1969 Royal Bobcat Pontiac GTO Ram Air V

One of the most legendary Pontiacs of all time would be the 1969 Royal Bobcat Pontiac GTO Ram Air V. It's story began with a father unclear to how to knock some sense into his unruly, street racing son. Soooo, Asa Wilson Sr. decided to get his son, Asa "Ace" Wilson Jr. off the streets of 1950′s Detroit by buying him a Pontiac dealership. While obviously a drastic move, buying a car dealership with a fully-equipped service department was Asa Senior’s attempt to get involved with his son’s interests.

The Wilson family made their fortune via the Ira Wilson and Sons Dairy which was large and successful. However, Ace was more interested in head-to-head racing. While the senior Wilson failed to understand his son’s lust for high performance street machines, Ace’s efforts catapulted Royal Pontiac to one of the brand’s most profitable dealers during its short lifespan.

Located in Royal Oaks, Michigan, Royal Pontiac quickly became the stomping grounds of street racing kids. Hoards of performance seeking teens and young adults were regularly hanging out at Royal’s service department just to see what Royal were up to. Royal had quickly risen towards the top of the national performance dealership list with its close participation with Pontiac corporate.

Royal successfully campaigned a ’59 Catalina in the National Hot Rod Association. On Labor Day 1960, the Royal-tuned Super Dutys won three races at three separate venues, thus solidifying Royal Pontiac as the performance Pontiac headquarters. Buyers seeking high performance Pontiacs came in droves to Royal Oak, Michigan. Then, when GM pulled out of racing in 1963, Royal Pontiac seized the opportunity to modify and tune Pontiacs on a larger scale. As Royal’s efforts increased, so did Pontiac’s efforts into performance with the introduction of the GTO. Shortly afterwards, Royal were putting their famous spin on new 1964 Pontiac GTO's by taking the GTO, renaming it the Bobcat GTO, and creating a nationally known street machine. At its peak, Royal Pontiac was selling more than 1,000 Royal Bobcat conversions per year.

An interesting sidenote, Ace sold more Royal Bobcat kits through the mail than by physically installing them, making them the first high-performance mail order dealer in the process . The mail ordered kit consisted of a large box packed with thinner head gaskets , blocked heat riser intake gaskets, a distributor re-curve kit, (which included Mallory points and condenser with a new advance stop with lighter weights and springs), larger jets for the carburetors, rocker arm locknuts, colder-running Champion J10Y spark plugs, and the necessary valve cover and valley pan gaskets to perform the mods. The kit also included Royal Racing Team club decals, Royal Bobcat body stickers, a “GR-RRR” license plate, and Royal Pontiac license plate frames.

Those who sought more power without getting their hands dirty bought a car prepared and sold directly through Royal Pontiac sporting a unique paint scheme of a white valence panel, hood stripe, rocker panels stripes, and trunk lid over Crystal Turquiose with all the Royal Bobcat badging. (As shown in the photo.)

Despite General Motor's pleas, demands and threats, in 1968 Royal started installing 428ci engines into GTOs .  The Ram Air V was a special 400ci block with newly designed high compression tunnel port heads and a special high rise intake manifold. Available only as an “over-the-counter” engine, the 428ci was Pontiac legend. If ordered, the Royal Bobcat GTO RAM V came to the Royal Oaks dealership engine-less from the assembly line, as the factory did not install the engine because it was against GM’s plus-400ci policy, ( but they did build it exclusively for Royal Pontiac and provided the full RAM AIR V motor separately.) The official Pontiac factory paperwork read “Engineering Development Demo” with a cost of $2300 while the completed car was selling for around $3400. Since Royal Pontiac purchased the rolling body from Pontiac’s factory floor, Royal was the first owner to title the car. Even though there were a little over 200 RAM AIR V engines produced, most were sold disassembled or to a small selection of well-connected persons and race teams.

1969's Royal GTO was equipped with power disc brakes, a manual 4-speed, a 3.90 posi, Schiefer Rev-Lok pressure plate and clutch, Doug’s Headers ,and 8.00-8.50 x14 Goodyear cheater slicks. With open headers and slicks, the big Ram Air IV Goat ran a 12.62-second 1/4 mile time at 109.52 mph. In street trim with closed pipes and street tires, that same GTO ran 8-tenths of a second slower at 13.42 @ 108.42 mph.

By the end of 1969, Ace had enough of the infighting with his demanding father and Pontiac’s General Manager, ( Both of whom equally despised performance and wanted Pontiac to have nothing to do with it.) So, in 1970, Ace sold his Royal Racing Team to John DeLorean’s brother George, and walked away from the very thing that put Royal Pontiac on the map. Royal Pontiac was able to turn out "in-your-face" street performers, and no other dealership could be more instrumental in Pontiac’s ascent into muscle car hierarchy. The few existing Royal Bobcat GTO Ram Air V’s are proof of it.

And that, my friends...is the story of the Royal Bobcat Pontiac GTO Ram Air V. Those who own one in pristine condition are currently living happily ever after. The end.