Gotta love this brand loyalty despite the facts stuff!
The 455 Super Duty was FAR from a boat anchor. On this very site, the list of the 50 fastest musclecars places the '73 455SD at #15 which is the highest placing Pontiac on the list ahead of #31, '68 Firebird RA400; #45, a '62 421SD Catalina and #48 a '70 Trans Am RA400 (RAIII, I assume). As this CLEARLY demonstrates, the lower NET rating of the 455SD should not be compared to the earlier GROSS hp numbers.
In fact, the '73 and '74 Super Duty cars were as fast as the fastest musclecars built despite the huge burden of meeting much more stingent polution control mandates. I don't own a Pontiac and never have, but I will give credit where credit is due.
I also have very little interest in performance potential of various engines, I am more interested in how they performed bone stock. I can only imagine what Pontiac would have accomplished if they had produced the 455SD in 1970 when they should have. With 10.5 - 11:1 compression and a RAIV Cam, I'd be willing to bet the big SD would have given the Hemi and LS-6 stiff competition to say the least and would have overshadowed the Olds 455 W-30 and Buick 455 Stage I. For whatever reason, Pontiac chose to hamper themselves by having their top dog production engine (the 400 RA1V) deal with a 55 cubic inch displacement disadvantage. The 455HO was a milder engine than the 400 RAIV. Why they didn't make a 455 RAIV, I'll never figure out.
Anyway, I digress;
- My favourite Trans Am would be a '73 455SD car followed closely by a '71 or '72 T/A (455HO and M-22), followed by a '70 400 RAIII car.
Cheers,
Dave