One of these four will kick off the new year showing the world what Third Gens can be. And by show the world, I mean that everyone who has a Facebook Page should copy and paste/post/share each and every COTM Winner Thread, or a Winner Pic to their home page...er whatever. Just a suggestion, to start getting some positive Third Gen exposure. I think I'm going to start by posting Brandon's Car of the Year winning '91 Z to my page.

January 2017 Car of the Month:


hawksthirdgen 1988 Camaro




QwkTrip 1989 Firebird




Puma1552 1990 Camaro RS




95Cam86Roc 1986 IROC-Z

 

This 1989 Firebird is the first car I ever bought and I still have it 24 years later. This is not a restoration and not a low mileage puff ball. It is just a good old car that has recently developed a roaring attitude.

Basically you’re looking at a snapshot frozen in time. This is what I wanted the car to look like in 1999 when I pulled the 2.8L engine to do a V8 swap. Then the car just sat… and sat… and sat… until 2016 when I got it on the road again. These are the same ROH wheels I bought in 2000 for the project! Same goes with the rear axle and most the suspension. A lot of the “new” parts on this car aren’t even sold any more.

The body is original, and a fantastic 22 year old paint job still steals looks today. The only modification in the looks department is a set of wheels and some leather seats to class up the interior. Honestly, I don’t think this Pontiac needs much help beyond that. I still use the crank windows and the original cassette radio and I have no plans to do anything different.

Under the hood is a whole different story and I did not follow the original script from 2000. I traded in the silly supercharged big block for a rowdy 427 LS that thumps at idle and has a horsepower curve that is still climbing beyond 7000 rpm. Engine management is Holley HP EFI. This car is about racking up “smiles per mile”, not quarter mile, so the TH400 is gone and replaced by a T56 manual with RTrack dual disc clutch inside a Quicktime housing. Underneath is a fully adjustable suspension, Ground Control weight jacks, Hawks Sinister torque arm, C6 brakes, and many other modifications. The car was not built for drag racing but still joined the 11 second club with ease at 125 mph.

Pictures don’t do justice because the sound brings it all together to create a lovely kind of nasty. This is a cool old car! I attached a couple videos below. This Firebird brings back memories and I smile every time I drive it. Everything is familiar, I know the car in and out, and I’ve had it so long that it is uniquely mine.

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A little outing with my wife….. who did not want to be shown in this picture




First time at drag strip



Idle clip. Turn your volume all the way up so you feel it in your chest and that is about right. Hawks Motorsports LS7 headers and 3.5” exhaust. (Pay no attention to it dying, I hadn’t sorted out the cold start map yet.)



Stock interior with ‘99 Trans Am seats







22 year old paint that still looks like liquid red with the help of Zaino.




The problem with building a toy is they need a lot of maintenance. Fairly common to find me tinkering on it and doing mods to improve things.




The engine bay is purely utilitarian. It is a work place, not a show place. Nothing is hidden away because I need easy access to everything including the wiring.




The Back Story

Purchased as my first car in 1992, this Firebird served as my daily driver until 1999 when the head gasket failed on the original 2.8L. I was young and had a dream of doing a V8 swap and eagerly ripped out the engine. The project escalated from ZZ4 350 to a supercharged 468 BBC, and then it all came to a grinding halt when I moved across the country for a job, got married, and became a responsible man. The Firebird was not on the agenda any more. It would be a total of 17 years before the car would see the road again.

Fast forward to 2011. The car has been garaged the entire time but has years of dirt literally bonded to the paint, and the interior is full of mouse poo and urine with nests and dead bodies on the seats and in hidden places. My wife says, “Finish it or sell it!” I think she was surprised when I immediately began to clean it up and order parts!

In 2013 the car was nearly destroyed by a 200 mph tornado. My wife and I huddled in the basement as nearby houses were leveled. By the grace of God there was a shield of mercy over our heads and our property was untouched in the midst of the powerful chaos.

I finally got the car on the road this year (2016) and it has been a BLAST driving it again! I was okay with a basic engine swap but this project turned into a “big build” real quick; and I won’t lie, it was a struggle for me at times in terms of knowledge, skill, and motivation. Really happy now to be at the stage where it is a fun driver that I can do small projects as it suits me.

Here is hours of reading if you are further interested in the build. That thread is active and the car will continue to evolve in 2017. There is already a pile of parts waiting to go on the car this winter. https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-...-qwktrips.html

 

It is QwkTrip, not QukTrip

 

Ah.... much better. Thanks, Linson!
QukTrip sounded like my Chinese counterfit.

 

Another round of good looking third gens! Good luck to all.

 

QwkTrip,
Awesome presentation. Love the car.

 

Awesome QwkTrip!
Love the car and the story. A lot of dedication right there.
Good luck!

 

I really really loved project Silver Streak back in the day, and I still love it today, but magazine built car, rebuilt by one of the most well known Fbody shops in the world?

My vote goes to QwkTrip! Exceptional build quality, and attention to detail, without sacrificing performance and originality.

 

Were all the Trans Am seats in the fourth gen electric?

 

Power lumbar yes but otherwise it varies. My 96 is non-power

 

I have no idea. In my case the driver side is electric, passenger side is manual slider, but both sides have the adjustable air bladder bolsters and lumbar. I recommend taking the matching seat belts out of the same car so the colors blend with the seats (which is what I did in the front).

Formula leather seats look better if you can find a set. Those seats are fully upholstered front and back without any of the hard plastic cover. Also easier to re-upholster without all the plastic junk.

 

wow! this is a walk.


the rest of the Nominees may have been intimidated by QwkTrip's 'Bird.

 

It would have been nice to hear from the other owners, details, more photos, etc.

 

Half the field hasn't logged into the site in a while and probably don't realize yet what happened. Pretty much set up a freak accident where I might be the first person in history of COTM to get a free pass.

 

QwkTrip its no accident its just you have one bada$$ car! In a group of very nice cars this month I might add.

 

I can't help but like QwkTrip's car. Good story, Great ending, amazing Bird. But still a toss up for me. Puma's Camaro continues to catch my eye. Hope he notices and brings up more photo's and info.

 

QwkTrip gets my vote. I love the story how the car started life as a V6, and a tornado could have ended its life. Then it was reincarnated into a custom beast! Great job with all the mods!

 

That's genuinely an Amazing Stock looking Firebird, parked you'd never know what it's packing. Looks like a sleeper. Until you fire it up.

 

This looks like a Promotional tv commercial or Dealership sales catalog brochure photograph done by Pontiac for Advertising the model year make a Great Poster.



Reminds me of my Red GTA Poster.

"The Rewards of a higher Education" on top
Pontiac on the bottom.

 

Totally agree! Deceiving and beautifully done! Would of loved to see details on others. All great looking cars!!!

 

Thanks for the compliments. Ya, the growl and howl definitely makes the car what it is. One thing I really enjoy is when kids run out to the sidewalks with wide-eye amazement as I drive by. I always give them a wave and a little rev hoping they grow up wanting an American muscle car.

 

Just logged in for the first time in a while so I completely missed this. Thanks formthe nominations and votes, but QwkTrip has a real beauty and deserved the win.