Don Keefe
Pontiac
Automotive Historian and Journalist
By John
Chung
Don Keefe is
currently Editor-In-Chief of Smoke Signals magazine, the Pontiac Oakland Club
International’s monthly publication. He is also a Contributing
Editor for High Performance Pontiac and is a former Editor-in-Chief of
the now defunct Pontiac Enthusiast Magazine. Don is well
known among the Pontiac hobby as one of the leading automotive historians and
expert journalists of the Pontiac-Oakland make and has helped make Smoke
Signals magazine a world class publication. Don has been
professionally writing about automobiles since 1988. His
experience includes several years as Editor of Pontiac Enthusiast magazine as
well as contributing to articles for High Performance Pontiac, Collectible
Automobile, Hemmings Classic Cars, Hemmings Muscle Machines, The Barrett-Jackson
Experience and USA Today.
.
In addition to Don’s excellent
writing skills, he has mastered the art of automotive photography, creating and
selling the annual Poncho Perfection calendar which showcases some of Don’s
beautiful Pontiac photography. He also sells canvas prints of his
work.Don got started as a
Pontiac man at a very early age. His father was the
Parts Manager at Schoen (later Ide) Pontiac in Fairport, New York, just one
block from Don's current house. With that kind of family
connection, Don got to see first hand the beautiful new Wide Track models that
were introduced every year whenever he visited his father at work. It was
a Carousel Red 4 speed 1969 Firebird that his dad had as a company car that
sparked his interest in Pontiacs. He'd love to find that car today. If you have
a vehicle fitting that description and the delivering dealer was Zone 5, dealer
355, that is the car. It was the only one like it delivered to Schoen
Pontiac.
Don’s first vintage
Pontiac was a 1966 Pontiac Bonneville convertible that he had learned to wrench
on. His first restoration project was a 1966 Grand
Prix. It was this car that set the motion for Don’s love affair with
the Grand Prix, prompting him to write the first ever comprehensive GP book,
titled, Grand Prix: Pontiac’s Luxury Performance Car.
Don has also owned other Pontiacs through the years including
several late-model GPs. Don’s current ride
and everyday driver is a 2000 Grand Prix GTP Daytona Pace Car Replica with a
heavily modified supercharged 3800 Series II V-6 that puts out nearly 400
horsepower.
Don will be presenting his
Department
X seminars about Pontiac Show Cars and experimentals at various Pontiac
gatherings in 2011. If you have a chance to attend one of his seminars you
will not be disappointed. Don has gathered a wealth of information and photos
of many different non-production Pontiacs that are featured in his presentation.
We are all very
fortunate to have Don Keefe in the Pontiac hobby.
If
you
are interested in Don Keefe’s Grand Prix book, Poncho Perfection calendar or any
Pontiac prints, these items can be purchased at www.grandprixbook.com
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