[burd]

A buddy is out at SEMA, heres a few, the Red car has the wrong color shaker like Norwoods car

[GT182]

You can "rename" it any way you want, but IMHO it's still a Camaro. When it comes off a Pontiac assembly line, then and only then is it a Firebird Trans Am.

[RocktimusPryme]

I kinda like the black shaker on the red car.

[Scarebird]

They looked ok, interior was nice too.

[hojs69]

Interiors here, they looked decent for a rebadge.

[bullheimer]

Apparently Timeless good look for both the graphic AND the snowflakes! I think they look GERRRRRATE!. Way better than the 'maro.

[Hillard]

Drop in an injected IA 535 w/ DCI RAV heads, I'd take one. Hmmm....maybe add a couple turbos.

[red1975pacer]

How hard would it really be for GM to factory invoice these cars and sell them, lets say, at a Caddy dealership? Why wouldn't they is beyond me. Im sure they could sell 20k of them a year., with minamel expense to the GM network.

[67GTONUT]

I like them......

But I wonder what they would look like if they made them into a 1st Gen 'Bird, instead of a 2nd Gen?

Seeing that the the Camaro is actually a retro of their 1st Gen, it would seem to make more sense..... Just thinking out loud......

[Scarebird]

I think the issue here is marketing, not trueness to the past. Far more people recognize a Bandit than a Firebird 400 or 69 Trans Am.

I did grab a brochure for this - 8 pages including the 6T9 GTO replicar. If desired I can post up the pix or send it to somebody who wants it ($1 for postage).

[Scarebird]

found it:

http://transamworldwide.com/modules/...tmpl/book.html

[casey_transam]

I have a hard time accepting 3rd and 4th gens as Trans Ams, not to mention these new Trans Am conversions. Unless you correct the sacrilege of late model G.M. by dropping in a Pontiac motor, 3rd and 4th gen "firebirds" are simply a camaro with a different front and rear end, and while one could try to say the same about late 70's T/As with 305's, keep in mind that they used different suspensions then the Camaros. No disrespect to anyone who owns a 3rd or 4th gen, but Pontiac died in 1981, and G.M. just continued to brand cars as Pontiac until 2009. No different than how Chevy died after they ditched the traditional big blocks and small blocks for the LS motors, which is technically a G.M. motor, not a Chevy motor. Remember this next time you hear a new Camaro or Corvette fanboy talk about how he's a Chevy diehard.

[Scarebird]

Originally Posted by casey_transam

I have a hard time accepting 3rd and 4th gens as Trans Ams, not to mention these new Trans Am conversions. Unless you correct the sacrilege of late model G.M. by dropping in a Pontiac motor, 3rd and 4th gen "firebirds" are simply a camaro with a different front and rear end, and while one could try to say the same about late 70's T/As with 305's, keep in mind that they used different suspensions then the Camaros. No disrespect to anyone who owns a 3rd or 4th gen, but Pontiac died in 1981, and G.M. just continued to brand cars as Pontiac until 2009. No different than how Chevy died after they ditched the traditional big blocks and small blocks for the LS motors, which is technically a G.M. motor, not a Chevy motor. Remember this next time you hear a new Camaro or Corvette fanboy talk about how he's a Chevy diehard.

Nonsense. Unless you are talking about the 1970 year where the axle housing were different (10/12 bolt for Chevy, 10 Bolt BOP and 12 bolt Chevy for Firebirds) all the spindles, axles, A-arms etc. were the same - only spring rate, sway bars and shocks were different and a lot of the time not even them.

[Stuart]

How many different companies have built these things in the last few years? It seems like there's been a dozen of them, but I've never actually heard of anyone buying one.

[68ragtop]

I like the cars & seeing Pontiac is fading in people minds as far as new cars go, It cool to see them. I assume there is no pontiac badging on the cars?

Can't image what they cost though. Take an LS camaro then tear it down & build it again. Anybody ever see a price tag? Got to be an awful lot of money for something that is still comparable to camaro quality & performance.

[The Boss]

How much more expensive than the donor Camaro are they?

[casey_transam]

Originally Posted by Scarebird

Nonsense. Unless you are talking about the 1970 year where the axle housing were different (10/12 bolt for Chevy, 10 Bolt BOP and 12 bolt Chevy for Firebirds) all the spindles, axles, A-arms etc. were the same - only spring rate, sway bars and shocks were different and a lot of the time not even them.

Just off the top of the head i know they use different inner and outer tie rod ends, different pitman arm, different idler arm, different center link, and closer ratio steering box. The parts are interchangable, but not the same. With the first and second gen f-bodys, you can tell the differences in their performance after driving both. 3rd and 4th gen, the camaro and firebird were built to perform exactly the same. Only exception is the Turbo trans am with the Buick G.N.'s turbo V6.

[perry]

Originally Posted by GT182

You can "rename" it any way you want, but IMHO it's still a Camaro. When it comes off a Pontiac assembly line, then and only then is it a Firebird Trans Am.

Even if it came off the Pontiac assembly line with a Oldsmobile engine installed!

[2manyT/A'S]

Originally Posted by GT182

You can "rename" it any way you want, but IMHO it's still a Camaro. When it comes off a Pontiac assembly line, then and only then is it a Firebird Trans Am.

You forgot the MOST important part......with a PONTIAC V8 engine...

[Scarebird]

Originally Posted by casey_transam

Just off the top of the head i know they use different inner and outer tie rod ends, different pitman arm, different idler arm, different center link, and closer ratio steering box. The parts are interchangable, but not the same. With the first and second gen f-bodys, you can tell the differences in their performance after driving both. 3rd and 4th gen, the camaro and firebird were built to perform exactly the same. Only exception is the Turbo trans am with the Buick G.N.'s turbo V6.

No, outer tie rods are the same* - as are the spindles, idler arms and certain inner tie rods and center links. Usually the difference is spring rates, height and shock valving - Pontiac did do more work on that.

What differences GM had in these vehicles after 1981 I do not know, but what I do know is that in an assembly line the more variance you have you square the chance for errors in build. - hence as newer cars get more complicated they will have fewer colors, option packages etc.

The thought of 6+ different engines in a given platform now at one plant would cause the manager to go postal. Hence the evaluation by GM of which engines to keep - in the late 70's we already had two nasty gas shortages and big V8's were essentially dead. So for 82 the 305 was the big motor, the 2.8 the mid and the four the base motor. The Stratostreak architecture was 25 years old by then and at the end of it's lifespan - so it got the axe, as did the straight six Chevy.


*per Hollander and NAPA Master Chassis