John Sawruk

John Sawruk is a former Pontiac executive and historian.^[1] He did important work in development and testing of Pontiac automobiles until his retirement in 2002. He has written in several public articles that he has been dealing with kidney cancer since 1997. ^[2] Eager to pass along his knowledge gained in the Pontiac Motor Division of GM, he writes tech articles and has conducted seminars at car enthusiast yearly conventions. He lives in Michigan with wife Marge and owns a black 1971 1/2 Pontiac GT-37. Pontiac only produced a few hundred of the GT-37's.

John is a notable figure in the automotive field for his work as Supervisor of GM's Experimental Powertrain Group. In 1978 he was granted a U.S. patent for an engine with charge equalizing intake manifold. ^[3]

Career time line

1967 - internship at General Motors
1968 - began GM career as an Entry-level engineer in the Special Problems Laboratory
1969 - engineer in Experimental Engine Group
1970 - project manager for unleaded fuel
1974 - project manager for the 2.5L 4-cyl engine development
1976 - participated in a Florida test trip of Pontiac drivetrains
1978 - Supervisor of the Experimental Powertrain Group
1979 - "Eighth Level" Manager of Service Engineering in the Sales Department
1980 - developing a division-wide Value Engineering program
1981 - Led Value Engineering seminar to improve quality
1982 - moved to Staff Engineer for Transmission and Axle
1983 - Made the official GM Historian for the Pontiac Division
1984 - Participated in the press preview for the '84 Trans Ams and other models at GM Proving Grounds
1986 - Ran Pontiac Motorsports and Specialty Vehicles
1987 - Moved back to Advanced Vehicle Engineering
1997 - Participated in tech seminars during the 25th Anniversary POCI Convention in Denver, Colorado along with Smokey Yunick and John DeLorean. ^[4]
2002 - Retired as a GM Engineering Director
2004 - Seminar at GTOAA Nats Pontiac Michigan. The 40th Anniversary of the GTO coincided with the 25th Anniversary of the GTOAA, and release of new 2004 GTO. John's seminar covered the Pontiac GT-37. During the seminar, John also showed some other little-known facts to the GTO enthusiasts, including the build sheet of the very first Pontiac GTO built. ^[5]

References

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[1] ttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9807E5DF163CF933A25753C1A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

[2] ttp://www.highperformancepontiac.com/features/hppp_0807_behind_the_scenes_at_pontiac/index.html

[3] ttp://www.freepatentsonline.com/4119067.html

[4] ttp://ultimategto.com/poci97_1.htm

[5] ttp://ultimategto.com/cgi-bin/showcar.cgi?type=lot&pic=/1964/64_00003_1

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