Cars that aren't "Factory Freaks"...Do the terms "Dealer Installed" or "Day Two" modifications ring a bell??

I talk to so many idiots that claim to own or that a friend or relative of theirs owns or used to own some "Moon Rock" of a car with options that never existed. When you point that out, they get spittingly hysterical and start hurling profanities and personal insults. I'm here to dispel these myths once and for all. Here's a list of cars that were NEVER FACTORY BUILT. Note-I didn't say they didn't exist-I said they were not built that way from the factory. # 1. Tri-Power 1967 GTO. When Pontiac discontinued the 3-2bbl 389 option-which had been a performance staple since 1959, enthusiasts and the buff magazines howled to the high heavens. All the components were available through dealership parts departments and the '65-66 setup would bolt up to the new for '67 400 V8s. Many dealers like Royal Pontiac would even install them if you wanted to pay extra. But there was never a factory built version. # 2. Ram Air V GTOs and Firebirds. Herb Adams and company were originally working on "Tunnel-Port" heads for the Trans-Am racing series. They knew Ford had one-( "Boss 302" ring a bell ) and they wanted to compete. They found that the little 303 incher actually made MORE power with the smaller,production RAIV heads. However, Adams and Arnie Beswick and some drag racers tried them on the larger 400 and 428 inch engines and were astounded by the results. They were now making power levels equal to the mighty 426 Hemi and 427 Chevy!! If they could get the bottom ends to hold up-they could even race them in NASCAR. When DeLorean left Pontiac to be upper GM management-his successor killed the racing program which had been kind of back-door anyway since 1963 and tolerated by DeLorean who was a gearhead at heart. Now the engineers had all these expensive one off parts-enough to build about 600 engines. Genius that he was-while the brass wrung their hands on what to do with them-Herb Adams suggested they sell them to the public. So you could buy a Ram Air V 400 through some dealer parts departments. Doug Nash, Arnie Beswick, and Royal Pontiac tech Milt Schornak had great success campainging RA V drag racers. Doug Nash even built single and dual quad intakes for the RA V. Royal Pontiac swapped one into a '69 Judge for a customer,and that car was featured in Hot Rod magazine-but their was never a factory built version. # 3. Non-Corvettes or Chevelles with L72 / L88 / LS6 427 and 454s. I'm not talking about Yenkos or COPO cars. There were many dealers who would put 427s and 454s into Camaros and Novas for a price. Since the 396 was an option on those cars-it was a bolt-in swap. The two most famous were Baldwin Chevrolet in New York who partnered with Joel Rosen and Motion Performance to create the famous Phase III Camaros that were guaranteed to run 10.60s in the 1/4!! These cars had pumped up LS6s,race-prepped M22 4-speeds or TH400s,4.88:1 gears with a Hone overdrive, traction bars, and many other features. They were definitely Jules' Wallet from Pulp Fiction. Rosen even built a few Phase III LS6 Firebirds for customers. The other was Nickey Chevrolet in Chicago. In 1973 Hot Rod did a road test on a Nickey Built L88 427 powered '73 Nova SS. It ran something like 11.88 in the 1/4. Further, the LS6 was sold as a crate engine through dealers until 1991. So it's very possible that someone could have an LS6 454 in a '72 Chevelle or '74 Camaro that they bought from a dealer. But there was never any factory versions. # 4. Non-Trans-Am Super Duty 455 Pontiacs. In very early 1973 sales literature the SD 455 was listed as an option in the LeMans,Grand Am and Gran Prix lines as well as the Firebird. CARS magazine even voted the '73 GTO "Performance Car of the Year". OOPS!!  However the SD455 had trouble passing emissions with the RAIV cam. It was swapped for the milder RAIII grind and horsepower was down-rated from 310 to 290. Then they trouble with the EGR valve function, and trouble with connecting rod failure. Finally, the engine was certified in the Firebird line only in March or April of 1973. That's why only 295 were sold-252 in Trans-Ams and another 43 in Formulas. Another 943 were sold in 1974 Trans-Ams. Parts were so scarce for them that in order to buy say a set of SD 455 heads or rods or pistons from a dealer you had to produce your registration or title with the VIN number of the car!! So no matter your wallet size-you couldn't even buy one over the counter. So any one who claims to have an SD 455 Gran Prix, etc is a liar. It's a 250hp "Station Wagon" 455. # 5. 1972 440 "Six Pack" Chargers and Road Runners. Same thing-the 440 / 6 option was listed in very early 1972 sales literature, with 9:1 compression and rated at 330 hp. Down substantially from the 10.3:1 and 385 hp rating of 1971. However, they had trouble passing the stiffer 1972 emissions standards and the option was scrapped, leaving the 280 hp 440 4bbl as the top option. Rumors persist that "10 or 12" "slipped out", but I have never seen one, or seen a window sticker or build sheet for one,and no magazine has ever verified one. However-Edelbrock sells the Manifold to this day,Holley still sells the carbs and Mopar Performance has always sold the throttle linkage and air cleaners. So it would have been very easy for someone to install one on a car,but again, there was never a factory built version to my knowledge. # 6. 5-speed Disco-Era Trans-Ams. In the late '70's the Mecham Brothers had great success with the "Macho T/A". Besides the pumped up engines you could get Recaro seats, Koni shocks and a "Doug Nash" 5 speed if you wanted. Former Pontiac engineer and "Father of the Trans-Am" Herb Adams teamed up with Cars and Concepts and offered the "Fire Am"-a hotted up Trans Am-and they also offered the Doug Nash 5-speed as an option. But there was never a factory built 5-speed T/A until 1983 when the T5 was put behind the 305 Chevys.  Hope this clears some things up. Mastermind