Our Tallahassee, Florida-based pals at Trans Am Worldwide finally ventured out to our hometown auto show to show off two cars: the nearly sold out (just one left!) Super Duty model we reported on at the 2017 New York show, and their latest edition: the 50th Anniversary Trans Am.
Back
in 1969 Pontiac built just eight Trans Am convertibles at its Norwood,
Ohio, assembly plant, all of which were painted Cameo Ivory with Tyrol
Blue stripes with a special Ram
Air hood and signature decklid spoiler. Similarly, TAW plans to build
eight convertible versions of the 50th Anniversary package (eight coupes
will also be built). The white and blue color scheme has been
substantially upgraded with a complex pearl-metallic white, and buyers
can also choose the option of black with gold stripes. All graphics are
painted—no stickers.
The originals were all
powered by a 400 HO engine with Ram Air III cylinder heads and topped by
a four-barrel Quadrajet carburetor. Modern buyers may choose from four
engines: the cooking-grade original Camaro LT1 engine, or three
featuring Magnuson 2300 Heartbeat superchargers, offering various
upgrades in fuel delivery (sorry, no carburetors) and engine-control
tuning to produce 600 hp/540 lb-ft, 700 hp/680 lb-ft, or 800 hp/790
lb-ft. Each can be had with a manual or automatic transmission.
The hood features functional ram-air inlets like
those on a 1969 Trans Am, and they do indeed ram air directly through a
giant K&N filter into a plenum that's as wide as those inlets. TAW's
new fenders include a single air extractor, but to pay homage to the
separate upper and lower extractors featured on the 1969 model, the air
exhauster features a center divider. Out back there's a thin wing in the
1969 style. Custom wheels pay homage to Pontiac's iconic Rally 2 design
sized 10.0 x 20 inch in front, 11.0 x 20 in back wrapped in 285/30
front and 305/30 rear tires. The car on display also features the Brembo
six-piston brake upgrade in front.
Lots of
customization is possible inside, but the show car featured a white and
blue custom interior to coordinate with the exterior. It features
carbon-fiber dash trim and 50th Anniversary logos on the door panels and
headrests. Pricing for the 50th Anniversary package starts at $123,000.
We are champing at the bit to get one of these modern-day Trans Ams out
to the test track, and with two of them in our backyard right now,
we're starting to feel lucky. Watch this space.
