Pontiacs used "ringers" as far back as 60 or 61. They had Royal Pontiac in Mich. among others, prep the cars for road tests. Chassis tuning, engine tweaking such as dist curve kits, carbs rejetted, zero lash the lifters and advancing cams. GM was the first to realize the power of the media for selling cars thru "road tests". Magazines were very "kind" to their biggest advertisers with deep pockets and rewarded them with favorable reviews. GM was very generous on test days by wooing the media with hospitality tents, catered lunches and rolling out the red carpet for them.
60 Starliner 460, 61 Starliner 427, 66 Galaxie 428, 67 Fairlane 427, 66 Fairlane 390, 69 F-250 390, 72 Lincoln 460 and 3 Ford powered Hotboats
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