With all the 2010 Camaro-to-Firebird conversions floating around the show, how come it hasn’t occurred to someone how awesome a completely updated Bandit-era Trans Am would be? Turns out that it has. This ultra-smooth ‘77 was built by Pinkee’s Rod Shop, and is packing a TRB Performance LS7, 4-wheel Wilwood discs, and one-off billet wheels–19’s in back and 18’s up front. Great, subtle details throughout: I love the Pontiac logo machined into the wheel centers. More pics!

Continue reading "Clean, Mean, LS7-Powered Trans Am" »

Here’s another choice pick from the Optima Invitational lineup: this ‘65 Pontiac convertible. I was so happy to see the vintage Poncho done out as a street-legal track car, because my father has one just like it–a ‘65 Le Mans that’s been sitting in storage for a few years. I’d love to build it just like this to run in One Lap of America, and it’s very cool to see that such a build is not only possible, but feasible. See more pics below the jump, and check out my Optima Invitational fly-by video for a glimpse of some of the other competitors!

Continue reading "Pro-Street Goat" »

We stumbled across this video over on Streetfire.net. It was made by guys calling themselves Getaway in Stockholm and it is an objective road test review of a gnarly Pro Street 1972 Pontiac Lemans. If our ears are working right, it sounds like they claim the owner is making 650hp off the bottle and 1500hp on it. Yowza! Other than that bit of weirdness, this video is awesome.

Different criteria are judged and the findings are given at the end of each section. Pay close attention to the “handling” portion of the test and what the host has to say about riding shotgun in the car while trying to film. It’s chortle inducing stuff.

On first blush, you’d think some hillbilly down South found a GTO rusted up to its doorsills and decided to live out his Ricky Bobby fantasies by cutting out the wheelwells and stuffing wide tires underneath. But the seller of this 1966 GTO out of La Jolla, California, claims it has actual race history. Continue reading at Hemmings

We found this car feature story at SummitRacing.com, and it was like we were back in the pages of Car Craft magazine in around 1989 or 1991. This ‘62 Pontiac fullsize is so much like a retro Pro Street car it’s amazing, complete with huge tubs and murals in the tweed door panels. We’re not sure the guy who built it intended it as a retro car, but it sure hit us that way. Go check it out.

We showed you the electric Duster. Now how about this natural gas-powered Goat? You can read all about their upcoming road trip route66goatgas.com Via Wired

Cash for Clunkers is over and the government and many dealers proclaim it as an overwhelming success. But at what cost? Many rather unusual and possibly valuable cars were sacrificed during the program; a few that will make the car enthusiasts among us cringe.

There were a number of questions raised when scanning through the list published on September 9th by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). To be eligible for the Cash for Clunkers program, vehicles were specified to only get 19 miles-per-gallon or less, measured by their previously published EPA rating. Yet a few vehicles that were submitted generally get better fuel mileage than the benchmark set by the program rules.

As troubling as that was, it is underscored by the list of truly desirable enthusiast cars that were traded in as clunkers. This raises some troubling questions as to the reasoning behind the transaction. Scanning through the list, here are 12 different vehicles that should have been saved from their eventual fate of being scrapped. These 12 cars will be met with the usual questions as to how this was allowed to happen in the first place, or what kind of person would trade such a vehicle, replacing it with a Hyundai or a Toyota? Continue reading about the “Dirty Dozen”, with details about each one at Automotive Traveler.

This could very well be just another one from the wild-ass rumor mill, but Jalopnik claims that the recently-reconstituted DeLorean Motor Company is seriously considering giving the Solstice a second lease on life. Under the scheme, DMC would supplement its limited output of refurbished DeLoreans with a run of DeLorean-badged Solstices (hey: they could call it the DeL Sol, get it?), and to this end, they’ve acquired a GXP for teardown and are eyeing GM’s defunct plant in Wilmington as their possible future assembly line. We’ll see, but if they do it, it’s going to need some gullwings.  Via Jalopnik.

Continue reading "Hot Or Not? DeLorean Solstice" »

Welcome to another installment of the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the definition of what a muscle car is, and to discover hidden treasures while doing so. When I started this series of posts, I stated that all of the vehicles featured were not generally thought of as muscle cars, or were rare oddities within the muscle car period. I’ve introduced you to the first turbocharged American car, an English Touring car with the heart of a Chrysler, a couple of German Uber Sedans, even a couple of V-8 equipped Japanese models, among others. I even tried to convince you that turbocharged 4 cylinder models were muscle, and made an argument for front wheel drive vehicles. So, you wouldn’t think I would be showcasing a car with one of the most revered names in the Muscle Car category, but this car is a one year only model, the 11th of the series, and the last American made version. Let’s take a look at the 1974 Pontiac (Ventura) GTO.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot – The 1974 Pontiac Ventura GTO" »

I have been on a Fiero kick lately, wanted one since the early ’80s. I had to get it out of my system eventually so I grabbed a 2M4 that needed help for next to nothing, to kick around in, use for commutes and the occasional countryside cruise with the sunroof popped out. My wife’s reaction was that I had bought a deathtrap.

Before jumping in I researched the hell out of Fieros. I remembered the fires and recalls long ago, so I wanted to know all I could before buying one. A LOT of interesting info was uncovered while Googling Fieros, but most importantly Pontiac made the cabin’s structural integrity a priority. They employed a space frame cabin design that offered unprecedented protection for a car of its size. According to Consumer Reports, the only car rated safer was the Volvo DL.

I have also read and watched accounts of the protection Fieros have given when all went wrong. Of course, no car can keep you safe in every scenario and Fieros are small and still vulnerable depending on the circumstances, but this video I found is impressive when you think of how such a small car could have kept its occupant on this side of the soil.

A late model Pontiac GTO was attempting a burnout when suddenly extreme failure occurred. And not just any normal failure, but a failure with a felony caught on tape.

The scene starts out like a great opportunity to show off that modern GTO’s potential. Bystanders with a camcorder sitting thirty feet higher hit record as the GTO appears at the entrance ramp with a couple of open lanes for extra room. Turning off the traction control and slamming the accelerator to the floor, the fun begins.

First gear rolls out nicely with prompt acceleration leading to the burning of rubber. Ah, the joyous feeling! The car starts to slide to the left a little too much for the driver’s comfort, leading to over correction. The law of inertia takes place, catapulting the over-corrected vehicle across two lanes of traffic into an innocent Lincoln Town Car. After the collision, the driver’s instinct is to run.  

I finally got to meet J.G. Pasterjak from the Grassroots Motorsports crew at the Nissan 370Z drive two weeks ago. In addition to handling the production and art direction for the magazines, J.G. shoots a lot of video for GRM. Here’s his recent review of the 2009 Pontiac Solstice, which includes some of his thoughts on Pontiac and GM. I thought it was pretty hilarious. Check it out.

Discovering rare and uncovered gems usually happens when someone contacts me after reading my column in Musclecar Enthusiast. So I received a lead about what might be the rarest muscle car in existence, a one-of-one Canadian built (at the same Oshawa, Ontario plant that currently builds the Camaro) Pontiac Parisienne Safari six-passenger station wagon powered by a 425-horsepower dual quad 409, the same engine immortalized by the Beach Boys song “409.”

Continue reading "Dual Quad 409 Equipped Canadian Pontiac Wagon!" »

I’m not really sure what to say here, but this ‘48 Pontiac has got to be one of the most unique cars I’ve ever seen take part in this twisted motorsport. Just watch the clip.

By Mike Garrett

Welcome to the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the notion of what a muscle car is, and to have fun while doing so. The Pontiac Grand Prix made it’s debut in 1962 as basically a re-styled Catalina. It was built as a full size, two door hardtop, than blended performance and luxury into a tasteful package. The full-size Catalina-based Grand Prix did very well through the 1960s, and is often credited with the move towards minimal exterior trim seen during this period, and the Grand Prix had a much stronger performance image than its competitors, as it was available with the full range of Pontiac Power, from the 303 HP 389, to the Tri-Carbed 389 HO producing almost 350 HP. The Grand Prix kept pace with the full size Pontiac, but it was rapidly losing sales to other personal luxury cars. The low point is the subject of this edition, with a one year only styling. Introducing the 1968 full size Pontiac Grand Prix. Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot: The 1968 Pontiac Grand Prix" »