Swiss Cheese Pontiacs

LMBRJQ 60

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 4
Hi All,

I hope every one over there is gearing up for the Christmas festivities.
I think it is going to be a cold one here, maybe 25 degrees, Celsius that is:crazy

Swiss Cheese Pontiac's

How many were there that were built and how many original ones are still around?

Steve
 

oleblu72

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
Hi All,

I hope every one over there is gearing up for the Christmas festivities.
I think it is going to be a cold one here, maybe 25 degrees, Celsius that is:crazy

Swiss Cheese Pontiac's

How many were there that were built and how many original ones are still around?

Steve


Now you went and did it Steve, now I want a wheel of smoked Swiss Cheese.:tongue2

Mark
 

Tom Kochtanek

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 12
Years back on the way home from Thompson Drag Raceway James and I were in the '62SS car and stopped to visit with Vance Heck in little town in Ohio. He had a gaggle of 1962 Super Duty cars, two of which were real. Reason I mention it was he had an aluminum frame for a '63, said it was one of three or something like that. No body, just the frame. Bet that was lighter than drilling big holes in your frame :).

Cheers! TomK
 

real61ss

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 8
I found this on a Pontiac site......1963 Catalina 421SD "Swiss Cheese". By 1962 Pontiac was the dominant manufacturer in both NASCAR and NHRA drag racing. As the 1963 season approached, competition from other manufacturers was fierce, and in order to maintain their dominance Pontiac engineers upped the ante by producing a handful of lightweight, all-out race cars. Aside from using aluminum front fenders, hood, inner fender wells, radiator core support, bumpers and bumper brackets, the exhaust manifolds, bellhousing, and rear axle center section were also made from aluminum. More weight loss was achieved by eliminating all non-essential equipment, soundproofing and body sealers. If that wasn't enough, the frame was lightened by drilling approximately 130 holes and eliminating the boxed rails. Upon seeing the car for the first time, a journalist referred to the frame as being "like swiss cheese", and the name stuck. Conservatively rated at 405hp, these were all-out race cars and not designed for street use. Only 14 "Swiss Cheese" 421SD Catalinas were built before the January 1963 AMA ban on factory racing activities came down.
 

real61ss

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 8
I have seen 3....1 in Phoenix in Pat Magruder's collection which was Mickey Thompsons, 1 in Henderson, TN CK Spurlock's collection, and HP here on the forum has one. HP is Herb Patton who joined this year.
Very rare!!!!!
I think I remember Floyd having one many years ago. I think Bob Kudson owns the one pictured above now
 

4onthefloor

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 1
I have seen 3....1 in Phoenix in Pat Magruder's collection which was Mickey Thompsons, 1 in Henderson, TN CK Spurlock's collection, and HP here on the forum has one. HP is Herb Patton who joined this year.
Very rare!!!!!
Was that the Van Winkle car? I think my buddy bought 2 SD from Reggie. One was the Van Winkle cheese car and one was the kimberley blue “Dmitri Toth” SD car. I wound up with the SD car and he kept the Van Winkle car. All moved along now.
 

Greg Reimer

Well Known Member
In high school, around 1970-72, my brother got a rather thrashed black/red interior '62 Catalina, 389 with an aluminum T-10. I had to pull the 4 speed and put a cluster and an input shaft in it, and that car had a perimeter frame, and the rear end mounted very similar to a Chevelle as I remember. It had an open one piece drive shaft,although the car was almost identical in appearance to a Chevy Impala. Why didn't they put that frame and drive line in the Chevy? After busting up a bunch of Chevy drive line and frame parts,I wondered what would have been involved in putting a Pontiac chassis under a Chevy. Anybody ever do this?
 

skipxt4

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 18
Back in the 80's and 90's, my youngest son and I, used to scrounge around our local junkyards, looking for Plymouth Duster and Chevy parts.:clap It seemed that many, if not most, cars with perimeter frames were rotted out, behind the rocker panels.:doh Maybe we are lucky, to have X Frame cars.:dunno:dunno2
 
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