One of my favorite movies of all time is the western Pale Rider. After Clint Eastwood’s character mangles a group of bad guys in a street fight with a simple axe handle, he quietly says, “There’s nothing like a good piece of hickory.” During the 250 mile Challenge Cup event at Daytona Speed Weeks 1963, Paul Goldsmith’s piece of hickory was a Super Duty Tempest that used good old blunt force trauma to vaporize a field of cars that included Ferrari GTOs, Stingray Corvettes with 427 mystery engines, Jags, and other exotica. Goldsmith didn’t just win the race, the guy who finished second was five miles behind and he lapped at least one of the Ferrari GTOs eight times over the course of the 250-mile contest. Believe it or not, the ending of the story is even better than the finish of the race, for reasons that I’ll share a little way down the page.
When most of us think about the Super Duty Pontiacs of the early 1960s, the drag strip is the first thing we think of and rightfully so. Pontiacs were the machines to contend with in the stock class drag racing world at that point in time. The hairy 421 that fell into the right hands of talented racers was an unstoppable force, even years after it was fresh and new. Even “civilian” models with 389 power could be wrenched on and tuned up by kids to haul the mail. Bunkie Knudsen had taken Pontiac from the old man brand to the dominant racing brand in a short amount of time and when 1963 rolled around, the Poncho skunk works was in full swing for the upcoming season. The division crafted 12 Super Duty race cars and sold them to the “right people” six of the cars were Tempest station wagons and six were Super Duty Le Mans coupes. Of all these cars, the only one we know of that didn’t end up on a drag strip was the car that Goldsmith drove which was delivered to Ray Nichels Engineering, Merrillville, Illinois.
Presumably, Paul Goldsmith was waving or pointing the way home as he literally peeled the paint off the side of the Mystery 427 powered Stingray on the way by.
The guys at Nichels set to making a road/circle track racer out of this car by beefing up the brakes and chassis. Drag cars were obviously built with the lightest possible components and brakes that were not intended to be used any more than to haul the car down from a 100mph strip blast. Nichels also outfitted the cars with oil coolers, a specific roll cage, a bunch of extra gauges, heavy duty springs and shocks, as well as boxing on stuff like control arms. It should be noted that at this time Goldsmith was the president of Nichels Engineering. He was a lot more than just a race car driver. Like all the SDs, this car had a bunch of lightweight aluminum body panels.
The engine was 421ci and rated at 420hp. If you think that the 420hp rating was at all accurate, we’ve got some oceanfront property in  Nebraska that we’d like to sell you. These were 500hp engines, especially when race tuned by the guys at the shop. Goldsmiths car was a bit of a rarity in the fact that his was the only equipped with cast iron exhaust manifolds. All the others of the bunch had the famous aluminum manifolds that are fine for the strip but would have been molten puddles by the time a distance race at high speed was run. These motors had big cams, dual quads, and heads that moved serious volumes of air. They were damned stout pieces. Not just for ’63…for any year.
The real genius in these cars was the rear mounted trans-axle that was certainly not a favorite of drag strip competitors, but had to have made Goldsmiths life easier when trying to get this car to turn and stay stuck to a race track. The four forward speeds were achieved by ingeniously stacking a pair of Pontiac two speed Tempest Torque units. Goldsmiths car did not use a torque converter like most of the other SDs did. His used a clutch to get the car moving but once it was under way he was able to knock through the gears without using the clutch. Not that big a deal during a flat out oval race like the 250, but still a pretty cool setup.
The 250 mile Challenge cup race was conceived as a way for NASCAR to generate some more money through ticket sales during Speed Week. The thought was that it would draw some different fans in who were interested in seeing exotic sports cars compete on the same course as the big boys did. The purse was a huge (for the day) $20,000 (ironically enough the sale price of a Ferrari GTO) and because of a crappy weather forecast only about 4,000 people showed up. NASCAR lost their ass, but those 4,000 people got to see one of Pontiac’s great shining moments in racing.
Right out of the gate, the hairy Le Mans let the assemblage of talent know that it meant business. Goldsmith put the car on the pole and did it by a pretty significant margin. On sheer looks alone, that had to have been a shocker. Putting this Pontiac next to a Ferrari GTO is like putting the bearded lady next to Cindy Crawford. (we don’t think the Poncho is ugly, but a Ferrari GTO is one of the most beautiful cars of all time). Hell, even next to the Corvettes, the thing looked like it had shown up to the wrong party, but it was everyone else who was looking for the exit early.
 Taking off from the pole position, Goldsmith laid the hammer flat and the big Pontiac engine just sang. He pulled away from all of them, even the mystery 427s. As rain showers came and went (and the race continued) his lead continued to open wider and wider. As I stated earlier, he lapped one of the GTOs eight friggin’ times before the end of the race. By the time the checkered flag flew, Goldsmith had lapped the second place finisher, some guy in a Corvette named AJ Foyt twice. Yes, he won this race by five whole miles.
The car went onto the compete in the longer distance Continental race later that week but the engine failed shortly into the event, probably strained past its happy point during the 250. Goldsmith and the boys still left with a pile of money in their pocket ($6,500 to be exact) and a stunning victory that served as a humbling experience for automakers all over the world.
Oh..and speaking of those automakers from all over the world, after the event the car went back to the shop in Indiana and sat for a short time before reportedly being purchased by Mercedes-Benz who promptly shipped it back to Germany and completely disassembled every nut and bolt for a “competitive” inspection. The car has never been seen again and is listed by most hard core SD experts as “destroyed”. Sad, but that’s one hell of an honorable death. Also, something tells us the Germans didn’t just scrap the thing, but who knows?
So there you have it. A pocket biography of a largely obscure, but totally freaking bad ass day at the races for Pontiac.
Too freaking wild of an ending. like the Holy Grail at the end of Indiana Jones
Lets see now …. a ground up , one off prototype using barely any original or even GM parts in it ……. vs several ‘ production ‘ cars that could be bought by anyone with the money to do so … ( even the Ferrari GTO albeit a ‘ race ‘ car was available for sale to customer racers ) …
….. and the ground up one off prototype won . Hmmmn . Big surprise there . Actually …. not ! The big surprise would of been if the Pontiac one off hadn’t won
Just one more story in a very long line of GM Hype & Hyperbole ….. e.g. Blatant lies ! 😉
If you don’t bring a race car to a race, a NASCAR one at that, then you should expect to lose. Think the corvette’s were off the show room factory condition as well??
one off? I read one sentence from your retarded midget worshipping mind is a give away. I bet you like sideways engines in a honda civic. Go guitar sling that one. Did you know, I even drove a ton truck with a pontiac racing engine..it needed 2000 pound chains to keep it in the engine bay. that is called a “one off.”.. idiot. I am beyond guessing Mercedes went heterosexual with the big sohc v8s after this Pontiac, and I am glad they did.
‘Slinger’s getting shelled here. But I’m going to say he’s about right. A road-racing SD Tempest was clearly a “one-off.” (The rest of the SD Tempests were limited to the 1320, and Goldies’ Punishing Poncho was certainly a lot more rugged than any showroom Le Mans of that day)
And given the development level of the NASCAR SDs of that time (which were “wink, wink, nod, nod” “production” engines . . . and as such extraordinarily hard for blue-collar Poncho fans to find after GM pulled the plug in early ’63 (and virtually impossible without a big box of money during my own “Tin Indian” days in the ’70s)) . . . , not to mention the pricy, special order aluminum body work, and NASCAR front suspension . . . it would have been a shocker if the “stocker” didn’t whip up on the “production” sporty cars.
On the other hand, Enzo built only a couple dozen GTOs, and they were packing less horsepower than a modern V6 secretary-mobile . . . so they were neither all that “production” or prodigious a foe.
None of this should detract from the fact that a big Detroit box (albeit a substantially aluminum one — with a “wedge” engine Car and Driver once derided as “antediluvian” in design — whipped up on the world’s best is something special to be celebrated almost fifty years on.
So let’s give GuitarSlinger a break.
This is 2013 . . . I guess that would be MORE than fifty years on. Man I’m getting old.
Guitar Slinger, you are truely clueless. The Pontiac Super Duty program began in late 1959 with over the counter parts for the 389 V8, and was expanded to include the new 421 V8 in 1961. Tthe Super Duty part were ALL available for order at any Pontiac dealership, “by anyone with the money to do so”. In 1962 to early 1963, before the infamous GM “racing ban”, Super Duty cars were produced on the assembly line and could be ordered by the public from any dealer, albeit for a very hefty price in early 1960’s dollars. There were 12 Super Duty Tempests produced in December of 1962 for the 1963 model year, the only thing “one off” about this one is that it was used for road racing.
If anything in the field could be considered a “one off” It would be the 427 “Mystery motor” in the Corvette. The canted valve 427 “mystery motor” was an early version of the Chevrolet Mark IV V8 that still used some of the 409’s bottom end parts, and was an engineering prototype, not available to the public. The Mark IV did finally make it’s appearance for public sale 1965, about 2 years later.
Here is the whole SD program in a nutshell.
http://www.pontiacserver.com/c62sd1.html
YEAH Baby! Just need enough horsepower and you can take over the world!
Very cool story. I have never heard of it.
But of course the Lemans won. It has sidepipes!!
Interesting, no side pipe in one picture.
I wonder if Smokey prepared the AJ Foyt Mystery Motor vette?
I realize the stingrays were notorious for front end lift at speed, but it is still hard to imagine a 421 Tempest/Lemans beating a 427 Vette.
The last pic? look closer and you can make out the tube just below the fender and just under the inner fender well.
NEver mid…The otehr pic didnt load….I will shut up now lol.
I’m guessing running in a sports car class some type of exhaust system, unlike a Stock car, was needed.
GuitarSlinger,get one thing straight you have no idea of which you speak. Now clean out your ears, sit there like a good little boy, and pay attention. Oh yeah, zip your hole.
The pontiac Tempest came stock with a four cylinder (one half of a 389 actually) and a transaxle. The one that they used two of (you read that). The guys at the shop took out the lightweight front suspension and replaced it with beefed up ( probably NASCAR) parts.
By the way you run your mouth you have never raced against one of the good Pontiac V8’s (pre 1968 or so) with your own stuff or stayed up all night trying not to look like too much of the local fool because there was a Super Duty coming for the weekend.
You can get up now wipe your eyes and quit slinging and more of that crap off of your guitar.
Sorry about the tone of my comment. I just get out of sorts when one of those comments is made. By the way I am a Ford man, have been all my long happy life.
very cool story, and being a Pontiac guy myself, I was surprised I wasn’t previously aware of it.
If you want to read more about the Road Rcaing Tempest Program of the early ’60’s, look here:
http://www.littleindians.com/tempest-racing/
If you have more questions or any information, please contact me at [email protected] .
Thanks,
Mike
The “Tempest that would have been King” is a true legend for that one. Ray Nichels and Paul Goldsmith were Pontiac gods for the 63 Daytona win.
Back in those days, Mickey Thompson was setting land speed records and drag racing records with Pontiac motors, 4 cylinders V8’s and of course multiple V8’s.
seems to me the first Cobras were “one off” race cars as well…how’d that end up?
The SD Tempest was an FIA Homologated GT machine just like the Corvette, Ferrari, Cobra, etc. None of these were produced in big numbers.
The one picture with short pipes under the car might have been a different race or time trials. I bet a few laps with open pipes right under you is all it would take, the side pipes would really knock the noise down and get it out from under you. I can’t imagine how load that must have been, widows down and full rpm for 250 miles!
As far as production cars, you would have to go out to the visitors parking lot to find one.
Chevrolet got there face slapped by Pontiac in front of the world. They killed Pontiac because of it. Pontiac was top dog in the 60s. There is more to the story…
I’m confused. Why would they be racing on the oval? Sports Car races were typically held on the Sports Car course at Daytona…… Seems like if a big ol’ Pontiac, regardless of chassis modifications, was going to win a race against a bunch of high-dollar sports cars, a big wide-open super speedway would be the easy way to do it…
Cool car though.
And yeah, as mentioned above, the Pontiac was FIA homologated and EVERYTHING racing in that period was a tweaked, racing special. Complaining about GM cheating is absurd. Every single Ferrari GTO that came out of the factory to go racing was completely different from the last one, even the hand-hammered bodies.
One of my favorite racing stories. Pontiac probably sold the car to Mercedes because they knew the “anti racing” edict was coming down very shortly.
There were two races that weekend in which Goldsmith and the Tempest competed. On Saturday was the American Challenge Cup which he won. This was run on the oval under abysmal weather conditions. Thirty cars were on the pre-grid but only fourteen took the starter’s flag. That race was for “classified” cars, those being production cars with production engines limited to 428 CID. Mixing and matching was allowed. For example, Marvin Panch was entered in a 427 CID Ford powered Maserati. He crashed earlier in the week and did not start. Mickey Thompson entered two Corvettes with 427 CID “Mystery Motors”. A. J. Foyt drove a lightweight Fuel Injected Corvette known as “Nickey Nouse”. On Sunday, the second Continental was held for FIA Homologated cars. Goldsmith was an early DNF and the race was won by Rodriguez in a Ferrari.
More on this here:
http://www.littleindians.com/tempest-racing/
I was fortunate enough to have attended this event. I was twelve years old at the time and one of the few sitting in the main grandstand. The 4,000 attendance figure was a bit generous. It was spectacular as the sporty-car types really looked down their noses in those days at the stock car racers. My dad, Charlie, was an official and served as PIt Steward for the Continental and later became Chief Steward for years for what later became the 24 Hours of Daytona. His position allowed me full access of the Daytona Speedway and it was like going to heaven for a 12-year-old motorsports freak.
I witnessed Mickey Thompson changing an engine in one the Vettes, right out of a two-by four crate, fresh from Detriot; saw Joe Weatherly wrestle with a monster Ferrarri entered by Luigi Chinetti with a rather tacky fiberglass roof to make the roadster eligible as a GT car. (It was later withdrawn as even Weatherly didn’t feel safe in the thing.)
It rained during most of the race and Paul was actually on the brakes exiting the dog-leg start-finish line, bracing for turn one. I have an autographed painting of Goldsmith blowing by a GTO hanging in my office. I feel very honored to have been able to witness a great day for us rednecks as they crushed the wine and cheese set. My dad’s cronies had joked leading up to this event that the stock car bunch didn’t stand a chance against Enzo. Thank you so much for remembering this race.
I have a 1980 t/a with a 540 c.i.pontiac engine in it,its a 1972 455 h.o. bored and stroked,these days ya see so many pontiacs with chevy engines in them,mine is total pontiac power,13.5 to 1 pistons roller cam,saganaw 4 speed and yes it holds up just fine,im planning on doing the 4 and 1 saganaw a old trick from the 60s,its a beast all old school bigh compression and giant bolley carb.American muscle.
I can remember a man by the name of P.J.Hecks that ran a factory “Tin Indian” at Riverside Raceway in Proctorville,Ohio for years.
It had the 421 s.d. dual carbs four speed,swiss cheese frame,tin front end ,factory cage and a whole lot of EXCITEMENT !
P.J. has since sold the car (1990’s I think) and his brother runs a replica car.
It was bad to the bone and ordered directly from the dealer.
Folks just don’t give credit where credit is do with these cars.GTO’s ran in the low 12’s with the 389 tri-power motors straight out of the box.
good story great ending would go and see the move too if Steve mMcqween was in it as for all you BS talkers one off 2nd off not the point it is the fact that a gm production body brick out in the clean air not only pulled away from all your eurorotrash cars live with it
the 421 poncho was a Monster Motor my uncle ran one in his Gasser car in the early 60’s because it was the cheapest way to get the horsepower
and he got all his stuff at Ace Wilsons Royal Pontiac over the counter
I’ve seen guitarslinger comment on topics before. Not once has he added anything to a discussion. I usually just scroll past the drivel he writes, but I just couldn’t leave this one alone. It’s obvious he’s an uneducated idiot. Do you think if he’s ignored by everyone, he will just go away?
It never amazes me as people who were not “there,” and perhaps not even born yet, can become an authority. I think the facts have been presented well enough to clearly state that a Pontiac won the race, period. If the car was somehow “illegal” or did not meet the criteria to be entered into that specific sanctioned race, it would not have been allowed to enter and no doubt every competitor would have protested the car. I didn’t read any such note, or that the “win” was retracted and awarded to another entry driver. Pontiac division racing was just as much a front runner contender as any manufacturer, maybe more so. But Pontiac didn’t really give up on racing, they simply went public where anybody could enjoy a high spirited and powerful car…..enter the GTO and all its PR campaigns that started an era that continues today with high enthusiasm more than 40 years later.
Great to read about the cars in general. I was in high school in 1969 and my dad let me buy a 66 GTO. I blew the motor and rear end out and my mom paid for Pontiac to put in a 400 ci. Also added a 4.11 positrack. With just a 4 speed, street tires and no headers the car would turn in the high 12’s. I spent the summer of 70 working for Mike Burghardt and his funny car team. Harry Schmidt and his Blue Max were in the shop next door and even Gene Snow used to come over from Ft Worth. Was great fun. I just love drag racing and it’s a shame my 2012 Grand Sport has so much delay off the line, doesn’t drag well as a stock vehicle. I need to upgrade.
And about that beach front property in Nebraska— It’s been raining here for 3+ months, and we have plenty of lots for sale anyway , great story