Pontiac’s days may be numbered as General Motors plans to phase out the historic brand by the end of 2010, but that hasn’t dampened ASC Creative Services’ attempts to make a Trans Am version out of the all-new Chevy Camaro coupe. ASC has worked many times with General Motors in the past helping out in the creation and design development of cars like the 1987 Buick GNX, various Chevy SS models such as the HHR SS and Malibu SS, as well as the Cadillac STS-V and XLR-V sport cars just to mention a few.
When news of the Camaro's rebirth got teeth back in 2006, the HOT ROD staff was frothing at the mouth, and it wasn't long before one of us asked the question, "I wonder if they'll do a Firebird version of it?" Of course, Pontiac still existed at the time, so it seemed logical. We then saw designer Kevin Morgan's concept drawing of a new Trans Am (below), using the Camaro as the base. He hit it out of the park with the rendering, which appeared in the May '07 issue, and we're not the only ones to think so.Of course, there weren't any cars available at the time, but thanks to his SEMA membership, Tod had access to the cad-cam data on the new Camaro and gathered the information needed to make the tooling to turn the Chevy into a Trans Am. About a year later, Todd Otto at Otto Body in Lincoln, Nebraska (www.ottobody.com), was thinking the same thing and called Kevin with the offer to build a one-off TA, just because he wanted to do it. Kevin contacted Tod (Warmack) and told him of the plan, and the three of them hashed out the details. Trans Am Depot bought a new Camaro and delivered it to Otto Body, which built the car in a relative hurry to hit the deadline of making it to the Trans Am Nationals in Dayton, Ohio, in August 2009 for its debut.
The design and development firm’s proposal for a Camaro-based Pontiac Trans Am is a fairly simply conversion that could easily lead to a custom-order production model. The changes include a new front fascia complete with unique head lights, twin-kidney grill inserts and restyled apron, a rear-facing hood shaker, new side skirts and alloy wheel designs plus rear-fender air vents. At the back the design proposes a new rear fascia with distinctive tail lights, boot spoiler and a specific apron housing new exhaust pipes.While we don’t have any photos of the interior, we gather that ASC would most likely limit the changes to the trim and seat options along with a revised instrument panel.
Einen kleinen Vorgeschmack auf das was in einigen Jahren kommen könnte, zeigt dieses Rendering von Poblete. Burt Reynold’s berühmtestes Gefährt, bereit für ein neues Jahrtausend. Leider wird bei Pontiac offiziell nicht an einem Coupe gearbeitet, also bleibt uns vorerst nur dieser Mockup.
This beautiful peace of art was brought by ASC Creative Services guys. 2010 Camaro based Firebird concept looks seriously cool and probably would face good sales if it would hit the streets. The Firebird concept brings the 1970 Bird’s features, while keeping Camaro’s bodyline and shape:
