Pontiac Tribute Cars - Love 'em or Leave 'em?

[Frosty]

OK guys, just to stir the pot a little, I want to ask you for your opinion on tribute Pontiac cars made from 5th gen Camaros. Companies today make tribute Trans Ams, Firebirds, and GTOs, So the questions I have for you are these:

1. Would you buy one - why or why not?

2. Should they be allowed at Pontiac-only car shows like POCI and GTOAA sponsored conventions and chapter shows (judged in their own class)?

First of all, let's start with the fact that these cars will have to be titled and insured as a Camaro through virtually every state DMV and insurance company. So it will still be a Camaro in Pontiac clothing. I get that part. Let's move on....

These companies take a Camaro, put new sheet metal, graphics, and paint to make the exterior look like a Trans Am or GTO essentially. The interiors tend to stay mostly Camaro looking but they do put the Pontiac touches on them. They often upgrade the suspension with state of the art aftermarket goodies to improve handling. They also have options for supercharger kits to boost the LS3's performance. So these can be considered top of the line muscle cars or even a super muscle car.

Now these packages do not come cheap to be sure. They tend to $10-25k over the base price of the Camaro SS. The Camaro is rough $40k itself. So now this car would be around $50-65 - which now gets you into Corvette, or even ZL-1 Camaro pricing. So would you buy one assuming you could afford it? Do you think these cars honor or demean Pontiac?

Do you think these cars should be allowed and judged in their own class at Pontiac-only car shows or are these not Pontiacs at all?

Examples of Tribute Companies Cars:

http://www.transamde..._gto_judge.html

http://www.transamde...9_trans_am.html

http://www.transamde...st_edition.html

http://www.transamde...k_trans_am.html

http://www.hppcars.c...cles/hppta.aspx

[bricooper78]

I like the hurst T/A... The HPP car is okay...

but I swear to everything holy I would do SOOOOOOOOOOO many illegal things to have that GTO knockoff

I'm not a fan of the halo headlights, and once again, don't like them here. However, they do fit the car, I suppose, for what they're going for.

But, if I took my truck, and covered it up in Yugo emblems, and reworked the body, it doesn't make my Ford a Yugo. So they have no place in a show.

damn that goat is purdy, i'd like to kiss it, right in the mouth lol

[Frosty]

But, if I took my truck, and covered it up in Yugo emblems, and reworked the body, it doesn't make my Ford a Yugo. So they have no place in a show.

damn that goat is purdy, i'd like to kiss it, right in the mouth lol

No tongues please. This is a DPA free zone....its bad enough to have the image of notallthere in a thong already in my head. I don't know if I can handle the image someone French kissing a goat.

[Ringo64]

I don't mind some of them, others are gawd awful ugly though. Was thinking about it for a while to do this with my Camaro but I think it's too much for my budget

[havoc1482]

The ones from Trans Am Depot should definetly be considered Pontiacs. I've posted about this before so I'll just quote myself.

Here is a video for you:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=21Dlaa-V7Ew?

I want you to pay attention to all the work done on these cars.
TA Depot strips the Camaros down to nothing and rebuilds them, they aren't just body kits, they give them a full work-over. They do T/A style interiors, custom T/A style gauge clusters and more. Camaros and Firebird rolled down the lines together. They basically make a GM factory Trans Am using the same platform as the Camaro, which is what they did back in the day anyways. (and still do) The only thing that it lacks is that is is built at an official GM assembly line, but all of the passion and love is still burning strong.

To simply knock it off as just a body-kit means you don't know what you're talking about.

Start that video at 5:25 if you don't want to watch the whole thing.

[[ChaosweaveR]]

Do not want.

Then again, I detest the looks of the 5th gens, so that doesn't help.

Honestly, I'd rather have the real thing, these just piss upon the memory of great muscle cars.

[ChiefPoncho]

Just wondering, the people who do these (Trans Am Depot, etc.) have to be licensed by GM to do what they are doing since I believe legally GM still owns the Pontiac name and copywrites, After all, they were never officially sold off. Otherwise, how could they get away with using the Pontiac arrowheads and insignia, is that correct?

[havoc1482]

Just wondering, the people who do these (Trans Am Depot, etc.) have to be licensed by GM to do what they are doing since I believe legally GM still owns the Pontiac name and copywrites, After all, they were never officially sold off. Otherwise, how could they get away with using the Pontiac arrowheads and insignia, is that correct?

from thier website

"Trans Am Depot is the only company licensed and authorized to use the Trans Am moniker, an honor we hold in the highest regard."

From what I've read they are officially (and exclusively) licensed by GM to make these cars. So in a way, they are Pontiacs.

these just piss upon the memory of great muscle cars.

So by that logic the new Camaro pisses on the memory of the old?

[[ChaosweaveR]]

I think so. They're ugly as fuck.

[Ringo64]

Technically you are call the 1st gens ugly as well. Just brought that design into the 21st century

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Frosty]

Let me clarify something. The "Trans Am" name is not GM's to license in the first place. Trans Am is a registered trademark of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). GM licensed the name from the SCCA in the late 60s. GM saw a marketing opportunity to tie in their high end Firebird in with their road racing efforts, thus the Trans Am Firebird was born! It cost GM $5.00 a car to license the name Trans Am back in the day. Since GM has not produced a Trans Am since 2002, that contract has lapsed. Today, Trans Am Depot has secured the rights from the SCCA to use the name Trans Am on their cars for considerably more money per car.

Also, I have read that GM erroneously let the trademark or service mark for the GTO "Judge" name lapse, and Trans Am Depot picked up that name as well. So now they have a GTO Judge tribute too. Although the car I saw at the 2012 Detroit Autorama said "The Goat"

As for the use of the arrowhead badge, I am not as certain. As a guess, perhaps they purchase already existing licensed reproduction arrowheads and mount or modify them to fit. The word Pontiac is not on any of these cars.

[ChiefPoncho]

The Pontiac name is on the tribute cars put out by Heide Performance Products.