Old parts have an aura not because they are old but because we largely know the history of how they came to exist. In this case, we have a factory 1956 Pontiac dual quad setup and it is 100% complete from the air cleaners right on down to the intake manifold. This is not just a cool factory part, it is a transformational piece of automotive history in America. If that sounds overly dramatic, it isn’t.
When Bunkie Knudsen got put in charge of Pontiac in 1956 he was given clear and sweeping orders. “Fix it.” The Pontiac brand was dying on the vine. Making boring cars that appealed to old people who were probably bored with them as well. The styling was stodgy. The performance was lame. Nothing about Pontiac appealed to a rising generation of young spenders who were obsessed with cars. Bunkie fixed it with people and with horsepower.
Pete Estes and John DeLorean came in with the guns blazing. This intake manifold and carb setup was one of the first things they did. You are not looking at parts, you are looking at the embryo of the 1964 Pontiac GTO a car that changed the game in Detroit.
We’d go more into the story but the seller does it for us. In the event this gets sold before you see the ad, here’s a partial excerpt from the sale ad:
Intake Manifold:
The intake manifold carries the casting number D-32960. This shows as being the early/prototype intake for the 1956 Pontiac 316/317 V8 engine. This was the intake that was developed for NASCAR and brought so much success to Pontiac/GM. Some sources say there were as few as 20 of these intake made. The intake was painted red when it came to me. I don’t think the original color was red so I decided to use plastic media to remove most of the paint from the intake without altering the finish of the cast iron. I wanted to remove the paint to be sure there was no damage hiding underneath. The intake is in great shape with no breaks, modifications, or repairs. There is also no porting or significant corrosion. All threads are in great shape with no helicoils or thread inserts. You simply could not ask for a nicer original intake.
Carburetors:
The carburetors are the original carbs this system left the factory with. Each carb originally has 2 ID tags. One carb is unfortunately now missing most of the part number tag. The part number tag that remains reads 7009820 C6 as shown. The 7009820 shows this system originally came off a car with a manual transmission. I believe the C6 decodes as March, 1956. Both carbs have excellent original coloring and all parts move freely. One carb has the choke parts and the other had the choke pieces removed at some point. I believe the choke pieces are common to many Rochester 4 Jet carbs so they should not be difficult to locate. What appears to be the original linkage that connects the 2 carbs is there but is broken in 2 pieces and needs repair. These are very nice original carbs that appear to just need a simple rebuild.
Air Cleaner:
The air cleaner is also the original unit to this system and is extremely rare. The air cleaner top portion was painted white and I believe it was supposed to be black originally. Again, I used plastic media to remove the white paint too check for damage or repairs. Under the white paint is what appears to be a factory galvanized type coating as shown. The air cleaner is in very good original condition as shown with a couple exceptions. The air cleaner was stored leaning up against a wall with the rear edge and one oil bath pod touching the ground. These areas have rust through as shown. It will not be a very difficult repair but it definitely needs to be mentioned. Other than these rusted areas, this is a super nice air cleaner. I believe the pods still wear their original black paint so I left them as they are. Both pods have the offset mounted studs. There are no significant dents or other damage to this batwing air cleaner.
the E-bay add says it’s sold—anyway it was listed back Dec.20 for 2,655 + shipping. seems 4months raised the price buy 300 dollars. I have 2 56 Pontiacs ,but I will pass on this high priced item. I think I”ll wait till the price comes down
another ass that wants everybody to pay for his retirement. i have stage 1 stuff and am ready to crush it all so ass’ like this don’t screw over everybody
I agree with last two comments , that\’s outrageous price and what a prick ! Put it on a car if You want that price !