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Welcome to
FULL SIZE PONTIACS. COM the website for the Full Size Pontiac
Club! Ownership is not required, but a love of the Pontiac
land yachts from 1958 through 1980 is -- including Grand
Prixs. The association is designed to bring lovers of these
Pontiacs together in a friendly forum to exchange info, parts,
vehicles,
reference material, links, etc. We're not a stuffy organization
bound by rules,
dues, meetings and obligations but rather a group of Pontiac
fans bound by a
common interest--FULL SIZE PONTIACS! Please look around, contribute
and enjoy!
2008 Full Size Pontiac
Chi-Town Shindig
Once again, Mother Nature
granted us Chicagoans a reprieve from the wicked weather we’ve
been having and let the sun shine in for the 4th annual Full
Size Pontiac Chi-Town Shindig this past May 19th, 2008. What’s
all this hubbub about the FSPC hoedown you ask? Well, let me
bring you up to speed…
About 5 years ago, I and
a group of my buddies that are all Full Size Pontiac nuts, were
commenting on how easy it was to get reference photos, info,
parts, etc. for pretty much any A or F-body under the sun but
we were left scrounging the “underground” for our Bonnevilles,
Catalinas and Safaris. Well after some self-righteous pondering,
I decided that we needed a place on the World Wide Web to congregate
and spread the gospel. I wasn’t interested in launching anything
too stuffy and “free” sounded like a great price point to be
a member in my opinion. At long last, in late 2004 it began…the
Full Size Pontiac Club was now launched into our virtual universe.
Well, a few months go
by and some of the folks realize that we have quite a few “members”
in the Chicago area. Whacha think about getting’ together sometime
for a burger and a beer and some Pontiac cheer somebody said?
Heck yes we all chimed in. AJ McKechnie found a BBQ joint in
Naperville and about 15 of us braved some frigid, windy, nasty
weather for one hullova fun afternoon. Our first Shindig was
in the books.
At that first pow-wow,
one of the nicest and unassuming fellas I had never met before
that day says, “Ya know, I have a shop up north that we could
use if you want to get together again.” That would be great
Mike, thanks! Turns out that fella was Mike Ardito. Mike Ardito
owns TriPower Automotive in Libertyville Illinois and to meet
him you’d never know he’s restored Bloomington Gold Corvettes,
LS6 Chevelles, Judges, Ferraris, Rolls Royces and everything
else under the sun. To listen to Mike talk about his work you
might think he ran a local “quick lube” instead of one of the
most amazing shops in the industry -- bar-none. Mike has a problem
though…he is addicted to 66 Full Size Pontiacs. Among his treasures
are a 66 421 2+2, 66 Bonneville 421 hardtop and the much ballyhooed
Hurst Campbell 66 Bonneville Safari wagon that caused such a
stir on eBay several months back.
Mike Ardito’s collection of ‘66 Ponchos. His loaded Hurst/Campbell
Bonneville Safari starts the row followed by his wicked
421 4 speed 2+2 and his loaded 421 Bonneville that the
owner loaded up for racing believe it or not. Tons of
options to go fast including a convertible frame for added
strength under that legendary Pontiac torque!
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Alright, back to the Shindig.
Each year we’ve benefited from the generosity and enthusiasm
of the most rabid collector gearheads. Just last year alone
Rob Lozins brought out his Van Winkle Swiss Cheese 63 Cat and
Mike Guarise uncovered his Beswick 61 Ventura along with the
actual Sox & Martin Hemi Cuda and Grumpy Jenkins 2nd Gen
Camaro!!! How could we possibly top that we wondered. Leave
it to Todd Holzknecht to suggest a theme…how about featuring
SUPER DUTY PONTIACS this year John?! Sounds great Todd! Now
we just have to come up with some SD cars. Not a problem with
this group!
Not only did Todd bring
out his rare collection of Super Duty parts including heads,
intakes, carbs, exhaust manifolds and a complete motor that
he set up at 2am the night before…he also dusted off his 63
421 Catalina. This is the most angry sounding Pontiac I think
I’ve ever heard!
A sample of Todd’s Super Duty toys!
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Let’s give you some sense
of scale here; the 2008 Full Size Pontiac Chi-Town Shindig lined
up five 1963 421 Catalinas including three true Super Duty cars.
Two of those Super Duty Cats were Swiss Cheese cars!!! Robert
Lozins not only brought out his VanWinkle Swiss Cheese car,
he also brought his baby blue factory Plexiglas-windowed SD
63 Cat!
Robert Lozins’ 63 Super Duty Catalinas.
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Dana Mecum joined in on
the fun and displayed his Packer Pontiac Swiss Cheese 63 Cat
as well. (Photo below.)
WOW! I don’t know that
5 of these monsters have EVER been lined up ANYWHERE before
this day in May of ’08. It was breathtaking.
In addition to Dana Mecum,
Robert Lozins and Mike Guarise hanging out with some of the
rarest, baddest Pontiac iron on the planet, a gaggle of Pontiac
goofballs was on-hand to kick-off our cruising season. Bob Lundwall
from Retromotive (think 15” rims for your 8 lug drums), Matt
Planning of Brew City Engineering (Dashblanket and RediRad),
Ron Panzer (don’t tell me you haven’t read is colorful Tech
articles in “Smokes”!) and Arnie Beswick were all on-hand to
chew the fat.
Arnie and Bob Lundwall getting’
the scoop on Matt and Linda Planning’s RediRad.
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Amy and Dave Dayton from
ARS Promotions kept the cameras rolling to document such an
historic day. Ken Funk actually blasted down Peterson Road in
the genuine Kyle Petty Grand Prix wearing its Mello Yellow colors!
In the end, the photos
have to tell the rest of the story. It was an amazing day, filled
with amazing Pontiacs and even more amazing Pontiac people.
In addition to the photos you see along with this article, stop
on by the website: www.fullsizepontiacs.com for hundreds of
photos, video of Moe tearing through the gears in Rob’s 63 Catalina,
and a bunch o’ good stuff for the Full Size Pontiac lover in
all of us. Hmmmmm….I wonder how we’re going to top this next
year!
Mike Ardito of TriPower Automotive,
Arnie Beswick and yours truly John Piotrowski, founder
of the Full Size Pontiac Club and Arrowhead Components
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A few places you’ll need
to visit for more about the 2008 ChiTown Shindig:
Link to the photos of
this historic Shindig:
ARS Promotions for a DVD
of the gathering:
www.arspromotions.com
Mike Ardito and the crew
at TriPower Automotive…shindig hosts extraordinaire!
1800 Peterson Road
Libertyville, IL
(847)816-3222
John Piotrowski
Full Size Pontiac Club
Arrowhead Components
Inc.
TriPower Automotive
1800 Peterson Road, Unit 103
Libertyville, IL 60048
(847)816-3222
WWW.ARROWHEADCOMPONENTSINC.COM
Any Tech tips you'd like
to share? Email them to Poncho Pio.
FSPC full color window clings are now
available for $5 including
shipping! Actual window cling includes our web address. Mail
Payment to:
John Piotrowski,
P.O.Box 85
Flossmoor, IL 60422
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