Photos and article supplied by Factory Muscle
More photos of Catalina's, link is at bottom of page.
The Pontiac Super Duty program, which had begun in 1961, had progressed rapidly throughout 1962. Pontiac's engineers became research and development leaders by
constantly testing their new 421 SD. After they had flogged the various combinations and had squeezed all available horsepower from the unit, the next logical step appeared to be
work on the chassis and drive train. In a radical move, Pontiac created eleven very special hand-built cars, destined for a hand-picked elite team of drivers. These vehicles
came to be known as the "Swiss Cheese" cars.
The base for the cars was a Catalina two-door sedan chassis because its open channel design made it considerably lighter. This
chassis received a series of 30 - 3 1/2inch and 126 - 2 1/4 inch diameter holes to further reduce weight--hence the name Swiss
Cheese. The cars had a special lightweight front cross member and the drive train consisted of the monster 421 SD in full battle
dress with a two four-barrel intake on the redesigned SD heads. The exhaust manifolds and collector assemblies had been cast
from aluminum and connected to a single exhaust system, which was lighter than a dual system yet still met rule requirements. A
special ratio Borg-Warn T-85 three-speed transmission was fitted with an aluminum tailshaft housing and bolted to an all-aluminum
bell housing. At the rear, a set of 4.30:1 gears were installed with positraction in an all-aluminum carrier.
Lightweight aluminum was used for the hood, inner and outer front fenders, front and rear bumpers and brackets, radiator support,
and certain grille surround pieces. The cars also went into new territory by substituting lightweight clear Plexiglas for the existing
safety glass on all windows including front and rear windshields.
With the long body overhang at the rear, and battery placement in the trunk, the cars could storm off the starting line. Their
mid-12-second elapsed times and 120 mph speeds were among the fastest of the factory produced cars.
Of the eleven "Swiss Cheese" Pontiac Catalinas built, two are in the McGroder Collection. The very first car built was one of two
cars delivered to the late racing legend Mickey Thompson. The car was used as a back-up for his program and as such has less
than 100 miles. It has been restored to concours condition with all correct original parts.
The second Swiss Cheese car in the McGroder Collection is the car assigned to Royal Pontiac and driven by Jim Wagners. It was constantly raced and updated and has been restored to concours race condition including all proper lettering. The car was the national record holder and class winner at the NHRA National meet. Notably, it is one of the most photographed and publicized Pontiacs in racing history. The Super Duty vehicles in the Collection symbolize the finest and most complete representation of Pontiac race history.
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