Frosty

I think that gets you fit, finish, body, paint, interior, graphics, wheels etc. - essentially the look. I think performance upgrades like suspension, superchargers, etc. are even more. I knew they are from Trans Am Depot.

In addition to PHS, Jim buys and sells classic GTOs, Firebirds and other classic muscle cars as well. I think he is trying to re-cope the money/cars he lost having to defend himself in a lawsuit brought on by GM a few years ago. He told me had to several valuable collector cars to pay for the lawyers. Yeah, the Daytona/Superbird kits were going for around $16-17K plus the car from HPP. I have no idea what Petty charges. So figure that is base price for a similar Trans Am kit. What I liked most about this kit was it went after the '69 Trans Am look while companies like Trans Am Depot and others went after the '77 Trans Am and GTO look. Even the Lingenfelter Trans Am went for the early 2nd gen look and not the '77 look.

Here's some more.... Ford Raptor Chevy's Motor Trend Awards of late... I'm Lego Batmobile ! Nissan NSX

I thought I'd share some of the photos I took last week at the North American International Auto Show that was held in Detroit this year. Frosty likes the Go Green Challenger TA - a lot !!!! The Shaker Town Challenger in the Mopar Parts exhibit A Yellow Jacket Charger Daytona Fiat 124 Spider convertible A Kia ready for Michigan winters and potholes!

Thanks for sharing stratman! Great pics as always! I recognize one of the cars you photographed. It is the last one, the retro looking '69 Trans Am tribute 5th Gen Camaro. That car appears to be the prototype '69 Trans Am tribute from Heide Performance Products (which is now out of business). They also produced the Daytona/Superbird kit that is on GE's Challenger! A friend of mine worked there for awhile too. I never did hear what happened to the company. The company was located in Sterling Heights Michigan. I drove past it when I worked at the GM Tech Center in Warren between 2011-2012. I first saw this car at the 2012 Detroit Autorama. Sadly no one from HPP was around to talk to about it. It was sitting next to the Pirelli Tire tractor/trailer and the guy from Pirelli knew nothing about the car either. The last time I saw this car was this past July going home from Comerica Bank. It passed me on northbound I-75 like I was standing still (I was doing 75 mph). It got off at the Clarkston exit near the DTE Energy Music Theater (Pine Knob as us old timers still call it). I never heard of HPP selling any of the Trans Am/Firebird kits for the 5th gen Camaro. So I don't know if there are very many (if any) out there other than the prototype. I know there are a lot more Daytona/Superbird kits since HPP built a few and Petty's Garage has built several. Did you have a chance to try to look up Jim Mathison, Mr. PHS, while you were there? I know he was there. He is retained by Barrett-Jackson for all their auctions to authenticate all Pontiacs, especially the high end/special interest ones. He's an honorary Widetracker too. I spoke to him last year at Eric White's funeral and he told me what he does for B-J.

Oh great. Thank you.....I think.

Here is an Ode to GE!

I just got another email from Don. I guess I came up in the conversation last night. Oh Lordy ! I can't imagine what he had to say.

He does. You ever try to draft a school bus or a LeSabre going 25 mph?

I will say that I am jealous already because I can't enjoy Lucy right now. I can't say I've ever seen a T-37, or GT-37 for that matter, with a hood tach. Great looking Can Am too. Thanks for sharing the pics. JUSTA called me this evening and told me that you had texted him that you were meeting with Don. I wrote Don an email earlier today and he responded back to me already. Seems he and Ann have permanently moved to Palm Harbor. So you are a lucky man to have him in your backyard literally. He is a wealth of knowledge. I need to get my two books of his sent off to him for signing. Right now, he has no travel plans to come to Michigan this year. So I will have to mail them to him.

Tell Don I left him an email today! Have fun - can't wait to see the pics! Nevermind, Don responded already. Seems he has permanently moved to Palm Harbor.

Agreed - it needs to be simmered with fresh buck ala asphalt.

We got your low carb classic green aunty freeze called Prestone. We also got the high carb orange Dexcool.

I did a little internet research on this. Mind you there is not a lot out there on the Trans Am. It seems the Positron shifter was not a big success for Shimano as they had hoped. Since the Positron was produced for relatively low end (price point) bikes back in the day, the Positron index shifting system had to be made as inexpensively as possible, which in turn sacrificed reliability - especially by today's standards. This further gave the stigma that index shifting was for "beginners only" and thus delayed acceptance of better index shifting systems by more experienced cyclists for several years.

You forgot about the dippin' sauces GE! Hot road tar and battery acid!

Nope, not silly at all. There are a lot of product and marketing tie-ins, some are just a lot more successful than others.

It's hard to find that much shag carpeting.

It's hard to say 360. You'd think someone would be all over a Cardinal Red Judge. I know I would.

GE or Guitarsextreme lives in the Charlotte area. I think we have other members that live closer to Raleigh.

Very cool. I'd like to know more about it.

I can't wait to see the moral dilemma of which law of the land becomes more important - occupant safety or green house gas emissions in a vehicle. At some point in time, you have to trade off one for the other. Cars (theoretically) have to get lighter to get better mpg. Lighter cars mean smaller, less occupant safe cars since there is less sheet metal to crumple and air bags and seat belts can only do so much.

Your camshaft profile does not look out of line with many stock Pontiac profiles, so you should be okay. Your lift seems a tad high if you are using a 1.5 rocker arm. What else are you planning on using in your build up? Are you going to stroke the motor with a different crank? ARP bolts all around I highly recommend. What are you using for an oil pump? Piston rods, intake and exhaust manifolds? Carburetor or EFI? Heads - stock or aftermarket and which ones? I would recommend stamped steel roller rocker arms for longevity. If you are reaching out to Butler for your pistons, ask them for a complete bill of materials for your build up. They have the know how of what parts work best for your intended performance / driving goals. You are looking for a tad more than 1 hp per cubic inch based on what I've read, but you want reliable power, low end torque, daily driver type power and drivability.

I would be happy to pay $35k for a real Judge. I am wondering if it was (A) not a real Judge but rather a Judge tribute/clone (perhaps not even a real GTO), or (B) it was not a numbers matching car that hurt the value of the car, (C) perhaps there was more work that needed to be done to the car that the cameras didn't show, (D) the reserve was set too high or the high rolling bidders were not in the room.

A Judge that no sales at that price. It must have had a higher reserved that didn't get met or something else didn't add up. I have to admit that the tigers on the car draw in the young kids. If they come over I ask if they want to pet them. They point to my Tiger in the tank tail and I say I have an even bigger one in the trunk that I can't let out.