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My 1975 Pontiac Trans Am with the Factory 455 and Hurst 4-Speed would bury the 150 mph on the speedometer.

Don’t know what top Speed was, but no one ever out ran me on the Hwy when I had it.

Doubtful... A Honda Civic would out run it today.

https://www.motortrend.com/features/hppp-0906-1975-pontiac-trans-am/

Only a F AG would drive a Honda Civic. Or a Dodge Dart.

Me and a buddy out ran a factory 455 t/a in a Gremlin. Red light to red light.

12? If you only count the kids from their current baby mommas.

Give them more credit.

First off, let me clarify that my Trans Am was a 1974 Model. NOT A 1975 Model.

And that T/A driver y’all raced was probably laughing so hard at a Gremlin trying to race him that he forgot to shift gears. 😜
Had a cousin that put a 454 Chevy big block in his Chevy Vega and took a lot of folks money street racing way back then.
So looks can be deceiving. 😬


Anyhow.......
My 455 engine was not stock. Blew the original engine at 30,000 miles racing a Corvette out on the Interstate.

I had a local guy that drag raced Top Fuel Dragsters Professionally rebuild it for me. Cost me $3K back in 79.
He over bored it, shaved the heads, added a 3/4 Racing Cam, balanced and blueprinted the engine. Also added EDELBROCK Racing manifold, Holley 650 Double pumper Carb, Hooker headers, and a pair of Thrush Straight-through glass pack mufflers. And, I added a set of traction bars and wider tires for the back, as it was tough to get traction out of the hole with the 4-Speed Manuel transmission and an engine making 450 horses.

I had two buddy’s at the time with T/A’s and Firebirds.
On had a 78 Trans Am with the 455 and the other had a 75 Firebird with the 400 engine. And another buddy with a 69 Barracuda with the 440 engine. Another buddy had a 1978 Corvette Pace Car, and another had a 69 Chevelle SS with the 396 engine, and another friend with a 1971 Mach 1 Mustang with the 429 engine.
We all hung out together and spent every Saturday night we could at the local drag strip. My car with the rebuilt engine would run in the high 12’s / low 13’s on the strip.
None of the friends I mentioned above ever beat me on the Legal Drag Strip or on the street.
And I never got beat street racing either in my hometown.
I took the 455 decal off the hood scoop and won quite a bit of $$$ racing on the street, from folks that would cruise Main Street looking for a race on Friday nights

And, also, I should have proof read my original post before posting. I’ll blame it on the small onscreen keyboard on my iPhone. 😬
Again, My Trans Am was a 1974 Model. NOT A 1975 Model. Sorry for the confusion, but the Specs EdM posted are for another model. Not the one I owned.
Pissed me off because I knew they weren’t the correct specs for my T/A. Sounded like was being condescending before I went back and reread his post.
My fault, not his. So I guess I owe him an apology for acting like a asswhole . 😬

Here are the the correct Specs for the 1974 Model.

Engine type Pontiac Big Block V-8 455 SD
Displacement 7.5 l (455 ci / 7456 cc)
Power 314 ps (310 bhp / 231 kw) @ 4000 rpm
Torque 529 Nm (390 lb-ft) @ 3600 rpm
Power / liter 42 ps (42 hp)
Power / weight 189 ps (187 bhp) / t
Torque / weight 318 Nm (235 lb-ft) / t
Transmission 4 Speed Manual (3.08 ratio)

Wished I had kept that car. Only 212 were produced with the 455 SD engine and Manuel transmission.
One with only 9,500 miles sold for $111,000 back in 2015 at a Barrett-Jackson’s Vegas Auction. 😢

https://www.sportscarmarket.com/profile/1974-pontiac-trans-am-sd-455

What is a 3/4 racing cam? What rear gear and tire size?

It may have been a term that was used here regionally.
I just remember it as s term the local hot rod crowd and mechanics I hung out with used.
I can’t remember the brand and version of the camshaft that my mechanic used in the engine build. Wished my memory was that good. 😬
That’s what we referred to back then as a Cam you could still use on the street, and for normal every day driving, but was much more high performance than a stock camshaft.
A racing cam back then made your engine’s idle way too rough when you were sitting at the red light before it changes.
An engine with a full racing cam always sounded like they were about to sputter and die at idle RPM’s. They made your engine sound like it was about to run out of gas, until you got above idle RPM.
And if I recall correctly, the rearend gear ratio was a 3:43

I can’t recall the tire size. I know I put on set of air shocks so they wouldn’t rub on the fender wells.
Seems like the tires were Goodrich. I also put a set of Custom Crome Rocket brand Spoke wheels on it. The type that had like 5 big spokes. Not those bicycle type spoke wheels you see on cars in “da hood”.
Heck, that was 42 years ago. Lucky to remember my name on some days. 🤠

With that engine it doesn't matter what year it was!

The two who lived got out on their own. Cops pulled two dead guys from the burning wreck.

macon.com

Freeman said that about nine miles after passing the first deputy, the car exited the interstate at High Falls and, speeding up the exit ramp, its driver apparently lost control and shot into a wood line on the east side of the freeway.

The deputies following the car weren’t sure where the car had gone until, moments later, a passerby spotted one of the people who’d been in the car walking near High Falls Road and dialed 911 to also report that the Dodge was on fire.

Freeman said two people in the car got out on their own and survived.

He said the car’s four other occupants — two of whom were pulled from the burning wreckage by deputies and one who was ejected and another person who was stuck in the car — died.

LOL. Yep. The original 455 SD engine in that year of MFG was no slouch, though.

Weren't you running a Pontiac in stock eliminator?

Not me Roger. Never did any round track racing. Just drag racing.

Longbob

Don't go pissing on muscle car memories.
My 2012 4cylinder Fusion is 175hp through a much more efficient
tranny. Small, light, aerodynamic. It could run with many of the weaker
60s cars, just flat embarrass most of the 70s and early 80s versions.

Now, there is a 300hp Fusion.

Not trying to be a dick to the enthusiast, Ed is one.


But a lot of memories wouldn't hold up to reality today.

Stock. Altered doesn't count.

Unless, you want your GTO up against on of these kids in a
fast can equipped Honda.

Please don't do that.
I don't want to witness the results.

We’ll I would hope some technical advances would have happened in 50 years. I look at those old cars and they sure seem primitive now.

I look at the 2005 GTO I had, and it looks pretty tame. Just a fast family car. Real fast.

Might slum a chevy, know where I can pick up a 73 el camino with a 454 in decent shape.

Here's a gay dodge dart we built for a friend.

Yes, I am running a Firebird stick in C/S Stock Eliminator and a Sunfire in FGT/E Super Stock.