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The second generation (1970-1981) Pontiac Firebird Trans Am has always held a special spot in my appreciation for cars. When all the "would be" competitors faded away, the Trans Am eluded the corporate bean counters to hold on to it's dignity. Although the wings were repeatedly clipped, those in charge never lost sight of what Trans Am really meant.
The Trans Am was a very diverse beast, and until the 1979 model year, was never offered with a "small" engine, as happened to the Camaro, Mustang, 'Cuda or Javelin set. 455SD, M-22 "rock crusher", "ram air", and "shaker" hood scoop were all names synomonous with the Trans Am. The T/A ushered in the era of "functional" aerodynamic devices, long before anyone really cared. But most important, Schinella's "Screaming Chicken" emblazoned the hood of many a T/A.
Second generation Trans Am's were wildly interesting because of the wide variety of engine, chassis, interior, and paint and trim combinations. It's sister, the Camaro, could come no where close to the variety of offerings as the T/A. And we didn't take a two year hiatus like some Z-car, now did we?
But what makes a T/A special? Although during the late seventies, the T/A and Firebird shined as Pontiac's most popular model, most second generation cars were of the garden variety, with far too many of them having automatic transmissions. (Boy, will this statement ever get me some hate mail!) However, there were a few monumental cars which changed the T/A's appeal. This is a start of a series of "web" articles detailing the second generation Trans Am.
I am making every attempt to put as much info as possible about the 2G T/A on the web as possible, so the yearly pages will be updated as comments and research widens. As I stated in the beginning of the page, these are very special cars to me. Even thought I was only nine in 1970, I started collecting car books and magazines - something that continues until today, so my resources are broad. But they are by no means complete nor perfect. The last thing I want is to put bad info out to the masses and be shunned by those who know what is correct. Please enjoy my page and feel free to comment or criticize.
Some changes have taken place on the web pages concerning the individual model years. As I am trying to economize my space on my server, I have eliminated web links aside from other yearly links from these pages. All main pages still have the links to other sites available. The reason for economizing is to leave room for some photo's and graphics. The TA pages are currently content oriented, but I hope to add some good photo's I have into the pages. Currently, I have used 1/2th of my alloted space, and as of tonight I still have 2 more interesting years to add. Please visit the other links listed on this and the other main pages. It is worth your time.