There will forever be a scar in the shape of a Pontiac logo for many GM enthusiasts. Though the reality of the brand’s death does not have to prohibit imagination. Of course, one of the easiest things to imagine is a cousin to the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro, in the form of a modern Pontiac Firebird, and/or Trans Am. Teaming up with RM Car Design, we present you what we think the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am of today would look like, sharing the bones of GM’s acclaimed Alpha platform.
We’re sure that there’s a company or two out there working on a new Trans Am conversion kit for the sixth-generation Camaro, and who knows, we may see our first applications at the 2016 SEMA show. But in the meantime, we hope that this satisfies some appetites out there. Will they have T-tops like this rendering? We hope so.
We know what powers the 2016 Camaro lineup, but if Pontiac was still around, who is to say what’s under the hood wouldn’t be a little different? We’ll leave that part open to discussion in the comment section below.
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Comments
Damn i wish that was real!
What a complete waste of time! Sometimes I wish pontiac guys would just go away! And I love pontiacs but the time has come to leave them behind
What’s wrong with dreaming a little? Yes, Pontiac is gone for good but not in some people’s imaginations
What is wrong with a little dreaming for some.
Well in the words of Buford T Justice. Them Sumbitches would try to stuff their grandmas because they could not let go. HMMMPH!
Well it is time for some to get a grip and realize Pontiac is gone. God knows many of the die hard Pontiac people knew long ago Pontiac was dead even before GM pulled the plug.
Then factor in the new auto scene where you just can have so many models anymore and make as much profits outside of trucks and SUV models.
Add to this that you can put a great looking Pontiac face on this car but yet it is still a Camaro.
Even killing the Pontiac all the hand wringing that all the Pontiac people would go to go to Ford and Chrysler were for not. The sales of the Camaro just increased to the point that they now have been generally a better selling car than the Mustang and even more profitable.
I love Pontiac and still own Pontiac but I realize that it is time to remember and preserve the past but move on in the new car market. There may be a time this could be revisited but now is not the time.
As for all these conversions has anyone noticed none of them have worked. The Pontiac people have really not embraced them as they are even less Pontiac than the last GM Pontiac’s and that is saying something.
Add add to that most are all copies of each other with little originality.
Finally the six figure prices many have had just have proven too much.
This is one dead horse better left alone.
I also find it sad Burt is in a place where he has to be place behind the wheel for a short promo drive to make a needed buck anymore. I have always been a fan of his and find it as painful to see this as the loss of Pontiac.
I just pray they never remake Smokey and the Bandit. That was a classic that could never be duplicated as we have seen with other classic remakes. It was a time of the right people in the right place with the right car and those are things you can not make happen as it just has to all come together on their own.
Don’t say that! You know someone in Hollywood is thinking of a Smokey and the Bandit reboot! I hope no movie studio hack is reading this forum. 🙂
Scott, There is no reason why GM can’t offer a Camaro special edition with a Chevrolet vin number but Pontiac badging and body work.
Given that special editions are so popular, this Chevrolet-Pontiac Firebird would be an easy yet profitable special promotion.
Camaro needs a HellCat rival, anyway.
Steve I appreciate your passion but you over look so many things.
#1 GM just spent millions putting Pontiac away. The last thing they want to do is dig up the ghost of a unpopular but needed decision.
#2 The added cost to restyle the car and put a new interior in it would net you little in profits over what you are already doing with the Camaro.
#3 Where would you sell it. Buick? They already lost a chance a a coupe due to poor coupe sales?
#4 How many of these rebodies have we already seen on the market and some very well done but fail. I know we have had at least a dozen already and just a new one recently. Even Lingenfelter did not succeed with his.
#5 What you forget on many of the special Camaro editions that they consist of paint, badges and in some cases wheels and that is it. There is so little development money in these compared to what they take in.
#6 Finally what I think you really miss is most Pontiac fans feel there has not been a real Pontiac since 1979 when the last 400 was made. The engine was the heart and soul of Pontiac as was the special suspension tuning that too was lost not long after that.
The last real Pontiac was the 1988 4 cylinder Fiero to be exact. It was a Pontiac only model with a Pontiac built 4 and even was built in Pontiac Michigan. After that it was all just fancy Chevys. Cool cars but not really Pontiac’s.
As for Chevy’s Hell Cat? You miss what the Hell Cat Really is. The car is a desperate attempt to remain relevant in the segment as FCA is killing Chrysler due to the lack of funding to replace the dinosaur. They should have named that car T Rex.
The Hell Cat puts up some big numbers but with the engine management could do it with less. I think you will find the ZL1 and the Z/28 will do nearly as well in a 1/4 and will smoke the Hell Cat in turning and stopping.
I get the feeling you were not around back when Pontiac really was still Pontiac. If you were I think you hold a better understanding.
If only running a automaker was as easy as you like to make it. I wish it were true as we would have more cool cars but the problem of profits and cost get in the way. Too many on the web tend to overlook this or not consider these factors.
Before you would pay the money for one of these rebodies I would take the money and buy a top quality TA from the 70’s or even an older GTO . That is what Pontiac really was about and if anything they will only go up in value over some remade Camaro.
I’m not really thinking of a genuinely cool car. I’m thinking 1980s/90s GM, that era of rebadging was my era, and this was a time when a unique front and rear facada was enough to justify an entire GM division.
Chevy could build a Firebird on the cheap by a borrowing pre existing interior from Cadillac, unique suspension and some sheet metal tweeks. I’m in no way suggesting a unique vehicle. There are more than enough aging baby boomers to make such a limited edition profitable.
my god thats an awful render.
I think T-tops are done, sadly.
T-Tops are sad.
They’re not sad. There’s just a time and place for them, and it was 40 years ago around fast food restaurant parking lots.
I dig the rear, front not so much.
Is there really a need to render a Firebird Trans Am based on the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro when there’s a company building Firebird Trans Am Bandit cars.
If it can be done better. But that’s a lot of subjectivity there. The point is to enjoy the dream if you’d like 🙂
No need to dream about it, just goto TransAm Depot. These guys have been doing it for years and it’s not just a body kit. They do full tear down.
http://transamdepot.com/
For the jerks who say to get over it. You need to do some research and see how strong the Pontiac brand still is. Look at all the clubs and the industries catering to the Pontiac brand weather it has a Pontiac engine or corporate engine. There is a very strong following for Pontiacs! I for one like the last Gen Trans Ams over the chevy Camaro. It was far more refined in interior and exterior styling. I used to own a 1969 Z/28. I also helped from a big Camaro club. Pontiac was and will always be a “notch” above chevy. When I was selling Pontiacs it was easy to show buyers the extra value they were getting over chevy.
Well if you really check into many of the clubs and publications they mostly dwell on the older Pontiacs that had Pontiac engines and much more true Pontiac Content.
GM for so many years fools so many that their Pontiacs were different but in truth the cars were just cosmetically changed and nothing more. Add some pop up head lamps. Red dash lights and then put some cladding on it and call it a Pontiac. It worked on the simple minded for a while but even most of them caught on when GM took performance out of most of the line up.
Lets face it Lutz was appalled that Pontiac had no RWD performance when he arrived even based on a Chevy. By the time he arrived he was too late even as he tried to bring cars not shared with Chevy to the liner like the Solstice and G8.
Steve the most major factor is Pontiac just was not different enough, was not global like Buick and was just not bringing the volume needed to be worth keeping. Low profits and volume killed them.
At the end we had rebadged Toyota’s and rebadged Chevy Metro’s as G3. We could not even get a 2.0 Turbo in a G5 or G6.
As much as a Pontiac fan I am and most of my Pontiac friends it was a mercy killing as GM just did not have the time, volume and profits coming from Pontiac to fix them.
Times have changed and to be honest if it were not for China we would have GMC, Chevy and Cadillac today in North America. MFG do not need 17 divisions in one market anymore. That just does not work anymore.
Sorry to bust your bubble but that it the reality of it.
Well Pontiac actually had volume, just not the profits.
Profits matter more than volume.
Not the kinds of volume you need to day to remain profitable. The added development cost and marketing drains it all away.
It is like having the fixings to make a one great sandwich. You could stretch it out to make two sandwiches but then they both are half as good as the one really great sandwich.
To put it simple GM is selling as many or more cars with one model than they would with two and doing at a lower cost of development.
Times have changed and cost are high to develop cars.
Right. as I simply put. Pontiac sold high volume. Pontiac did not have high profits.
Without Pontiac Motor Division, there can be no Firebird/Trans Am. These limited edition cars and renderings only say one thing to me, Camaro. The Firebird/TA wasn’t just panels and graphics slapped-on to a Camaro back in ’67, John DeLorean made sure of that. The Firebird was always, in all it’s generations, a more up-scale F-body, featuring stiffer suspensions, more aggressive styling and driver-oriented cockpits. Firebird buyers specifically sought-out Pontiac’s F-body over Chevy’s for a more rare and unique ride. As a lifelong Pontiac man and Firebird fanatic, I’m insulted not invigorated every time I see one of these Camaro-based fake birds. To address all the hoopla lately over the “Smokey and the Bandit’ cars and other TA talk, it’s just a testament to the iconic legacy left by these cars and the Excitement Division. listen to this, get ready… Leave the Buicks for the Chinese, bring the Holden guys to the U.S. and give us a niche company called Pontiac with a real “Porsche-quality” Firebird as flagship. How’s that for wishful thinking. And go to an auction and shell-out the cash for a true Firebird/TA instead of these Camaro-registered phonies.
“listen to this, get ready… Leave the Buicks for the Chinese, bring the Holden guys to the U.S. and give us a niche company called Pontiac with a real “Porsche-quality” Firebird as flagship.”
A “Porsche-quality Firebird” is a $90K sports car with DSG and AWD, that no Pontiac fan will ever pony up for, let alone cross-shop. You want rare and unique? You want that stiffer suspension, more aggressive styling, and a driver-oriented cockpit? A $90K Firebird wouldn’t be a carbon copy of some trashy WS6. Be prepared to pay for it.
Cars that high up the ladder are the domain of the Corvette and Cadillac, not Pontiac.
I don’t remember the windows being as small as they are on the new Camero. Am I the only one who thinks the windows look weird. If you could add memories to the Trans Am window sticker — now there’s a guaranteed way they would sell.
This should be sold as a special edition as a Chevy vin but not badged Chevrolet-Pontiac Trans Am. To keep costs low, this project would be more about the exterior than interior, and sold in small batches at select dealers.
Being a Pontiac enthusiast is the same as a true blue Chevy guy versus a Ford guy . People that will complain that we wish Pontiac was still around just don’t get it ! It’s the same as the Camaro driver vs. Pontiac . Now its Camaro vs. Mustang . So if we want to dream alittle get off of our @ss .
Maybe if the Chinese would have had an interest in Pontiac it might have made it past bankruptcy as a stand alone division like the ill-conceived Saturn experiment that cost the corporation billions . Thanks Roger Smith !!
If the emperor had only prized a Pontiac over his Buick in the 30’s it would have been totally different.
I will not get off your back side for your continued attempt to find a way to fix your bleeding heart because your beloved pontiac is gone. It should be gone and it should stay gone!
How in the hell can you compare chevy vs pontiac and chevy vs ford guys? You have got to be a fool to think that chevy guys hate pontiac guys like they hate ford guys.
I am a GM guy Chevy’s, pontiac, buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, the list goes on. I support all of these brands weather they are here now or gone by the waist side.
Sometimes you have to cut bait in order to move the rest of the company along, people like just don’t get it. So wise up stop being thick headed and understand that with pontiac out of the picture it allows GM to build a world class camaro that you see now.
Maybe If you were smarter or took the time to think about why pontiac was cut you would finally get. But I assume that will never happen.
Since you are riding him so hard. What do you drive?
It’s funny you ask, I currently drive a 13 malibu as my daily drive. I also have a 1970 chevy truck 2wd short box fleet side with a 383/700r4 that I have had for 43 years.
So yes I talk the talk and walk the walk! In fact I have only own chevy cars or trucks in my life, I am sure there are not to many people in this world that can say that.
No doubt Scott,
you can speak what you want then.
I’ve only driven GM’s and that is all I have had my self. Ponitac/Buick/Chevy.
Good day Sir
If they want to offer pontiac firebirds via the aftermarket then I say knock yourself out. I just hope the companies charge these people a expensive arm and a leg.
Don’t worry they do. The latest was six figures
$115K but to be fair it was also over 845 HP in one option.
Odds are they will sell less than 10 like the others.
Are there people who are pontiac fans that refuse to drive a chevy? And don’t they realize that the firebird has camaro DNA all over it and yes even the old ones did!
If pontiac firebirds were so superior then why didn’t they sell in better numbers?
Scott, the Pontiac Firebird was only produced as 25% of the total Camaro/Firebird Production.
For example in a model year 60,000 Chevy Camaros would be produced and 20,000 Pontiac Firebirds would be produced. It was especially like that for the 4th generation.
It is very similar to the Chevy Silverado & GMC Sierra Production:
For model year 2015
Chevrolet Sierra 600,500 units
GMC Sierra 224,100 units
The stripped down 6-cyl Camaro supplied many sales for Chevrolet as the Lowest trim Pontiac Firebird still had more standard features.
C’mon Steve you need to have a bit more attention to detail if you are a car enthusiast! lol
All in good fun man- I’m just supplying some info.
Some people do not get the car culture . There has ALWAYS been competition between Chevy and Pontiac .
You ill attempt to try and ridicule people that wish the Pontiac Division had survived shows how little you know .
The rendering should show you ( but I doubt it with your closed mind ) that there is still people that wish Pontiac was still around . Why else would they have spent their time coming up withe the picture !
Would you have been happier if it was a rendering of a Saturn Ion as an EV !? My guess is yes .
I also am a GM guy and that is all I have ever owned , so maybe you should wise up . It’s always amazing to me how stupid @ss people like to hide behind their computer screens and shout to the world how $uckin’ smart they think they are .
My guess is you are probably driving a piece of %hit , and probably a piece of Japanese Junk .
Through out the years GM has produced cars that people wish would come back , like a Buick Grand National , a Cutlass 442 ( which I owned ) , a Hurst Olds etc………
So SCOTT like I said before you can get the #ell of the people that look back at some of the old cars GM once produced and wish they could come back with todays technology . DO YOU LIKE GET IT NOW !!!!! 🙂
I will address you just like the guy who asked before, I too have only owned GM cars and trucks, chevy to be specific!
Cars and trucks from GM come and go some you wish had never ended, some you are glad they are not around anymore. But in the end it’s what’s best for GM the company NOT YOU! DON’T YOU GET IT? THE WORLD DOESN’T REVOLVE AROUND YOU!
I told you that I love pontiacs but for the future of GM pontiac needed to go and thank goodness it did.
So yes I do get it, the only people here that are closed minded are people like you who can’t bring themselves out of this depression they are in over pontiac. I on the other hand I was open minded enough to see the benefits of having pontiac go by the waste side!
So in closing I am smart enough to understand why GM had to pick Buick over pontiac, but it clearly shows that you are not smart enough to figure this out.
So have a nice day with that small brain of yours!
What planet did SCOTT come from ?
He needs to take his meds. :'(
Makes you wonder would Chevrolet ever consider offering a Camaro as a Firebird Trans Am as a specific model and to differentiate it from the Camaro SS, they could drop a LF4 464 horsepower twin-turbo 3.6L DOHC-4v V6 from Cadillac’s ATS-V.
Well Scott I sold GM vehicles for over 36 years. All of them. I prefer Pontiac. I liked the way they took a gm platform and produced a vehicle. I also noticed Pontiac Buyers were shall we say a little more refined then chevy buyers. I also owned GM. 69 Z/28, Celebrity Eurosports, GMC Safari Mini Vans, Lemans sedan. Trans Ams & Fieros, Malibus, Grand Ams. But now that there is no more Pontaic, there are no more GM’s in the drive way other than my Fiero. Wife gets a new car every two years, and after GM( thanks to obama) dropped Pontiac, we stopped buying GM. To bad so sad.
ummm….I would say Pontiac buyers were definitely more refined than Chevy buyers!!
You mean to tell me that GM doesn’t make a car worthy to sit in your drive way? That’s complete BS! A Chevy corvette Z51 Grand Sport ZO6, Chevy camaro SS ZL1 Z28, Chevy SS, Cadillac ATS-V, Cadillac CTS-V. If this is the case then you are clearly being pig headed in your attempt to stay away from GM.
You are just trying to find a way to prove your point and it is not working.