This week’s ride is a 2001 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am owned by Victoria Nixon of Waymart. The photos were taken by Nixon during a recent trip to Florida after Nixon’s husband had the Trans Am detailed for her as a special birthday present.
The Pontiac Firebird Trans Am was a pony car built by the Pontiac division of General Motors from 1967 until 2002. (The Trans Am was a version of the Firebird that was available throughout the car’s run). The Firebird was released the same year as its Chevrolet cousin, the Camaro. Trans Ams, for the most part, didn’t have any special engine of their own: they were powered by 8-cylinder engines from various GM divisions.
Nixon’s Trans Am belongs to the so-called “fourth generation” of Trans Ams, which were produced from 1993 until the model was discontinued in 2002. The fourth generation features an “f-body” aerodynamic formula. Nixon’s features the WS-6 “Ram Air” version, which is capable of producing about 320 horsepower (325 after 2000 rpm), which meant that this final version of Trans Ams were capable of outperforming just about any of their predecessors, including the original “Muscle Car” Trans Ams of the late 1960s. Nixon’s Trans Am has a 346 cubic inch engine with aluminum block and heads.
Nixon’s Firebird pulls together her favorite black and pink color scheme. The car has a black exterior and black interior but with some pink accents. A two-tone pink stripe runs down the middle of the hood, as well as the trunk. Nixon added some pink stuffed lambs hanging from the car’s rearview mirror as well as a steering wheel cover that is black with pink hearts on it. She also added two pink Firebird logos on the hood of the car at the end of the stripes and also added a silver and black Firebird logo in the front bumper of the car, where the front license place would go.
Most of Nixon’s creativity with her Firebird Trans Am, however, comes from the custom decals that she has placed on the front and rear windshields of the car. The front windshield features a decal that says “Pink My Ride,” while the rear windshield of the car features decals that say “Pretty in Pink” and “Classy Ladies Don’t Drive Mercedes” with a Firebird logo in the middle of it.
Nixon loves her Trans Am Firebird — and loves showing it off. “It gets a lot of attention, especially with the decals. It’s sad they don’t make Firebirds anymore. I love them,” she says.
Fans of Firebirds had a glimmer of hope that the Firebird line would be revived this spring when Chevrolet unveiled the fifth generation of Camaros. But, on Feb. 12, GM announced that there would be no new version of the Firebird in 2009 and that no new versions of the Firebird are planned at anytime in the near future.
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