Jay Leno Flexes His 2002 Pontiac Firebird WS6, Calls It a Four-Seat Corvette

These Firebirds were just so wild-looking, especially the WS6 models, which had the Ram Air induction kit, 17-inch wheels, and supposedly superior suspension. These muscle cars are going on twenty years but get a lot of attention for their nostrils and pop-up headlights.

Jay Leno is one of the few popular car YouTubers who doesn't scream at the camera and won't make a shocked face in the thumbnail. You can tell he's not doing anything to please the algorithm; he's just his mellow self. However, he may be looking at it through rose-tinted glasses because that's not exactly how we remember the Firebird.

Both it and the equivalent Camaros had some wheel hop when doing burnings on stock suspension. We're not trying to be critical here, as the Mustang from that era wasn't some advanced sports car either. And with the right set of modifications, a late-model F-body is one of the best cheap cars if you want to get into drag racing right now. Of course, the WS6 models are highly desirable, and they've preserved their value well, so keep your mods on the tasteful side.

If you just examine the specs, they're not that amazing in stock form. The 5.7-liter LS1 was officially rated at 325 horsepower. So what's this thing about it being a Corvette in 4-seat form? Well, the 2002 Firebird Trans Am got the intake manifold from the LS6. So when you pop the hood, it's like looking at a Z06, though that made 60 horsepower more.

Leno shot this video by himself due to the quarantine but went as far as to put the Firebird up on the lift. There, we get to see that the suspension and underbody are in perfect condition, though that's to be expected with it being kept in a California garage.