Factory Appearing Stock Tire is a racing series that is a spin-off of the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race. The idea is to maximize stock or mostly stock components to make the car run as fast as possible using tires available from the time. This 1971 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400 is a fine reflection of the series.
There are three classes in the series: F.A.S.T., Factory Stock, and Modern Muscle, with the F.A.S.T. class being the focus here. It’s open to 1955-79 performance cars built in the United States and Canada with a minimum warranty of 12 months and 12,000 miles. They should have at least a four-barrel carburetor, dual exhaust, and other factory-installed hi-po equipment. (You can find the rules here!) Many of them look like show cars but are able to pull amazing runs on bias-ply tires.
One of those cars is this 1971 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400. Nineteen seventy-one was the year General Motors lowered compression, which meant this 300-horsepower pony car was advertised at 330 horsepower in 1970 (though, to give you perspective on how big the drop was, it was the same as the 350-horse GTO engine). Nonetheless, that does not inhibit a F.A.S.T. car, as Muscle Car Campy explains in this video.
Personal best for this Firebird is 11.95 at 114 mph.
Dig this video? Be sure to check out other Muscle Car Campy segments on the ClassicCars.com Journal.
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