamer, also. A beautiful shot of my brother's 78 Trans Am. He took meticulous care of it and, as you can see, added centerline wheels and custom headlight covers.
A picture of how the car looked with one of the original paint schemes. I pulled this picture and the ones below it from the Internet.
Another Example
Factory Statistics For The 1972 Firebird Trans Am H.O.
The year nineteen-seventy-two was the year when the Trans Am began to feel the pinch of the new horsepower ratings. All horsepower now was rated as SAE net , where the engine's hp numbers reflected the as installed configuration. This meant the engine's output was measured with the alternator, water pump, fan, exhaust system, etc., all installed. The gross figures which had been cited in year's past, were reduced by approximately 15%.
As a result, 10 net horsepower was lost with the ratings dropping to 300@4000 rpm. The torque figure actually went up to 415 lb/ft @ 3200, a net increase of 5 lb/ft over the 1971 version of the engine.new posting of 415 lb/ft @ 3200 rpm. The engine was still tagged as the 455 H.O. on the outside, but much changed on beneath the valve covers.
A new cylinder head rested atop the 4-bolt block, this had a new casting number of 7F6 and was only used in 1972 and had special combustion chambers. The good part about these new heads is that they still used the horsepower producing oval ports and the accompanying large 2.11" intake and 1.77" inch exhaust valves found in big inch Pontiac high performance engines of the past. The 068 camshaft was back for another run in the TA, and the lift reamined at .408/.406 inches for intake and exhaust. Transistorized ignition supplied the spark on all 455 H.O. engines.
As in 1971, there was only one engine available in the Trans Am and it was subject to same hand selection of components in order to make the engines as close to the tolerances laid out in the blueprints. This engine could be mated to a pair of transmissions, the infamous "M22 Rock Crusher" Muncie 4-speed close ratio manual transmission or the sturdy 3-speed TurboHydramatic 400 automatic transmission. When ordered with the manual, the engine was coded WM, or WD. If the automatic was chosen, YB or YE was stamped into the block
Three rear axle ratios were available for the 1972 Trans Am. When equipped with a manual transmissioned or an automatic without air conditioning, a 3.42 gear was supplied. If your automatic had air conditioning, a 3.08 rear axle would be substituted. Should you chose to do without air conditioning and were willing to shift yourself, the 3.73 rear axle could be checked off on the order blank. Cooling concerns during high ambient temperatures was one of the reasons cited as to why optional equipment dictated gear ratio choices.
The infamous shaker hood scoop would also let in it's last gasp of air through the rearward facing inlet. The new noise standards coming in 1973 would no longer let this useful secondary source of air survive. From '73 onward, the shaker would still shake, but would be forever sealed. Underneath the shaker was a big Rochester Quadrajet 4-bbl carburetor that sat atop a cast aluminum intake manifold. Like the functioning shaker, the cast aluminum intake would disappear from the Trans Am's list of features.
All Firebird's benefitted from a new grille for '72, taking on a fine elonagated honeycomb appearance (perhaps to match the wheels?). The colors once again remined limited to Cameo White with blue stripes or Lucerne Blue topped with a white stripe. Lucerne Blue would have it's swan song in 1972 as a blue would not return to the Trans Am line up until 1974. The "racing' stripes that were first intoduced in '69 also made their last appearance in 1972 and no Trans Am would be striped as such until the 15th anniversary T/A in 1984.
Interiors were given a new look with new "morokide" vinyl being available in either standard of custom trims. The Potomic cloth and vinyl morokide combination was available, but as in the cloth/vinyl trim of previous years, it was limited to black or beige. The seat cover styles between the standard and custom interiors was the horizontal pleats had a nice finished border about them.
Pricing of the Trans Am actually dropped in 1972, being priced less than the $4305.00 of the 1970 introductory base. The '72 carried a base price of $4256.00.
Due to a 1972 UAW strike, at which GM was the target, Firebird and Trans Am production was devastated. All told only only 1286 Trans Ams were completed (at the plant, over 2,100 Firebird and Camaro models were in various stages of assembly when the strike ended, but as these cars would not meet the new 1973 Federal standards, these cars were all scrapped !) with an untold number left on the line that would never make it to final assembly. Automatics out numbered the 4-speed cars by nearly two-to-one with and 828 to 458 margin. The 1972 Trans Am production would hold the distinction of being the second lowest in history.
1972 Firebird Trans Am Production
Engine Transmission Production Total Production 455 H.0. 4M 458 455 H.O. 3A 828 1,286
Color & Trim Codes
Exterior Colors Code Interior Colors Std Trim Code Custom Trim Code Cameo White 11 Blue Morokide Morokide 211 Lucerne Blue 26 Ivory Morokide 121 Morokide 221 Saddle Morokide 131 Morokide 231 Green Morokide 141 Morokide 241 Beige Morokide 251 Cloth & Morokide 351 Black Morokide 161 Morokide 261 Cloth & Morokide 361
1972 Trans Am Engines CID Trans Code RPO HP @ RPM Torque Lb/Ft @ RPM 455 H.O.
3-Auto
YB, YE
LS5
300@4000
415@3200
455 H.O.
4-Manual
WD, WM
LS5
300@4000
415@3200
Transmissions
RPO
Speeds
Code
Usage
M22
4-Manual, Close Ratio
WJ
Opt
M40
3-Auto
PQ
Opt
Rear Axle Availability Engine Trans Axle Ratio Axle Code Restrictions 455 H.0. 3-Auto 3.08 GYG Req w/Air Cond 455 H.O. 3-Auto 3.42 CJG Std. w/o Air Cond 455 H.O. 4-Man 3.42 CGG Std. Statistics used are from Gary Lisk's website.
