Mecum Pontiac Super Duty's

[Postsedan]

Colin,

Well said....

Dan.

[Xplantdad]

Dan...I agree.


Colin...thanks for the 'history' lesson for those of us who didn't know what transpired. Randy and Scott "Get it".

[bashton]

[ QUOTE ]
I too was sad to see the collection split up.

Scott Tiemann is the best Pontiac restorer we will ever see, hands down, bar none. He and Randy were great friends and he loves these cars like you would imagine for a guy that had 6000 hours +/- of his life sitting there in the 4 cars he restored. Yes, he gets paid, but nobody is more of a car guy than Scott.

I was fine until I went to check on him right before they drove the cars in and he was (rightfully) welling up with tears. We all wanted the cars to stay together. But what I told Scott, and what I truly believe, is that no matter what, what Randy Williams envisioned and Scott helped him build will live forever - together or apart. The cars are art, plain and simple. Randy's vision and Scott's talent would blow anybody away. To think that Randy found out he had a brain tumor and he dropped everything to take his last 5 years and build these cars is a testament to what a true car guy and Pontiac lover he was. He wasn't taking them with him, he did this for US.

The next time you see any one of the Williams cars, just think about the dedication involved. While we can't thank Randy, if you happen to see Scott at a show, shake his hand and thank him for dedicating his life to restoring cars like Randy's. It will mean a lot to him. The cars always get the glory, but cars don't find owners, they don't find parts, and they don't slave over themselves and haul themselves to shows for us to see.

I have never, in all my years of going to auctions and watching cars sell, looked around when I was on the stage and saw so many people crying and trying to hold themselves together. It was an emotional sale and rightfully so. You could feel that these 5 cars were more than "just cars". And you couldn't help but feel a little sad that this wasn't where Randy saw these cars being when he dreamed of having the finest Super Duty collection in the world. They weren't meant to be on an auction stage.

My hats off to the Williams family and may the cars live on.And kudos to Dana Mecum for handling this sale with the tact and respect it deserved. Anybody that was there heard it in his voice and saw it in the tears he shed after the last car sold. How many auctioneers would stop an auction to huddle with the family and make sure the sale was what they wanted? I don't think we will ever see a sale like this ever again. I'm glad I was there.

Colin

[/ QUOTE ]

Well said Colin and Thanks for taking the time to say it.

I have known Scott for many years and I couldn't agree more. Scott has devoted his life to his art (and believe me, it IS art) and he is without a doubt the finest in the field. Scott is incredibly humble and approachable and loves to be a part of this hobby. He doesn't do it for the money, although he is (obviously) well paid. The list of cars that he has restored and the quality of each and every one of them is absolutely amazing. He truly is an artist and a super nice guy also.

It was also nice to see Arnie involved. I had the oppurtunity to spend some time with him at one of our shows last year, where we honored him with an achievement award. Through all his ups and downs, he is still a gentleman.

Hats off to both of these fine gentleman, along with Dana Mecum and congratulations to the Williams family. Looks like five people scored some real bargains.

[Canucklehead]

I can't see BJ auctions handling these cars as well as mecum did. Good choice and good job!, Congrats!

[Paul D]

Some of you guys may be as big a "pack rat" as me, but the other day I uncovered a May, 1962 Motor Trend in my garage attic (where I have a few thousand car rags!).

At any rate there was a Road Test by Roger Huntington entitles "421 Pontiac" that really spells out how special these early 60's Super Duty's were. My understanding is that Huntington was an engineering type who got into great detail on the technical aspects of the cars he wrote about.

I'm sure many of you know (and may want to chime in) that after 1961, I believe NHRA made a rule change requiring all cars racing in stock classes to have factory installed component rather than the dealer installed as done in previous years.

So beginning in the '62 model year the horsepower race went full tilt with race car options that the public could check the box at the dealer (if the dealer or the buyer knew about the option!!), and when it came in, drive home a factory race car.

The test car this article was as 405 horse SD Catalina, but it didn't have the aluminum front end and bumpers options. The car weighed 4070 #'s, and with ballast in the trunk and two in the car it weighed in at 4500 #'s for the test.

Here's a few quotes from the article:

"The big advantage was that we could uncap the exhaust......The big disadvantage was poor traction. The strip had recently been covered with ice and smow, was dirty, and bite was nowhere near as good as under normal drag strip conitions....."

"Here's a recap of the acceleration figures under these conditions:
0 - 30 2.7 sec
0 - 45 4.1 sec
0 - 60 5.4 sec
Quarter mile 13.9 and 107 mph"

He describes the difference between his stop watch timing and normal drag strip electronic timing.
"In other words, with regular drag strip timing we would have been turning et's of the 13.6 and 13.7 in this test."

"under optimum conditions.....would be et's around 12.5 and 112 - 115 mph?"

"the factory rates this combination at 405 hp at 5600 rpm....I took a series of accelerometer readings....The peak was a fantastic 465 hp at 5600 rpm's....and peak torque was 510 lbs.-ft at 3500! I didnt't want to believe that either. The accelerometer doesn't lie...."

Roger concluded the article by saying, "I must say this new 421 Pontiac is a terrific piece of automobile. I'm still shaking!!"

[Belair62]

Cool post Paul...now where is Verne to explain the most awsum RPO Chevrolet ever built ?

[PhilS]

Hey Belair, I'd like to have one of those awesome RPOs in maroon. What was I thinking?

[Belair62]

Phil..you WEREN'T !!! and neither was I !!

[Rixls6]

Here's a couple pictures I shot at the recent Mecum auction just as the SD Pontiacs went across the block. Dana was pretty excited about those cars as well as Arnie.
Just thought I'd share.