I was wondering if anyone could substantiate the previous owner's claims to this car. I was doing research for a while, and after hitting dead end after dead end, I decided not to put any more effort into it. A friend prompted me to throw it up on these boards, so here it goes. It is a '91 Formula 350 dual cat, posi, aluminum drum, aluminum spare car with 82K on the clock, but what is interesting is that it has a complete Paxton supercharger setup-minus the blower itself. The story is that an employee of American Racing was the original owner of the car, and through aftermarket connections had this car done up to be featured in a magazine article. The large "Paxton Supercharged" decals on the doors were reportedly applied specifically for the article.

Items present include the mounting bracket with relocated alternator, crank pulley, flexible and hard inlet ducting, reflashed computer chip, an extra pump on the washer reservoir for water injection, and relocated battery/charcoal cannister/cruise control unit. Additionally, it wears a set of 16" and 17" American Racing wheels which seem to be pretty obscure, as I can't find anything on them.

Quite interesting to me are the factors that affect this claim, both for and against.

1) My research has not led me to any hard evidence proving the story.
2) The previous owner is the crew chief for a NASCAR King Taco Super Truck team. This works for and against, as his involvement in racing lends itself to connections in the performance aftermarket BUT he was murky and forgetful about key things such as the previous owners name, which magazine and when, and the specific model of supercharger.
3) The wheels, banks "two out the left" catback and supercharger system are all period correct for the early 90's, telling me that this was done when the car was new or close to it.
4) I have found a magazine article written by Gray Baskerville in the late 80's highlighting the Paxton SN-89 on f bodies, featuring an IROC, a TA, and a 6 cylinder car. The IROC wore the same large paxton decals on its doors above its IROC lettering.
5) Obviously the Firehawks were a big deal at the time when it came to F bodies. Could doing up a red formula have been a calculated marketing move?

Well, here are some pictures of the car. One of the reasons I couldn't pass it up was because the high school son was driving it before it began having problems. They were going to either sell it or throw some money into it and have him continue to drive it into the ground. I figured at the very least I could get the car a better home down the line, as I already have my work cut out for me with my firebird. Does anyone have an idea?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55617278@N02/5154727831/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55617278@N02/5154726101/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55617278@N02/5155332544/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55617278@N02/5154724029/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55617278@N02/5154721851/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55617278@N02/5155327426/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55617278@N02/5154718619/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55617278@N02/5155325302/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55617278@N02/5154716783/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55617278@N02/5155323532/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55617278@N02/5154715019/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55617278@N02/5155321800/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55617278@N02/5154712989/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55617278@N02/5155319912/

 

Unless you find someone who happens to have seen the article, and can tell you which magazine it appeared in, I'd dismiss the story.

The only thing other then the supercharger parts that stands out to me is the spare. In 91 the N64 spare looks just like a steel spare, it's aluminum but not spoked and it's painted black. The spoked N64 spare went away in 89 because they won't clear PBR disc brakes. Since you have drums on the rear the spare you have now would clear fine.

It looks like the care could use some TLC. If you can't verify the back story, I'd probably dump the Paxton decals, replace the supercharger, and dress the car in stock trim and just enjoy it. The aftermarket styling cues are dated now, it'd look better with stock wheels and no decals.

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...d-formula.html
i think this as allot to do with it.

 

I agree with everything above.

 

Me too...I think that would be a great car restored back to stock. L98 Formulas will have a big following down the road IMO...

 

From this thread:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...ml#post4321544

Just something that sticks out to me. Probably not the same car, as some things don't quite match (mileage, for one), but appears to have some similarities.

For reference, I think this is Greg's that he mentions above, but not 100% sure:

 

Yeah, mileage, decals, wheels, TPI runners, etc. Doubt its the same car; It almost looks like someone saw that article, and then decided to try to clone it, although they couldn't get the Ronals!

 

This red car is in my garage at the present time.
It has 29,000miles on it.
I pulled the motor out, she had 2 blown headgaskets and 6 munched pistons but still ran smooth while puking oil outa the valve coversI
We removed the Paxton blower and decals. Blower is for sale.
The motor/car is now being rebuilt with the parts to clone a firehawk.
It should be done soon. It should be rolling by spring-ish? hopfully sooner.
It is also has dealer installed SLP parts.

 

Some more

This is several months ago. That is also Firehawk #13


The teardown

 

TTOP,

can you give me some background on the history of your car?

 

I don't feel that this car is related to the VHO, as that was through a New Jersey dealer. I would imagine that New Jersey got Norwood cars, and this one was assembled in Van Nuys. That gauge cluster in the hood would be pretty sweet, though.

 

i live in pa, and i have seen about a 50/50 mix of norwood/van nuys cars here.

 

All 1988-1992 ThirdGens came from Van Nuys. Norwood was closed after 1987 production.

 

That would take care of my reasoning, however the car has the YF5 RPO for California emissions and a plate sequence that lends itself to early 90's issue. Consequently, I can still rule out the NJ dealer.

 

Hey all I’m new here but I have a 91 firebird formula, Paxton I’m trying to track it down. I sold it in 2010 in Downey,ca the one in the picture looks like mine. Would like to try and buy it back