The fourth-generation Pontiac Firebird Trans Am is a car with a lot of variety on the used market. You can probably find affordable ones with high mileage in local used car listings, but there are also some collectible examples out there, like the one you see here. This special Trans Am is named “Gold Rush” and was originally used by GM as an engineering and test vehicle. It just sold in a Bring a Trailer auction for a cool $60,000, making it one of the more valuable fourth-gen Firebird models ever sold on the auction site.
This Bird’s VIN sequence is 00001, indicating that it was the first-ever Pontiac Firebird Trans Am equipped with an LS1 V8. It was no ordinary 5.7L LS1; it was a stroker modified to a 6.3L displacement and integrates a forged Lunati rotating assembly. Other performance mods include Lingenfelter ported cylinder heads, updated ECU tuning, a Centerforce clutch assembly, Baer front brakes, and a Borla exhaust system. Output is routed to the rear wheels via a Tremec T56 six-speed manual transmission, a carbon fiber driveshaft, and a Torsen differential.
Befitting its “Gold Rush” nickname, the car is finished in Sport Gold Metallic with black over-the-top stripes. The interior is pretty subtle, with gray leather front seats, the factory stereo, and what appears to be a stock gauge cluster. The big modification is the removal of the rear seats to make room for the roll bar. A smaller modification is a Hurst billet prototype shifter.
Automotive Services Inc. and Mr. Gasket modified the car to demonstrate what the F-Body platform was capable of, and it was displayed at the 2001 SEMA show. Previously, it was part of the GM Heritage Collection. The car was featured as the cover story of the February 2001 issue of High Performance Pontiac Magazine, a copy of which is included in the sale.
Likely because it’s so heavily modified, this Trans Am has a “Scrap/Non-Salvageable” title. That means it’s not street-legal despite so closely resembling a roadworthy Trans Am. The CarFax shows that it was listed for sale in dealer inventory in January 2009, issued a junk title the following month, and eventually sold in November 2020.
The new owner may not be able to drive this unique Pontiac Firebird Trans Am on public roads, but they do own a small piece of GM history.
Comments
Very Beautiful Car… love the 1990ies 2000ies ones
I always have wanted a final year 2002 WS6 Trans Am. Those cars were sharp looking. I was in high school when that body style came out, and a local farmer bought a 2000 T-top WS6 red one, and I was so jealous of it. In 2000, $40k was a lot of money and this poor high schooler couldn’t afford that!! LOL
Beautiful car for sale, hopefully someone appreciates it and drives it to enjoy it.
We were able to purchase a 2002 WS6 TransAm in FEB2002 & just sold it in 2020 to a friend of mine. Wife loved that car, sold black & reminded us of the F-Body cars we’d both had going back to the 1970s. Even though we’re older now, we replaced her TransAm with a 2022 black Camaro SS!