A DREAM COME TRUE

Owner/Driver/Car History

Eric Grose, 51 years old, is a partner in the law firm of Waghorn, Stephens, deYoung, and Grose in St.Marys Ontario Canada, where his practice involves primarily real estate transactions and land development, corporate and commercial matters, estate planning and estate administration, during the week that is. On weekends from April to November, he lives his dream of being a drag racer. This is the story of his car and his dream.

He is both the current and original owner of this 1971 Pontiac LeMans Sport. The car was specially ordered in May of 1971 and delivered in St.Marys Ontario on June 1 1971.

As is the case with many Pontiac models of this vintage which were manufactured in Canada, it was made by General Motors of Canada using the Chevrolet 350 small block with matching Turbo 350 transmission and Chevrolet 10 bolt rear axle. While the original (but rebuilt) engine, transmission, rear axle housing and axle shafts are still in the car, it was produced with a 2 barrel Rochester carburetor, single exhaust, and GM positrac rear differential with 2.56 : 1 gears.General Motors of Canada also produced a Supplementary Manual for Pontiacs equipped with this engine in which the engine was refered to as the "Pontiac Orange Engine". This enables the car to legitimately run what is actually a Chevy small block at an All-Pontiac competition.

This car was operated as a daily driver from June 1971 until April 1987 when transmission problems forced its retirement. At this point, the car had gone 250,000 miles with the only major repairs being a cam and lifter replacement, valve job and valve guide replacement, rear axle overhaul with new bearings and clutch packs in the positrac, several paint jobs always in the original colour necessary because of the 16 Canadian winters, and the transmission rebuild.

From 1987 until 1995, this car was used only for the occasional summer week-end drive. In 1995, the Grandbend Motorplex (located 35 miles from home) was re-opened after 25 years of inactivity, providing the perfect use for this car and enabling the owner to "live his dream" of becoming a drag racer.

Racing began with the car as it was in 1987 and pretty much as it was when new except for the addition in 1980 of a Rochester Quadrajet and dual exhaust. It ran low 15 seconds at about 85 mph. Through continuous modifications over the years from 1995 until 1998, the performance improved to 13.4 seconds at 98 mph, at which point the supercharger was added and further changes were made to bring it to its present performance level while still being very drivable on the street.

The ultimate goal is to continue to improve the suspension and engine to produce a low 11 second wheelstanding bracket car that can still be driven to the track. A great dream , eh!!!

Racing Specs (as of Oct 2000)