You never know what you'll come across on eBay Motors.

Last month a 1963 Pontiac Tempest drag car was offered for sale on eBay. Apparently, at the start of the auction the seller believed that he was selling the remains of an old race car. The car had Plexiglas windows which tipped off Internet sleuths that there was something special about this particular car. As it turned out the car offered for sale was one of six Tempest Le Mans Super Duty coupes--there were six additional wagons--that were specially built by Pontiac Engineering to dominate the emerging Super Stock class for the 1963 season.

What's so remarkable about all of this? The car ultimately sold for a staggering $226,521.63. But there's more, much more, to the story.

What tipped me off to the unique nature of this car was a listing on a web site I just discovered--Bring a Trailer--whose members had clearly identified that the car in question was once driven by Stan Antlocer, one of Pontiac's top drivers back in 1963. You may still be able to see the post on the Antlocer car on Bring a Trailer.

As this auction was unfolding, I was stumped for a subject for my February column in Musclecar Enthusiast. I decided to watch the auction and write my column on how the auction turned out. Because my columns require some graphic elements I wrote the seller asking for permission to use one of the photos. When I didn't get a response I followed up with a second message, providing my phone number. Almost immediately after the second message I got a phone call from the seller, who as it turned out listed the car for a friend. Surprisingly, the seller threatened to sue me and the magazine if I used the photos in my reporting. Needless to say, I decided to move on to Plan B to secure other photos for my column.

In looking at the ad, I noticed that the seller had cited a book, Pete McCarthy's Pontiac Musclecar Performance, which is the acknowledged bible on all things related to Pontiac performance cars among Pontiac afficionados. (Pete's book is self-published and can be purchased on his web site.) When I visited Pete's web site I couldn't help but notice that he lived about 45 minutes away so I dropped him a quick E-mail and in a matter of minutes, he called me back. (You've got to love the Internet!) As I was heading up to Orange County to swap out my weekly press vehicle we agreed to meet face-to-face over breakfast.

An hour later Pete and I sat down over pancakes and had a wide-ranging conversation on a number of automotive-related topics; the Pontiac Super Duty era was just one of the items on our agenda. Most surprising among all the details he shared about the 12 1963 Super Duty drag cars was that Stan Antlocer was still around and lived about two hours away north of Los Angeles. Even better, he had Stan's phone number and he provided it to me.

I immediately called Stan and left a message. It was the start of the weekend, and I had many car shows to attend,  so I forgot about it until Monday morning when I started to finally pull my column together. The phone rang, and it was Stan Antlocer returning my call. What ensued was another one of those great conversations between car guys. I got the inside scoop on Stan's involvement with Pontiac starting in 1961, and some interesting details on Stan's 1963 Super Duty. Stan told me that he ditched the Tempest's rear transaxle provided by Pontiac Engineering, substituting in its place a conventional 3-speed manual transmission, a driveshaft, and a modified, heavy-duty rear axle from a pre-Wide Track 1957 Pontiac. Of the 12 1963 Tempest Le Mans Super Duty cars, Stan's was the fastest, clocking in with a time slip of 11.93 @ 123.95 MPH. My interest piqued, Stan and I agreed, after the holidays, to meet for an in-depth interview where he will share more details of this fascinating era in drag racing history to appear in one of my print-publication titles.

Oh, one more thing; he had photos of the car from back in 1963 and agreed to share them with me. I had what I started out looking for, great photos to illustrate my February column for Musclecar Enthusiast. The story had literally come full circle.

Thanks to Stan's generosity, we're able to share two of the photos with you. You'll find wallpaper-sized versions of these historic images in the Automotive Traveler image gallery. If you wish to use these images in your own coverage of the car and its sale, please contact me for permission.

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dave87100 |12-0-2008 OMG, this car is amazing. You should have a lot of fun with this. ReplyQuote 0 0

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