I just received the new issue of Hot Rod and they had a short essay on how Lingenfelter is working on a body kit to convert the Camaro to a Trans Am. It is going to be revealed at SEMA. The prototype looks nice.

I don't see the point. It's a Camaro...that looks like a Pontiac? Ick.

You just successfully defined the Firebird.

Here is the photo and text.

Attach file:

---

  CamaroFirebirdxx.jpg (61.16 KB)


  CamaroFirebird_text.jpg (101.52 KB)

I like it.

Quote:

Yup - I kind of like the retro Trans-Am look too. I loved those old Firebirds.

It's cool and I like it

It's cool and I

It's looks cool and from LPE ya know it's gonna haul ass. The only thing is how much will it cost esp ditching the LSX in favor of a Pontiac motor ?? That's just weird, Trans Ams ran Chevy power for the last 20+years at least so I don't get that part but the folks at LPE know alot more about cars than I do. A fiberglass/urethane body kit and a blower would have accomplished the same thing I THINK, and kept the price down.

the engine is going to make that thing damned near impossible to register in states with any form of inspection.

Quote:

that's a good point... but to put a finer point on it, the LS1 is NOT a "Chevy" engine. It's a GM corporate powerplant.

The SBC became the corporate V8 after GM phased out divisional engines. Now... IIRC, the Firebird ran a 301 Pontiac motor for a few years into the early 80s. Then swapped over to the 305 and 350.

Cadillac did run their own V8 for a long time, the 4.0 and 4.5 litre pushrod motors were pretty much Caddy through and through. All aluminum, too. The Northstar was the son of LT5 and was Caddy only until Buick used it for a while.

The V6s were either Chevy (2.8-3.1-3.4-3.9) or Buick(3.8). I don't rightly remember the source of the 4.3... for some reason, I think it's a 350 with 2 cylinders lopped off... but I am not sure.

The 4 cylinders are all new and part of the GM Powertrain family of engines.

The old pushrod I4 was actually available in 1980s in the base Camaro and Firebird. After Ford did the Mustang SVO, I always thought it would be neat to take the Camaro, put the Z28 suspension under it, 5spd manual, and a turbocharged Quad-Four I-4. Think about that combo. A real BMW killer. The engine could have put out big power (reliability be damned, right?) and it would have been big time lighter.

Pontiac did do something like that with the GTA... the Buick turbo V6 in the Firebird. It did take different heads to make it fit in the smaller car, but what a rocket that was. One of the fastest cars of the 1980s. Also, Pontiac didn't like a "Buick" engine in their car... tough shit. They replaced a Chevy engine with a Buick engine...

The last year of the 3rd gen Firebird, SLP did the Firehawk... not many made... hot L98, ZF6spd... one bad assed car and worth a chunk today.

It looks better than the Camaro. I'd be curious to see what they do to fix that ugly rear on the Camaro.

I like it. I liked that version of the Firebird.

The LSX may not be a Chevy engine rather a GM engine however it certainly isn't a Pontiac engine and neither is the LPE Camaro/Trans Am they are building . I just don't see why you would put a Pontiac powerplant in your Trans Am looking Camaro ???? By the time they are done, might as well be made out of unobtanium. WTF why Chevy couldn't have built a retro looking T/A and called it the Chevrolet Trans Am or just the Trans Am don't need an entire dealer network of Pontiac Delaers to make a Trans Am out of the Camaro ??
STUPID GM....

They don't want to restart the $5.00 per unit royalty payments to the SCCA.

Quote:

Yea, the Camero rear looks totally Japanese.

I just bought that magazine as well

I like it better than the other TransAm/Camaro.

I like the idea of the 455, but your right, where do you register it?

Quote:


Not in CA. LOL.

Quote:


Same Here!

I'll have to wait until it's done to voice my opinion.

It's got LS heads on it, so you should be able to register it.

[QUOTE]Zeeman28a;
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/ ... 55_t_a_concept-auto_shows
Based on the 2010 Camaro

-aluminum 455-cubic-inch (7.5-liter) V-8 block with a lofty 11.5:1compression ratio
-ported-and-polished Lingenfelter heads from the Corvette Z06’s LS7
-forged crankshaft
-high-flow intake
-custom stainless-steel exhaust comes courtesy of Corsa
-20-inch honeycomb wheels
-power output is quoted at 655 hp and 610 lb-ft of torque























[/quote]

Very nice looking. Another car I like and can't afford.

Quote:

Ha, you need to talk to my buddy. He has a '96 Firehawk, it's an LT1 with a ram air kit and an exhaust. It did make 330 HP, so better than a 'vette LT1 but not as much as an LT4.

He was convinced it would be worth money someday. It's not.

Well, not more than a typical '96 car. The WS6 TA and the Camaro SS pretty much destroyed the value of the Firehawk kit.

The only thing I like about it are the lines it gets from when it used to be a Camaro. I really don't like the nose. The rear end isn't horrible, but it isn't anything special in fact it seems a bit bland.

Quote:

I was specifically talking about the 1992 version.

http://www.gtasourcepage.com/92HPPFirehawkReview.html

a story and specs.

It is worth $$$... the others? They are pacing ahead of stock Fbodies, but not a lot.

Back in 1999, I went to a local car lot. They had a 1997 Formula Firehawk. Ram-air, 6spd, 1LE, LT1, drk green with grey cloth sport seats, basic AC, 1SC... sweet ride... They were asking $21k or so... had 18k miles or so... don't remember now. But it sounded sweet!

I ended up with the Vette a year later... no regrets!

I liked it better in clay!!!

Nope, I'd rather have that SLP ZL575 Camaro I saw this weekend any day.