Bill Knafel passed away 02/01/2006; obituary, another Pontiac great is now gone.
Jim and Ginny Zeek from Performance Years forum had a neat story about Bill that they allowed me to quote:
We got
to see this team race at Atco in October, 1967. Four days before our son Jim
was born, no wonder he has such a great love of Pontiacs, it started in the
womb.
This was the largest East coast race of the time (Eastern Drag News magazine
Top Dog Championship) over 400 of the most famous teams of the time showed up.
When it came to the final run, Knafel's two GTO's ran each other for winner and
runner up.
Merle Green found and restored one of the two original cars. I saw him with the
car at Norwalk a few years ago, I told him about the race and he later talked
to one of the drivers. Later he told me that the driver said he remembers the
race, but said they were winning so many races at the time, that he can't
remember if he was the winning driver or the runner up that day. LOL.
Jim & Ginny Zeek
Alright, here is one that fell through the cracks! This 1968 Firebird was raced out of Knafel Pontiac as a Tin Indian. Some how through the course of time the history of this car fell into a black hole. The story and pictures are provided by John Watson formally of Akron; John’s brother Tom bought this car from Knafel after the race season and it was to never be heard from again until John contacted me October of 2007. Apparently this Green and White 1968 Firebird was raced; and the Red and Silver 1967 Firebird may have been a show piece.
And some other pictures provided by John: Full size B/w, Color, and Another Color
Some Knafel Racing Team Facts
Pictures
Courtesy of Brian Steinbrick
Another stunning picture from Brian
Tin Indian Racing Team consisted of
3 planes, 2 transporters, a travel RV, a complete machine shop, and 14
Full Time people...
ALL Tin Indians were owned and expenses paid by Bill Knafel and
Knafel Pontiac.
Over the years, there were 42 different Pontiacs in the Tin Indian family.
The Knafel Teams won more National/World Championships than any
other stock class team...
GM, Ford, and Mopar included.
Other car names include: Black Whirlwind, Running Bear, Golden
Arrow, and Papoose One shown below.
Bill Knafel purchased "Anderson Pontiac" and retained the
respected name for several years.
The dealership became known as "Knafel's Anderson Pontiac".
Knafel also developed and sold 50 high performance specialty cars known as
"Magnum 400's".
And 12 Golden Sabres with RamairV
|
CAR/DRIVER |
NAME |
HIGHLIGHTS |
Special Note: |
|
1959 Gold
Catalina Station Wagon: |
Pre- Tin Indian |
Won 1959 S/S NY State Championship |
The first Knafel racer. |
|
1962 Black
Catalina Convertible 389 4bbl: |
Black Whirlwind |
Won 1962 C/SA Top Stock; C/SA Points Champ at York, PA. Set National NHRA Record; C/SA 97.19 mph. (July, 1962) |
|
|
1962 Red
Catalina 421 SD: |
Tin Indian I |
1962 NHRA Indy Nationals: Fastest ET in Stock Eliminator (SS/S 12.65 113.2 mph) |
|
|
1962 Catalina 421 SD: Arlen Vanke |
Tin Indian Too |
Won 1962 Indy Nationals (S/S 13.4 108.43) |
Matched car, with Tin Indian I |
|
1962 Silver Catalina 421 SD: Arlen Vanke |
Tin Indian |
Broke A/S
NHRA National Record |
|
|
1963 Tempest Alum 421 SD:Arlen Vanke |
Running Bear |
Set NHRA A/FX National Record 11.89 123.28 mph (Sept. 1963; Alton, Illinois) |
This was the GTO Prototype being developed with Pontiac Engineering. |
|
1963 Tempest 4 Dr. Wagon:Arlen Vanke |
Papoose One |
Won many local and regional events. |
1 of only 11 421 SD Wagons made. 4 speed automatic trans. |
|
1963 Silver Catalina 421 SD: Arlen Vanke |
Tin Indian III |
Set track
record at Quaker City (oh); |
Beat "Royal Pontiac" in a best of 5 showdown at Dragway 42 (Ohio) 12.17/117 |
|
1963 Gold Catalina 421 SD:Bill Abraham |
Tin Indian
IV |
Won Indy Nationals (A/SA 13.28 et, 109.48) |
|
|
1964 GTO 421 Supercharged:Arnie "the Farmer" Beswick |
Mystery Tornado |
Top Stock Eliminator lowest ET 10.20 |
|
|
1965 GTO 389 Tri-power:Bill Abraham |
Test Car |
C/S National Record 12.72 112 mph at Dragway 42, OH |
|
|
1966 GTO 389
Tri-power |
Tin Indian V ***SEE
Footnote |
Won 27 Championships in one year...including NASCAR Winternationals (Daytona Beach) and NHRA Spring Nationals (Bristol, TN). |
"The
winningest Pontiac in Drag Racing History". |
|
1966 Tempest
Convertible |
Mystery Tornado II |
I/S Champ Nascar Winternationals (Daytona Beach). IHRA I/S and J/S record holder. |
|
|
1967 Acadian
427 HT |
Tin Indian |
B/Modified Championship AHRA world Championships (Deland, FL) |
|
|
1968 GTO Ram
Air II 400 |
Tin Indian |
Set AHRA D/S World Record |
|
|
1967 Firebird 400 |
Tin Indian |
Won honors for Best Paint and Show |
Selected by AMT to be produced as a model kit. |
|
1970 Firebird Formula 400:Norm Tanner |
Tin Indian |
AHRA GT-2 Champion at Bristol, TN The 1970 Judge/Firebird combo won 7 National and 2 World titles! |
Selected by MPC to be produced as a model kit. Also produced as a trading card. |
|
1970 GTO Judge Ram Air IV; Norm Tanner |
Tin Indian |
Won AHRA Pro-Am Nationals at Rockingham, NC. AHRA World Championship at Bristol, TN |
Selected by MPC to be produced as a model kit. |
IN THE NEWS!
Bill "Tin Indian" Knafel inducted into Summit County, Ohio Sports Hall of Fame from the Beacon Journal
Knafel’s Pontiacs were dominant force
Bill Knafel, a former Akron’s Pontiac dealer, likes to remind people of his domination in the world of auto racing. From 1959 to 1971, his 32 Pontiac Tin Indian racing cars won more than 200 national and world races without a loss.
Knafel’s team defeated teams sponsored by Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge and Ford among others.
What was his secret?
"Well", he said, "we had redesign and re-engineering shops at our Pontiac dealership and we reworked everything. I accepted more cars right out of Pontiac’s engineering department than anyone else. The cars would come off the assembly line and we’d pick them right up."
Executive John Delorean sent Knafel a 1963 Tempest for road tests, and he quickly made some alterations. "I nicknamed it Running Bear, took it to Alton, Illinois, and set a new national speed record. In fact, that’s how the 1964 GTO came about" Knafel said.
Knafel’s 1966 GTO won 27 championships in one year. Knafel’s racing team included drivers such as Larry Dixon and 1978 Summit Hall inductee Arnel Vanke.
Knafel’s sponsorship network not only included auto racing, but also area youth teams and leagues in baseball, softball and bowling.
