Greetings everyone, it’s time for your weekly dose of some high horsepower history in the form of the newest installment of Muscle Car of the Week. This week we take a trip to the early 1960’s to a time when the factory all but gave performance goodies away to anyone willing to take their cars down the quarter mile at speeds never before seen during those times. Pontiac led the charge with their special packages and made one of the most legendary cars in drag racing: the 1963 Pontiac Catalina Super Duty.

Some might say that Chevrolet started the performance craze in 1961 with the introduction of the legendary 409 V8 offered in their mid-size models such as the Impala and Biscayne. However, the 409 didn’t get those legendary 409 horses until 1962 and those in the know are aware that Pontiac had been pioneering a factory program since 1961 to give racers some serious power on the local drag strips and oval tracks. Known as the Super Duty Program, Pontiac pre-qualified drivers to be eligible for dealer installed performance options that they could take around the country and race. Of these options, the most potent were several versions of the Pontiac 421 V8 that could be ordered with a host of goodies to make the e.t.’s drop.  By late 1962 the Super Duty Program was in full swing and racers were getting their hands on some serious muscle. The top-rated 421 V8 was cranking out 410 horsepower (in reality over 450) and several modifications to the cars to reduce weight such as aluminum fenders/hoods, interior deletes and plexi-glass windows were crucial to the lowered times. Legendary drivers such as Arnie “Farmer” Beswick were pushing Catalina’s down the track in the mid-to-high 13’s.

The biggest and perhaps craziest modifications came for the year 1963 when Pontiac pulled out all the stops for the Super Duty’s. Engineers cut out as much weight as humanly possible to lighten the cars by as much as 300 pounds. The use of lightweight aluminum on the hoods and fenders continued and was ramped up as the decklid and bumpers were all stamped out of the light metal and bolted on to the car. Anything not detrimental to performance was cut out or removed from the car to reduce weight. Pontiac engineers even went so far as to cut out large holes in the frame to slim the cars down even more! These diced up cars became known as the “Swiss Cheese” Pontiac’s. Although the factory horsepower ratings stayed the same, compression was upped to 13.0:1 and horsepower jumped to at least 500. When one of these super lightweight Catalina’s was hooked up with the beefy 421 and a 4-speed trans, 1/4 mile times dropped into the low 12’s making this car one hell of a monster. Only 15 cars were made into the “Swiss Cheese” racers that are so legendary today and with numbers so low, to see one today is a huge treat.

Unfortunately the year 1963 would be the last year for the Super Duty program as General Motors would pull the plug on factory-backed performance packages. The Super Duty Pontiac’s live on today as legendary muscle that dominated the local drag strips for many years. Hope you enjoyed a look at the Super Duty Catalina, check out next week for a look at some more Detroit muscle.