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Pontiac Firebird "Midnight Racer" Is a 180 MPH Bomb in Elaborate Rendering

Pontiac Firebird "Top Speeder" rendering 11 photos
Photo: abimelecdesign/instagram
Pontiac Firebird "Top Speeder" renderingPontiac Firebird "Top Speeder" renderingPontiac Firebird "Top Speeder" renderingPontiac Firebird "Top Speeder" renderingPontiac Firebird "Top Speeder" renderingPontiac Firebird "Top Speeder" renderingPontiac Firebird "Top Speeder" renderingPontiac Firebird "Top Speeder" renderingPontiac Firebird "Top Speeder" renderingPontiac Firebird "Top Speeder" rendering
Remember the Ferrari F40 driver who recorded himself doing 200 mph on a Japanese highway back in 1990? Of course, you do, the stunt became viral in the country via VHS tapes a year before the Internet even went live and obviously spread like wildfire after YouTube showed up in 2005. Unsurprisingly, that wasn't a lone wolf doing his speeding thing, since the stunt was part of a trend that took over the Land of the Rising Sun at the time.

The adventures we're talking about involved packs of racers that took to expressways at night, buried the throttle, and left it that way for minutes on end (tales of the infamous Middo Naito Kurabo, or the Midnight Club street racing gang will forever be told).

Japan offered quite a bouquet of sports cars at the time, and these, together with import goodies like the Porsche 911, were tuned to hell and back for the triple-digit runs; for the record, we don't condone such activities and we have to remind you that the said F40 driver was arrested after the police got a hold of the footage.

Now, digital artist Abimelec Arellano has come up with a 1969 Pontiac Firebird that would make for night-run material. Of course, this involves serious mods done via the elaborate rendering that now adorns our screens.

Under that dual-snorkel hood, we find a V8 lifted from a Callaway C4 Corvette, a twin-turbo LT1 monster from the late 80s and 90s, which has been further massaged. And the motor isn't the only period-correct bit. For one, the trunk lid spoiler comes from the Camaro IROC-Z of the late 80s.

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you: the rear quarter fin lines have been highlighted, as the artist explains on Instagram: "[...] enlarged rear quarter “fins” - I always loved this cue on these Pontiacs, and accentuating it gives it a more aerodynamic look, which fits well with the theme."

The machine seems to have been slightly lowered while sitting on wheels coming from Japanese specialist Watanabe. In addition, a striking shade of red covers most of the rear estate, and the cabin is now adorned with a massive roll cage.

While this Instagram post below showcases the big-in-Japan Pontiac that brought us here, you'll also find the said 200-mph (322-kph) F40 run in the YouTube video at the bottom of the tale.


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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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