Las Vegas, NV – November 2024: Jeff Leonard, the esteemed CEO of Classic Industries, has been awarded the prestigious ARMO Person of the Year Award at the 2024 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show. This award, presented annually by SEMA’s Automotive Restoration Market Organization (ARMO), recognizes an individual who has demonstrated outstanding dedication, leadership, and innovation in the restoration industry. Leonard’s award underscores his invaluable contributions to the field and his passion for preserving automotive history.

Whether you call it the Firebird, the rising phoenix, the hood bird, or use its tongue-in-cheek "screaming chicken" nickname, this iconic decal has become synonymous with the Pontiac Trans Am. But it hasn't always been that way. In fact, according to former Pontiac head of design Bill Porter, GM leadership hated the idea when it was first proposed. YouTube channel Original MotorCar interviewed Porter and his colleague John Schinella to hear the fascinating history behind the development of the Trans Am Hood Bird design.

The Pontiac Firebird has one of the coolest names in automotive history and was designed with sleek aircraft-inspired styling cues to match that name. But BBT Fabrications decided to take things one step further by equipping this 1969 Firebird with enough power to achieve takeoff velocity on a mile-long runway. With its 1,400 horsepower twin-turbo V8, this Firebird practically has wings and is capable of achieving a top speed of over 200 miles per hour. The team from AutotopiaLA traveled to BBT Fab's Illinois headquarters to get a closer look at this unique build.

Searching for a classic car can be quite the adventure. There are so many online sites that publish private party listings and deals from online old car brokers. One can really spend a great deal of time and effort finding just the right vehicle to research, go and see, take for a test drive, and decide on whether the muscle car is worthy of negotiating a fair price with the car's current caretaker.

"It's a head-turner, not only when it's going down the road but when it's sitting still. When people are out on the street and I get on that thing, it just turns heads! You don't see that today," said Gary Plowman, the owner of this '78 Pontiac Trans Am. His car features the famous WS6 suspension package and W72 T/A 6.6L V8 engine — a combination of options that made the Trans Am a top-tier performer, even alongside the Camaro Z28 and Corvette of that era. A recent video from Hemmings' Tested Muscle series takes a closer look at this bright red Trans Am.

"I always wanted a V8, manual, rear-drive car... but I wanted something that's American. I come from New Zealand, so all the stuff here that's local is cool to me." Fueled by memories of watching Smokey and the Bandit as a kid, Gregg Hamilton started looking for the classic American muscle car of his dreams shortly after he moved to the United States. However, he didn't want just any Trans Am, he wanted one that he could make his own. "It's not always about the driving for me. It's about the build, it's about tinkering with it." With that goal in mind, Hamilton ended up creating the aggressive, twin-turbo, widebody Trans Am seen in this video from Petrolicious.

"I love the fact that this is exactly how it left the factory," says Jay Leno while discussing this beautiful 1979 Trans Am. "No modifications, nothing added on, so you really get the feeling of what it was like back in 1979. This was a fast car... and it's still a fast car!" We're big fans of the Jay Leno's Garage series on YouTube, and often go back to watch our favorite episodes. This particular one, featuring a mint-condition Pontiac from the Audrain Automobile Museum, is certainly worth revisiting.

My Firebird was built in Norwood, Ohio. The original color was Verduro Green. She sports a power top, power disc brakes, rally gauges, standard interior with a wood grain steering wheel, and dash face. The engine's backed by a Turbo 400 transmission, 2,800-rpm stall converter, with all that torque transferred to 3.42 gears stuffed in a 10-bolt rear end that was donated from a 79 Trans Am. The engine is the factory, numbers matching 400 that has been stroked & bored to 468 cubic inches of V8 power. The hydraulic roller cams have .623 degrees of lift and .240 duration. The Edelbrock cylinder heads and intake have been ported. There's also a beaudacious 950 cfm Holley four-barrel carb, two-inch Doug's headers, forged steel rods, forged pistons and nitrided crank in the mix for this prodigious mill. As far as the numbers go, the engine has 11.0:1 compression, makes 600-horsepower and 640-lb.-ft. of torque on 91 octane pump fuel. The paint scheme is the LeMans Blue hue from a 2006 Corvette.

Bruce Johnson's 1973 Pontiac Trans Am was a labor of love and family support. He bought the car in Detroit and moved it to Texas. Securing the car was the easy part. In the year that he has had the car, he and his family have had the original, numbers matching "Y" code 455 rebuilt and slightly modified with an earlier model cam and exhaust manifolds. He also added an aluminum intake and HEI ignition. The car had been stored for 18 years. Since the paint was tired, Bruce had the entire exterior re-painted with new decals. New suspension components followed, and finally he got down to business changing out the maroon interior to black, with the help of Classic Industries. He ordered new seat covers, carpet, and headliner from Classic to complete the makeover.

The sort of vehicles that we get exposed to in our upbringing can influence the kind of cars and trucks that we wish to own later in life. If the vehicle is old enough (and the car's would-be caretaker has sufficient spending cash), it could be the sort of car/truck that an auto enthusiast wishes to purchase as a project vehicle to maintain (if it's running), renovate, or resto-mod. The various forms of media — radio, TV, movies, the internet, video games, etc. — all can contribute in a big way to this sort of automotive exposure and influence. Today, we'll discuss a few of our favorite American classic cars from movies and TV shows.