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 early 1980s was a tough time for fans of American muscle cars. With increasing government regulations and high fuel costs, many manufacturers were focusing on small, efficient cars rather than high performance. However, enthusiasts still had an insatiable need for speed, and this led a small custom coachbuilder known as Knudsen Automotive to develop something truly radical. The 1984 Pontiac Tojan was an 800+ horsepower twin-turbo supercar based on the Pontiac Trans Am which hit a staggering top speed of 206 miles per hour. Not only was it faster than the legendary Ferrari F40, it broke the 200mph barrier several years earlier and for a fraction of the cost.

Photos courtesy of Mecum Auctions

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.

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.

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.

We've all heard the old saying that patience is a virtue, but it's often difficult to put that virtue into practice in our daily lives. It takes considerable fortitude to see a classic car restoration project through to completion as the months and years tick by, but those who stick with it reap the rewards. Ethan Skinner, of Pennsylvania, experienced this firsthand as he restored the 1969 Pontiac Firebird seen here. He writes, "It has been a slow process, but worth the wait."