1964 Pontiac Tempest LeMans Hardtop

1964 Pontiac Tempest/GTO 'Gray Ghost'
Historic Trans-Am Owner/Driver: John Hildebrand

A Gift to Herb Adams' Parents Became a Grocery-Getter
In 1964, fresh out of General Motors Institute, Herb bought a Tempest LeMans for his parents.

Pontiac, under John DeLorean, launched the 1964 GTO, homologating it with the FIA.

A few years later, Herb bought the Tempest back, and it became wife Sandi's daily driver.

Waterford Hills Club Racer
In 1970, Herb took Sandi's Tempest, with 74,000 miles on the 326 CID motor and 2-speed automatic, welded a roll cage and entered Driver's School at the Waterford Hills, Michigan club track. The second day, the tired motor blew.

At Pontiac starting in 1967, Herb's Special Projects group was busy. They began an engine development program for privateers in NASCAR (366 CID) and SCCA Trans-Am (303 CID), featuring a stronger cylinder block with provision for an internal dry sump oil pump. They developed the suspension for the production 1970.5 Firebird Trans Am, which the magazines raved about, and sales took off. For privateer Trans-Am racers, they designed special forged front uprights with high negative camber gain, and heavy-duty steering with improved bumper steer.

With co-workers after hours in the Adams home garage, the Tempest got a budget 303 CID motor, a drag racing-style, manual-shifted Turbo 400 automatic, and bolt-on suspension parts. Herb made a bet with his teammates for a case of beer that he would win the Waterford Hills season finale 'big-bore' Detroit News Trophy Race. Good torque, soft springs to absorb the bumps, big anti-roll bars and jounce bumpers to tune the handling helped Adams beat the Chevy engineers in their 427 Corvettes.

Tempest/GTO Trans-Am Race Car
For 1971, the team decided to go Trans-Am racing. When Pontiac management said racing a Firebird was a no-no, they transformed the Tempest into a FIA-legal GTO Trans-Am racer from the frame up. As privateers, they bought the special parts from the local dealer. Others pitched in. Delco division sent multiple sets of Corvette heavy-duty L88 brakes. PPG donated thin windshields. The special Firebird front suspension was grafted on. Bob Tullius, of Group 44 fame, agreed to drive, recruiting sponsors, Classic Wax, Quaker States, and Heuer Watches.

Barely completing the car in time for the first race at Lime Rock, Tullius with no seat time, started last because they missed qualifying. In the rain, he charged to 2nd, running faster than leader Mark Donahue in the Penske Javelin. Minutes before the finish, it blew a head gasket. The legend was born.

It came out of the mist like the Gray Ghost' - Lime Rock track announcer

Motor Trend, convinced they could scoop a story about a stealth factory-built race car, sent A.B. Shuman to meet the team. He was stunned to learn it really was built in the Adams home garage. Shuman drove it at Waterford Hills but several laps in, the motor stopped. Shuman panicked. Fortunately, it was only out of gas.

Tullius went on to finish 4th at Bryar, 5th at Mid-Ohio, after climbing to 2nd before the rain stopped. With no air wrenches, it took 4 minutes to change to dry tires. After three DNFs, he was 5th at Michigan International Speedway, their last race. The team sold the car to Louie Spoerl, a Pontiac dealer in Cumberland, Maryland. Spoert raced it in SCCA A-Sedan class for several years, before putting it in storage.

Historic Trans-Am Racer
In 2015, John Hildebrand acquired the car from the Spoerl family. All the original parts were there, but it needed everything. The frame-off restoration complete, he entered Monterey in 2016 finishing 6th with 38 entries.

Echoing the past, in 2022, Hildebrand won a Historic Trans-Akm Race at Lime Rock in the rain.