Looking for more info about Trans Am Silverbird (Herb Adams)

[Ripper]

I came across this car a couple of years ago in a book. it's a Pontiac Trans Am Silverbird, build by Herb Adams and made for competing in some kind of SCCA class (am I right?) during the late 70s.

I would like to get as much info about it as possible... And as many pics as possible!!!!
Did it win anything on the tracks? Is the car(s) still alive?

and maybe the most important question: can I get a hold of a body like that? I think I read that it was made out of glass fiber, which means the plug/mould might be saved?

Can I get in contact with any of the Adams via e-mail?

If anyone have more info, pics or whatever, feel free to post them here...
The Adams e-mail can be mailed to me, admin@propontiac.com


Come on guys, show me what you know about your history!

[WS6]

holy crap i just messed my pants. ive never heard of that car let alone seen it and i love late second gen information. im with you, i want to know everything possible too.

[Matt]

I did a search, didn't come up with much other than mentions in a few books and people making slot car bodies modeled after the car. I'll keep looking though.

Just to clarify what I gathered though, Silverbird was some sort of model of T/A right?

[WS6]

looks to me to be a highly modded TA. one set up for SCCA trans am racing possibly. it the front end is correct its a 77 or 78.

[WS6]

ok just went and googled herb adams pontiac silverbird and pontiac silverbird. finally got my comp fixed so i could do this. i didnt spend much time looking, but from what i can gather it was an SCCA trans Am car in 78-79. its powered by a 600+ hp super duty pontiac. appearently only 366 cuin too. its got a doug nash five speed trans. in 78 i took second at leguna seca. and ive seen a new zealanders model of it and man i still want to know more. road and track did some info on it, but youll have to buy the book and therss another book i think ill get with lots of pictures and it mentions the silverbird as well as the k type and banshee 3. which are other trans am protoypes or one offs.

[David Pozzi]

I saw it run at Laguna Seca, a friend or two were helping Herb crew on it. I can't remember much about how the car was built but Milt Minter drove it and it led the race for a while I think. It finished second but the news was the car was on FIRE (near engine) the last fiew laps!!! Milt got out and said he was flipping all the switches, he didn't know what they did, but was trying to keep the car running at the end, - and did!

I remember they broke a motor mount in practice, welded it in the pits with a torch, lots of burning rubber! Maybe the motor mount broke again and caused the fire, I can't remember. It was quite a car, cornered very very well, I think it was at the time BFG was either running their tires against the other tire mfr's racing slicks, or BFG was the spec tire for the series.

Try this number for Herb's son, Mat Adams. 831-659-7660
He's in the proccess of moving and this number may not work anymore. He's moving to Seaside California.
I don't think I took any photos of that event but I'll check.

[David Pozzi]

Guess I was wrong about the silverbird leading.

From Laguna Seca web page:
"On October 8, 1978 Category II driver Greg Pickett earned the overall victory from the pole in his Chevrolet Corvette. Pickett led every lap, and set the fastest race lap. Pickett finished one lap ahead of second place Milt Minter in the Herb Adams Pontiac Silverbird. Ludwig Heimrath was third, also a lap down, in a Porsche 935 Turbo. Rich Sloma was fourth, two laps down, in a Chevrolet Corvette. Eleven of the 14 Category II starters finished the race. "

this joggs my memory, Greg Pickett was a very innovative driver, he came up with a very tidy white corvette that year and it didn't have the super wide tire and flares but it was VERY well constructed and very light weight. The car was a bit harder on it's tires since it had a narrower track, at least that is what was written about it back then. The car had less drag which helped it and it was darn quick.

[Fawkes]

The following is paraphrased from an article in Road & Track from September, 1978. If I get time this week, I’ll get this scanned in and posted on my website. Enjoy!

The Siverbird (as you already know) was built by Herb Adams. The car was sponsored by Appliance Wheel Company, who supplied a lot of the special wheels for Pontiac. The scuttlebutt was that since GM had a policy forbidding participation in racing of any kind, that Appliance was acting as a way around this for Pontiac. Again, this was an unsubstantiated rumor.

Silverbird, because of the rules, was required to have a chassis and suspension of the same type as the production model… but that was as close as it needed to be. Of course a standard F-Body was of unit body construction. Silverbird used a deep backbone style frame that used the driveshaft tunnel as part of the structure… as well as some additional tubular (rectangular steel for ease of craftsmanship) space frames forward and aft.

The front suspension was a custom job designed by Herb. It used fabricated tubular A-arms as opposed to the stamped ones on a production Firebird. That’s pretty much where the similarity ends. Remember, it only had to be of similar design. The anti-roll bar measured 1.3”.

The rear suspension had to be a leaf spring design. Silverbird used beefier springs that could be adjusted to seven different vertical positions in the front and three in the back, similar to a 4-link suspension. This arrangement helped adjust anti-squat, which is important for coming out of corners.

The amazing part of the car is that the engine was based on the short-deck 301 Pontiac that was bored and stroked 4.15 x 3.58 for 366 cubic inches, which was the limit for the class. This engine was a heavy duty version of the 301 that could be found in late second gen. Firebirds. It utilized 4-bolt main bearings instead of the two-bolts that were used in the production 301. It used a General Kinetics roller cam and breakerless ignition system. The heads were not the production siamesed 301 heads. These were basically Ram Air IV heads that were machined and massaged to be used on the low-deck block. Fuel-injection system and a dry-sump oiling system was also in place.

This engine combo was good for 590 bhp @ 7500 rpm and 460 lb-ft torque @ 5000 rpm. Herb could have used a SBC engine in the car, since it was a production offering, but preferred the Pontiac mill due to its power and (his claim) it’s “margin of reliability”. This came from an .13” wider bore spacing, which means you can go bigger in a Pontiac without overstressing it as much as the SBC.

Also, as stated previously, the transmission was a Doug Nash 5-speed. The case could be split open to allow for quick gear changes. The rearend was a custom piece that allowed for many changes, including gearing ranging from 3.20 to 4.80:1, using 10% increments.

The roof, windshield, door pillars and the top of the instrument panel were stock production pieces. The rest of the car was basically fiberglass, and the front end could be lifted clear for easy access.

The body was five inches wider (78.5”), and ~6” longer than the production car. The body shape was designed by Bill Davis. The front wheels were 16x14’s up front and 19x17 out back. The tires were Goodyear Blue Streak racing tires (25.5x14.5 in the front, 27.5x16.5 on the rears). The discs at all four corners were Ø12”.

Now for some road test numbers:

¼ mile time 12.3 @ 122.5 mph
0-60 = 4.0
Lateral acceleration = 1.150 g’s
Braking from 60-0 = 121 feet

[TonyL]

here's an ebay auction for info on the car! with pics!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...sPageName=WDVW

[Fawkes]

That's the same article from R&T that I have.

[David Pozzi]

I found some old slides of the car, a fiew on-track, and one with the front end off.
After looking at my photos, this is the year Pickett used an alloy BB chevy with cross ram injection. There must have been some kind of displacement/weight formula that alowed a 366 inch pontiac to race with a BB alloy engine'd vette.

It may have been 79 that Pickett came out with the all white vette I mentioned earlier, this one is white but has red and yellow striping.

I'll try to post some picks after I get the slides scanned, I don't have a slide scanner.

[WS6]

sweet info thanks. not too sure why they seemd to think the 1.3 front bar was big. stock the WS6 birds have a 1.25 and a 1.375 i believe is availible from herb too. anyway those are some amazing numbers for that car. i personally prefere to see a very fast MPH instead of a low ET in the quarter. wonder what it weighted? unfortunately those cars arent light weight.

[David Pozzi]

Here is a pit shot Why not build a station wagon like this?

[David Pozzi]

more pics

[Fawkes]

David, those are some great pics. Thanks for posting them.

[David Pozzi]

I want to post a special tribute to Milt Minter, he was from the Fresno California area and reciently died Dec 04, just a couple of days before christmas. I saw him race a number of times at Laguna Seca, he was awsome behind the wheel, quite agressive, which suited the Trans-Am type cars.

A fiew years ago, I drove in a Vintage race at Laguna Seca, and when I found out he was driving a Porsche 917-10, one of the L&M cars, - I went right over and shook his hand, told him how great it was to have him there and what a fan I am of his driving. I'm glad I got the chance to do it.
David

[WS6]

very cool thanks for the pics. the Ktype and Hurst hauler looked great to me, but i thinkt he second gen friebird is the best looking car ever made, especially the 79s

[Ripper]

Wow!! First of all, I must say thanks alot for the race info and pictures of it! really like the pic of it from the pit, the whole picture looks good and I'm sitting here, wishing I was there


Pozzi, thanks for the phone number. I wish I could call him, but my english is too slow and I'll probably won't understand anything of what he say :rolleyes5 However, do he have an e-mail?
He should probably be able to answer me about if it's possible to buy the front and rear body (for a reasonable price) so i can build my own race car!

If you find any more pics of it, post them!!!!

Thanks again, btw I also have that R&T ad

[MarkM66]

Is that cars frame/suspension the same as used in Herb's "Chassis Engineering" book?

Looks very similar to me.

[yellowcar72]

I was at Brainerd in 1970[it was called Donnybrooke back then] when Milt won the Trans Am race. I believe he was the only independent to win a race in the era of the "factory teams" i.e. 1967 to 1971.