The Trans Am

The Trans Am is one of my favorite cars of all time!

The Trans Am is actually a special edition package of the Pontiac Firebird. The Pontiac Firebird was a pony car from General Motors. It began its illustrious career in 1967. It rolled off the factory and immediately demanded attention. Its muscular coke body frame exudes vintage. To top things off, it was armed with one of the most powerful engine America has ever seen, the V8.

During the 1970’s, Pontiac released the Super Duty models. These babies were packed with the king of all LS2 engines. The car made a historic quarter-mile run, accelerating from zero (0) to a hundred and four (104) miles per hour in a span of fourteen seconds.

The Trans Am package came with a host of upgrades; modified bumpers, custom paint as well as a smorgasbord of engine enhancements. More than just eye candy, these cars boasted tremendous amounts of horsepower and torque.

It success took center stage when the Trans Am went Hollywood. It appeared in numerous feature length films, including the smash hit Smokey and the Bandit. The Trans Am was Burt Reynolds’ car (How many can say that??)

The 80’s were a time for change. The oil crisis hit America. And cars were suddenly the most expensive maintenance items in the household budget. This paved the way for the rise of the compacts. It was a great decade for fuel-efficient vehicles. Consequently, the Firebird had to change it repertoire.

The V8 was slowly getting out dated. The engineering team went back to the drawing board to figure out viable solutions. Of course, they had to change the car but they also had to retain a certain image that made the Firebird what it was. The engine was installed with the latest fuel-injects. This allowed for maximum efficiency, but it sacrificed a little bit of speed. So, they altered the exterior to reduce body weight. The Firebird was now aerodynamically designed to maximize its speed capacity.

At first, experts doubted if the new designs would catch on. Eventually, increase in overall revenue erased all doubts. The next generation of firebirds sustained a tradition of excellence. Very few muscle cars were able to make it through the oil crisis. The Firebird is one of them. Although its modern muscle car look makes it look more like a sports car now. But it still stands for power and performance.

In 2002, the car was phased out of production. Small public demand plus consistent decrease in sales led GM to abandon the project. There were rumors that a new Firebird would be released for 2009, but GM quickly confirmed, that it wasn’t going to happen.

Today, the Firebird is known as one of the best muscle cars of America. It lasted for more than 30 years, enduring societal and economic changes in America. Changing exterior, changing interior, changing engines, whatever it took to sustain it success. s

But to me, it will always be Burt Reynolds’ car.