Pontiac was at the top of its game in 1962. Attractive styling contrasted sharply with cross-town rivals Plymouth and Dodge. Tri-Power performance had strong street cred. The Tempest featured engineering that bucked typical Detroit convention. The NASCAR Grand National point-leader was who? And, incredibly, Pontiac outsold Plymouth to achieve the number-three spot in sales.
The cars that gave Pontiac wins both in NASCAR and dragstrips were forced to be discontinued early in 1963 when General Motors reiterated its no-racing stance with the Automobile Manufacturers Association. That left cars like this 421 Super Duty-powered 1962 Pontiac Catalina a footnote in American automotive history.
Oh, but what a footprint it left! The 421 Super Duty featured a single four-barrel or dual-quads, four-bolt mains, heat-treated camshaft, factory long-branch manifolds, nifty exhaust dumps, and more. Only 179 were built, of which 155 were 421 Catalinas like Henry Hart’s (the balance was a handful of Grand Prixs and 389 SD Catalinas). But don’t think they all were identical batch-builds because Henry’s is equipped with the very stylish Ventura Custom Interior. Other distinctive features include aluminum hood and fenders, and Hurst shifter (a factory first!) paired to the Borg-Warner T10.
Join Muscle Car Campy as he shows us more of Henry’s factory racer. And, after this video, you have a library of other muscle videos from Muscle Car Campy to watch.