Shahzad Ahmed (Anything fast)
Pontiac Firebird Trans Am WS6, Ram Air, 2001 model. Vortech supercharger conversion, 580bhp.
Focus ST, Pontiac Trans Am, Pontiac Firebird, Porsche 911 Carrera 4, Golf GTi Mk1, Sierra RS Cosworth, Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth, Escort RS Turbo, Astra GTE, BMW Z4, BMW 3 series, BMW 1 Series.
Why I bought it:
My last project was a fast Ford and after selling that I felt the urge of something very different, maybe another yank, but a modern one (with a powerful V8 being my main criterion). After much looking and dismissing the modern Mustang, I had my heart set on a Corvette C4; I even found a one-lady-owner car for £14,000.
The night before I was due to see the Corvette, I came across this car by pure fluke. All the ad said was 'Trans Am 2001, 580 bhp, vgc, no timewasters'. I thought it must have been a misprint as they were rated at 325/340 bhp. After calling the guy he explained what he had done to it and that he had owned it from new. It included a supercharger conversion and re-worked internals.
I was unconvinced, so I looked up the conversion and found that there were a handful of similarly supercharged Trans Ams in the US, some of which were running up to 700bhp with bigger intercoolers and different pulleys. There was plenty of info to back up the bold claims. The supercharger kit is by Vortech, with a supercharger the size of small bucket, a chargecooler and an intercooler. I got some advice from Autopontiac and they confirmed what I was looking at was a very rare opportunity, but there was a warning; it would either be a brutally fast car or a ticking timebomb!
In the end I made the 250-mile round trip to view the car and the seller had not even bothered to wash it. The paint was a bit flat, the inside needed a clean and I wasn't overjoyed to see it. But the engine was like a sledgehammer and after 30 seconds of driving it I knew I would be buying it! When the seller produced every scrap of paper to do with car, including an invoice for £35,000 for buying it (and a whopping £14,000 for the engine work) it was the icing on the cake. I remember the drive home on the motorway. I was grinning from ear to ear. At 70 mph, every time I floored it, this beast would break traction and accelerate like it had been fired out of a cannon. I got home very quickly indeed.
Many PHers won't know a lot about these cars, but even the standard car (340bhp) can hit 60 in around 4.9 seconds and has an electronically limited top speed of 165mph. With the last gen of Trans Ams GM got serious, the car went on a massive diet and shed 300kg, some of the panels were now plastic, everything was sharpened up and best of all, it now had the latest LS1 V8 from the Corvette. It was a proper muscle car again.
What I wish I'd known:
That a car like this with such a conversion can be a total pain to work on. The engine bay is crammed full and is dominated by the pipe work. When I bought the car it kept chewing belts up which cost me a load of time and money replacing this pulley and that pulley.... It turned out the factory stuff was not up to handling the power, so custom made pulleys had to machined and bolted in. There was also an annoying leak from a return valve to the supercharger. Both these things sound simple enough, but it's a bit of trial and error to fix and, after much expense and time, they are both sorted now (touch wood).
It's such a rare car. People don't know what it is and are always asking questions or taking pictures on mobiles. I am not an attention whore, but it's nice when genuine car lovers ask about it. They know it's not an exotic car, it's an in-your face-muscle car and there's a kind of working class hero aspect to it. If you're not on a racing circuit (which, let's face it, is almost all of the time!) it's a car that can blow away most of cars on the road (the look on the faces of M3 drivers is always funny), but it didn't cost silly money and can seat four people relatively well. It's an easy car to drive and actually cruises very well.
The power is instant. Floor it and everything becomes a blur, the traction control rolls its sleeves up and you hit the horizon at crazy speeds! All this drama is accompanied by a sound that's a cross between a Spitfire and a howling wolf. Insane fun. Highly addictive too.
I also love the way this car looks. It's not OTT; the body is totally standard, only the wheels give it away. It's not beautiful, its four-wheeled aggression. A friend once told me it looks like the lovechild of Darth Vader and a Stealth bomber.
I always seem to get boy racers driving right up the back of my car, trying to get me to boot it. I tend to ignore them. The downside of it being a rare car is people often confuse it with other cars, it has been called Mitsubishi GTO, a Supra, a Corvette, a Mustang and even a Nissan(!?).
Costs:
Shortly after buying the car I had it professionally detailed and it came out looking like a new paint job. I was very pleased. The car has been pretty good to me but the gearbox ate second gear so a costly re-build has been the biggest single expense.
The rest has mostly been for uprated bits and bobs, including an uprated gearbox, uprated springs, struts, adjustable Panhard rod, trailing arms and bushes. It's also had uprated brakes, pulleys and stronger belts.
Where I've been:
Sadly I don't take it out that much in the winter; it spends most of its time in the garage. I have only managed 3500 miles in 2 years. I did take it to a few drag strips shortly after buying, but having just had a new gearbox I doubt I will be taking it back in a hurry!
At present I am still very happy with my Trans Am and due to its rarity I intend to hold on to it. If you can find a bog-standard version it will usually fetch £10,000-£15,000 and in the States they have become very sought-after. It's the last decent car Pontiac made and is a bit of a last hurrah for the iconic brand, so I intend to keep it tip-top.
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