Although Pontiac is not a car brand you find on the market today, it was a major player in the muscle car era and for a few decades afterward. This was the GM brand that tended to do things its own way. Evidence of this came in the form of its engine builds during the Muscle Car Era, which could never be considered big or small block V8 engines, but fell somewhere in between.In addition to making some of the most popular and heavily produced cars during its time on the market, Pontiac also produced some rare muscle cars. These cars can fetch a high price at auction today and are typically found in collections, at least those that survived their time on the drag strip and street racing experiences. 1970 Pontiac Trans Am Ram Air IV 88 Models Produced Hemmings The Ram Air IV engine was one of the most powerful to ever come from Pontiac, giving drivers a 400-cu-in V8 that was only produced between 1969 and 1970. In 1970, only 88 Trans Am models were equipped with this engine, but to make things even more rare, only 29 of those 88 were equipped with an automatic transmission. These cars were purpose-built, limited, and expensive, making them one of the most sought-after F-body cars today.The F-body Trans Am was about 150 pounds lighter than an A-body GTO, which allowed it to make the most of the engine, and it certainly did that. This muscle car was rated at 370 horsepower and 445 lb-ft of torque, which allowed it to rocket off the lineup and complete a quarter mile in 13.9 seconds at 102 MPH. 1969 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Ram Air IV Coupe F-body Coupe And Convertibles 55 Models Produced Mecum Auctions The 1969 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am could be among the rarest cars, but it wouldn’t make this list because 697 units were built, but only 55 were equipped with the Ram Air IV engine. That figure breaks down to 46 coupes and nine convertibles, making these cars some of the most impressive, powerful, and rare cars built during the time.The Ram Air IV Firebird became one of the quickest F-body cars of 1969, completing a quarter-mile in 13 to 14 seconds depending on the transmission used. The 1969 car was cleaned up and restyled in response to expected changes coming for 1970. This allowed Pontiac to be a little ahead of the curve when the following decade began. 1973 Pontiac Firebird Formula 455 43 Models Produced Hemmings The last true vestige of the Muscle Car Era came in the form of the 1973 Pontiac Firebird Formula. This car brought the heat with a massive Super Duty 455 engine under the hood. It's amazing that GM allowed Pontiac to build these cars, given the political climate of the time, but a few exist to remind us of the days gone by.Only 295 Firebird cars were built with the massive engine in 1973; 252 were Trans Ams, but the other 43 were Formulas. The following year, Pontiac produced 1,001 cars with the impressive engine. The 455-cu-in V8 engine produced 310 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque when equipped with a four-speed manual transmission. This was good enough for a quarter-mile time of 14.1 seconds. 1971 Pontiac GTO Judge Convertible 17 Models Produced Mecum Auction Although the Pontiac GTO was offered during five distinct generations, the 1971 version was the final year for the GTO Judge Convertible. Only 17 were produced for 1971 using this body style, which made it an extremely rare and scarce car that is desirable among collectors. Overall, 357 Judges were built for 1971, which is still a low figure for a mass-production brand like Pontiac.The Judge came with some serious power, coming out of a 455-cu-in High Output V8, which was the most powerful version of this car. This massive engine produced 335 horsepower and 480 lb-ft of torque, which was good enough for a sprint to 60 MPH in 6.1 seconds and a quarter-mile jaunt that would be over in 13.4 seconds at 102 MPH. 1971 Pontiac GT-37 L75 (455 HO) 15 Models Produced Mecum Auctions The Pontiac GT-37 was a stripped-down version of the Tempest T-37 model, making it a budget-friendly Pontiac muscle car. Despite this position in the lineup, the L75 version with the 455 HO engine was built in very small numbers, with only 15 produced. The GT-37 could be had with other engines, but the rarest was the 455 HO model with the L75 engine under the hood.This car was almost never ordered, which made it a bit of an oddity at the time. The GT-37 was offered with Rally II wheels without trim rings, chrome-tipped dual exhaust ports, vinyl accent stripes, sport mirrors, hood pins, and specific badges. The 455 HO engine pumped out 325 horsepower and 455 lb-ft of torque, which was good enough to send this car across the quarter-mile stripe in the mid-13-second range. 1963 Pontiac Catalina “Super Duty” Lightweight 14 Models Produced Mecum Auctions This 1963 Pontiac Catalina had a name that made it popular, despite only 14 models being produced. It was called the “Swiss Cheese” Catalina because it benefited from extensive weight-saving features that made it much lighter. Pontiac built this car with holes drilled in the frame rails, no carpeting, and no sound insulation. If you wanted a 1960s car with pure sounds and a stripped-down build, this was the car for you.The 1963 Catalina was built to be a drag-strip-oriented version, which would still be street legal. Power for this car came from a 421-cu-in V8 engine that delivered 390 horsepower to the wheels. A dual-quad drag variant was built that was rated at 410 horsepower, but likely made much more than that. The higher-powered version used aluminum exhaust manifolds. Swiss Cheese was good enough for a quarter-mile run in 13.7 seconds at 107 MPH, making it a quick drag strip car in the 1960s. 1963 Pontiac Tempest Super Duty 12 Models ProducedMecum Auctions Big power figures led to the Muscle Car Era, and one of the cars that came before the official start of that time was the 1963 Pontiac Tempest Super Duty. It had the same engine as the Catalina “Swiss Cheese” but was a smaller car, which meant better use of power. Pontiac built the 12 Tempest Super Duty models in two body styles, six LeMans coupes and six wagons, which means each body style is also among the rarest Pontiac cars ever built.With the Super Duty engine under the hood, the Tempest produced 405 horsepower and 425 lb-ft of torque. As you would expect, these figures were grossly understated and were much closer to 465 horsepower and 505 lb-ft of torque. This car was quick enough to reach 60 MPH in only 4.6 seconds and crossed the quarter-mile finish line in just over 12 seconds, making it one of the quickest cars in the 1960s. 1969 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Convertible 8 Models Produced Hot Rod The first year that a particular option is offered, many people don’t order it. At least that was the case in the 1960s. Before the internet and cable television, advertising the option of a convertible top for the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am would have been left up to the dealerships. In 1969, which was the first year of the Trans Am option, only eight convertible models were built out of the 697 Trans Ams produced. Neither figure screams mass production.A Ram Air III engine makes its appearance, showing off a 400-cu-in HO setup powering the convertibles with the Firebird Trans Am name in 1969. This gave the cars 335 horsepower, ensuring their position in the muscle car world. All eight convertibles were painted in Cameo Ivory with Tryrol Blues stripes, but with only a few cars on the road, you weren’t likely to see two of them sitting together. 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge Ram Air IV Convertible 5 Models Produced Mecum The Ram Air IV engine was a hot ticket from 1969 to 1970, and Pontiac used it for the GTO Judge as often as possible. As for convertible versions of this muscle car, the application wasn’t nearly as widespread, with only five models produced. This made the 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge with the Ram Air IV and a convertible body the second-rarest Pontiac car ever made.The engine, which was used in several low-production number cars, is a 400-cu-in V8 that could produce impressive horsepower figures. In the convertible Judge, those figures were 370 horsepower and 445 lb-ft of torque, which allowed the car to rocket off the line to complete a quarter-mile in 13.9 seconds at 100 MPH. This convertible GTO reaches 60 MPH in only 6.4 seconds, which was fast for the time. Unfortunately, a convertible top adds weight and lessens structural integrity to a car, which might be why only five GTO Judge RA IV convertibles were produced for 1969. 1973 Pontiac Super Duty 455 Grand Am 1 Model Produced PontiacV8.com Can you say a car was produced if only one was made? That question aside, there was only one version of the 1973 Pontiac Super Duty 455 Grand Am created. The Grand Am entered a new generation for 1973, combining the luxurious qualities of a Grand Prix with Trans Am performance, and the SD-455 decals showed that performance was strong for this car. The SD-455 Grand Am became a factory/engineering mule, which meant it wouldn’t be part of official production records.The LS2 engine under the hood gave the car 310 horsepower, which was routed to the wheels through a Turbo-400 automatic transmission. There was a NACA-hood specific Ram Air system up front, feeding air into the massive engine. This single-product car is capable of finishing a quarter-mile run in 14.8 seconds at 96 MPH, which is impressive for a car that tips the scales at nearly 4,200 pounds.