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"New" Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Imagined as Chevy Camaro Retro Makeover

Even if sales aren't what they used to be, muscle cars remain popular. They're icons of the American lifestyle, recently pushed further with the performance upgrades of the Hellcat or the Shelby GT500. But there's one model that went extinct and deserves to be in this company, the Pontiac Trans Am.
"New" Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Imagined as Retro Chevy Camaro Makeover 2 photos
Photo: chopping_pixels/Instagram
"New" Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Imagined as Retro Chevy Camaro Makeover
The Pontiac brand died in 2010. When the government was bailing out GM, it demanded a slim-down. Hummer is making a comeback right now with that electric pickup everybody is talking about. So why not Pontiac as well?

We think a revival like that doesn't need marketing teams, unions, and government loans. It just needs people who are passionate and want to make the right kind of car, like the one in this rendering by chopping_pixels. His vision of a new Firebird Trans Am involves small alterations to the current Camaro's roof, along with a beaked front end.

The rendering mixes some of the best elements from the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-gen Trans Am, so it tickles your nostalgia bone. That was exactly the problem Pontiac had just before it died. Its GTO was based on an Australian coupe that looked generic and rounded. Meanwhile, at that time, Ford was making the iconic 5th-gen Mustang, which looked exactly like its 60s predecessors.

And that's why we think making a new Trans Am out of the current Camaro is a good idea. Because it's so nostalgic, they could theoretically charge more while potentially justifying the development of a 700+ hp version to compete with the Shelby GT500.

Pontiac as a brand started off just as a corporate decision. General Motors was a dominant force in the American economy and wanted to make more money by adding new brands like Pontiac, Viking, and Marquette.

Most didn't work, but fortunately for Pontiac, it had passionate people who saw the potential of affordable performance. The Grand Tempest Option or GTO marked the birth of the muscle car era, and the brand continued to innovate into the modern era with the mid-engined Fiero and one of the first crossovers.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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