1969 Pontiac GTO judge ram air IV vs 1963 Pontiac SD 421 Catalina

Bruno feeds Sandro the tree at Norwalk Tri power nationals.

[JT-SE-OHIO]

In the late 60's the guy that owned the local Gulf station had a 64 Catalina with a 421, 4 speed and it was quite fast for a big car. It came off the line better than the smaller muscle cars and had more torque.

[jeremythompson]

These are my two favorite Pontiac muscle cars ever built, along with the 70 Ram Air IV Trans Am

[ronmerkle]

Gotta love old pontiacs, I own 5 of them!

[sherrysetliff]

No surprise. The 421sd was a true power plant. Held several speed records.

[charlie]

We had a 63 SD 421 Catalina. I had no idea it was a hot rod although I do know it was very fast for a family car. I was very young and bought it from an elder who had it sitting in a garage.

[philipgreen]

I saw Hayden Proffitt drive the two Mickey Thompson 421 Catalinas in wild "Race what you brung" races in NC near Charlotte, in the early 60's (likely 1962). The 2 cars polished off the field of locals and ran some very low ET's for the day. Everyone was burning Nitro. Some of the local cars also ran very fast, just not fast enough. For a guy who only knew racers by the NHRA rule book, I was astounded.

[chrisnizer]

Good gugga mugga! 12's in 4, 000+ lbs of gorgeous, show quality 1963 Catalina. That's some serious Pontiac power.

[bobsilver]

One of the quickest Pontiacs from that era was a 1968 Firebird with a Ram Air 2...those engines produced around 440 horsepower but advertised far less.

[samspade]

"I can do this all day!!" Captain America. That SD driver worked that tree!!!

[jeffrobodine]

I had a Catalina 421 it was hard to beat 💯💯💯💯

[EvansBrosRacing]

I am guessing the '63 has a 4.56 or lower rear gear ? and the '69 has a 3.73 ? . The '63 left harder and with it's weight, it would love a serious gear . I dig them both but I would rather have the '63 , I love the older ones the most . My Mom had a '63 Catalina 4 door with a 389 , and my bro had a '62 2 door Catalina, I loved them both .

[jeremythompson]

In fact the 421 super duty might be the baddest engine ever put into ANY muscle car of that era. Saw a bone stock 421sd crank out 488 horsepower on a dyno....BONE STOCK!!! That is on the level of the Chrysler 426 Hemi, Ford R-CODE 427, and Chevy L88 and ZL1 427s. Those in my opinion, are the TOP TIER muscle car engines of that era

[romeotango]

I had a '63 Bonneville with a 421 tri power engine, never took it to the track but it was very quick for it's size

[mountmepython]

Man I miss my Catalina. Beautiful Catalina

[linwoodccole]

Im a pontiac man n fan aint nothun like a pontiac i grew up on poncho power i know what it is all about

[theeducatedredneck]

I prefer videos that clearly post the ET's, I'm guessing they were both in the 12's. I had a RA IV 400 in a '80 Trans Am with a 4 speed and 3:73 gears back in the 90's. My best ET was a 12:72

[thegreenerthemeaner]

Looked the the Judge was peddling out of the hole. Catalina just squatted all that weight and launched.

[DHgtr]

Great video..I seem to remember from my youth..a 64 Bonneville with a 421 and 3 2bbl carbs called a 2+2..did they make such a car?? or do I have it wrong..Thanks ..Dave exhaust also...Automatic with shift on column also bucket seats...

[davegeisler]

Go get em' Big Cat 🏁 that Ram Air IV is only giving up around 75 hp to the 421SD and its not even close . It was over at the 60 foot mark !!

[arttafil]

What people don’t realize is just how massive those Catalina’s were!