"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.

The first-generation Pontiac Firebird is a vehicle that experienced some substantial changes over its three-year production run, and the 1969 model is immediately recognizable as a result. It features an aerodynamic bumper and grill design that's unique to this model year, new front fenders with recessed fender ornaments, and eye-catching details such as bird-shaped side markers on the rear quarter panels. There were also some updates inside the Firebird, including a new dash carrier that contained the gauges, air vents, and radio. Classic Industries is excited to announce the availability of a new OER reproduction dash carrier assembly for the 1969 Firebird and Trans Am.

Over the years, we've been proud to help well-known automotive publications find the restoration parts they needed to complete their classic car projects. Few TV shows have done more to popularize classic car restoration than Overhaulin'. Since the series premiered in 2004, we have teamed up with Chip Foose and the rest of the Overhaulin' crew many times. This 1967 Firebird, which was completed back in Season 8, is one memorable example. It features a 500-horsepower LS3 crate engine, big brakes, double-adjustable coilover suspension, and slick custom paint.

This restored '79 Trans Am looks great at face value, but knowing its backstory makes it even cooler. We recently had an opportunity to speak to this Pontiac's owner, Frank Perez, and learn all the details of the last four decades of its life. It all started back in 1979, when Frank's father purchased the car brand-new in Hawaii.

The Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am are among the most recognizable classic American cars of all time, alongside their GM cousin the Camaro. It's no surprise that car enthusiasts around the world are drawn to these sporty and elegant vehicles, and undertake restoration projects to bring them back to original condition. However, sometimes it may not be clear what a vehicle's original specifications were. In this case, a VIN decoder can be used to gain some insight. Read on to learn how to find your car's details using our comprehensive 1967-2002 Pontiac Trans Am & Firebird VIN decoder.

Over the course of more than eight decades, Pontiac produced a wide variety of memorable cars, but the Firebird and Trans Am might be the most memorable of all. These sporty two-door vehicles shared lineage with their GM F-body sibling, the Chevrolet Camaro, but exuded a bold style of their own. Today, we'll take a look back at five restoration projects that have made good use of the Pontiac parts found in our Classic Industries Firebird / Trans Am catalog.