Screaming Chicken-ize Your Ride For Cheap!

Why should Pontiac's iconic Screaming Chicken hood decal be restricted to Malaise Era Trans Ams, or even Pontiacs? Your '87 Hyundai Excel or '93 Buick LeSabre deserves a four-foot-wide Screaming Chicken, and now you can afford one! More »

Winning: The Racing Life Of Paul Newman, by Matt Stone

This first words in this book come from the pen of Mario Andretti: "Paul Newman was one of us." More »

1977 Pontiac Trans Am for $12,000!

Are you jonesing for a real ‘70s car chase? Well, today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe candidate will help you be the bandit, good buddy, but it may leave you feeling a bit blue. More »

The Onion: Shirtless Biden Washes Trans Am In White House Driveway

But really, the only reason this Joe Biden-Trans Am joke's funny is because it could totally be true. [The Onion]

Inflatable Trans Am Does Not Come With A Sally Field Blow Up Doll

The absolute necessity of a full-scale inflatable Bandit-style Pontiac Trans Am may be questionable, but that doesn't mean it isn't awesome and we can't think of a million fun things to do with it. More »

Bullet-Riddled And Abused, Malaise Firebird Accepts Junkyard Fate

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Win On Sunday, Still Don't Sell On Monday: Screamin' AMCs In Eardrum-Punishing Trans Am Action!

Sure, there were plenty of Mustangs, Camaros, and Challengers- not to mention a few furrin jobs in the 2-liter class- roaring around the track in the Historic 1966-74 Trans Am Cars event yesterday, but: red-white-and-blue Javelins and AMXs! The sound of 40 V8s WFO on the track overwhelmed my poor camera's sound-recording abilities, but I did get a usable video of this Javelin warming up. Make the jump for many Trans Am photos. More »

Audi, Lancia, or Ford: Which Hoonworthy Vintage Race Machine Would You Buy?

SoNaive was shopping for a project Ford RS200- yeah, might as well aim high- and found these three 80s race cars, any one of which is capable of sending the entire Jalopnik staff into paroxysms of longing that threaten to shut down all operations for the rest of the week. So, it's Monday, you're hunkering down for a long week of The Man's cruel lash on your much-scarred back, and that means you have the right to blow the whole morning trying to make the impossible choice: which of these cars would you have for your own? Jump away for the links, the galleries, and the poll! More »

How Not To Go Drag Racing

One of the things nobody ever tells you about drag racing is the last thing you want to do is look like an idiot. The air is thick with competitive spirit, there's a crowd watching your every move, and even if you're a novice in a world of pros, you don't want to get made fun of. This guy got made fun of after this run — a lot. Staging with his back tires, what a maroon — and that's just the beginning. [Youtube]

Nooooo! Two Sweet Pontiacs Destroyed For Sake Of Art

We've heard of this "Jonathan Schipper" before through his exploits slowly grinding scale models and throw-away IROC-Z's together. Now he's gone and mashed a Pontiac Firebird into a Pontiac Trans Am, both examples of sweet malaise goodness. True they may have been on the underpowered side when stock, and their engines have been removed for this exercise, but they were masterpieces of hair-over-neck styling before this literal mash-up. Seeing these two run face to face into each other over the course of four days is pure pain, or pleasure, depends on how you feel about Pontiacs. [Auto.Coone.com]

Even The Knight Rider R/C Car Has Turbo Boost

As far as we can tell, the new GT500KR Mustang KITT still lacks any kind of turbo boost. But now you can still enjoy a little bit of the old Knight Rider turbo in the form of a remote control car. Forget the Mustang—let's return to the Golden Age with the Pontiac Trans-Am KITT remote-control car from Firebox. You'll be the coolest kid in the neighborhood. Your dad will be able to beat up other dads. But not The Hoff, or course. More »

No New Pontiac Trans Am, GM To Scale Back "Performance" In "Performance Division"

Automotive News is reporting that GM leadership told dealers in the Buick-Pontiac-GMC sales channel they'll be getting 12 new or "special edition" vehicles over the next 20 months — but one vehicle it won't be getting is a new Pontiac Trans Am. That's like getting a coin that's tails on one side and completely blank on the other — like geting Smokey without the Bandit — like getting Michael and no KITT. We mean seriously, where's the value in a new Chevy Camaro if there's no screamin' eagle Pontiac Trans Am? We're heartbroken. But maybe there'll still be a Firebird? Oh wait, there's more. GM muckety-mucks also told dealers... More »

Don't Touch the Hair: "Travolta Fever" Custom Trans Am on eBay

Not long after L. Ron Hubbard got John Travolta's thetans on a silver platter, the New Jersey-born actor starred in a little movie about dancing around like a putz. It was called Saturday Night Fever, and it became a multimedia, pop-culture phenomenon that launched both his career and that of the Bee Gees into the stratosphere. As such, marketers of all stripe muscled in on Travolta Fever, an illness whose symptoms included jumpsuits and an overly intense affinity for hair products. At the time, it was customary for custom car builder George Barris to work up some manner of rod to celebrate a media property that passed a certain tipping point. Such was this "Travolta Fever" Trans Am, one of the first celebrity car model kits ever offered by Revell. Now, it's for sale on eBay. Get in on the malaise-era automotive collector's market now, before all the great ones are gone. And get this one too, what the hell. [eBay]

1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

What car best sums up Malaise Era so-called performance cars than the late-70s Trans Am? Sure, there's the whole Burt Reynolds thing adding some camp value and general notoriety, but this car would be a caricature of its time and place even if "Smokey and the Bandit" had never been made. The scoops! The flares! The great big engine that wheezed out less power than the base 4-bangers in today's boring econo-sedans! Yet still, just like America in the gloomy post-Watergate/Vietnam/oil-embargo period, there was still some optimism to be found in the Trans Am's lines... if you looked for it. More »

DIY Network to Air Burt Reynolds Bandit-Building Show

The DIY Network's airing a five show segment of its Celebrity Rides program devoted to big Burt and his new Bandit. The Burt in question is of the Reynolds variety, and the Bandit is the YearOne TransAm restomod project. That is, the Burt Reynolds Edition TransAm, which YearOne creates from the bones of rescued Firebirds and sells at a nearly $130,000 base. It's called "Burt Builds a Bandit," and although Burt likely doesn't actually build the Bandit, we're sure it would be another guilty pleasure of Alfred Hitchcock, if the rotund one was still among the rolling. [Year One] More »

GM's "I Got Shotgun" basking in the beauty of a 1998 Trans Am. But seriously, who wouldn't trade a '98 Trans Am for $50,000? [YouTube]

Trons Am?

The true secret of Pontiac's 3rd-Generation F-Body is out: the machine was obviously designed with wind-cheating ferocity in mind by some sort of Master Control Program buried 361 feet below and 500 yards north-northeast of the Ham Center in Warren, Michigan. Was FLAG technology involved? Only Devon Miles knows, and he's saying nothing. More »

Power Swelling Out Of The Hood And Telling The World Where It's At!

Hindsight being 20/20 and all, we get some knee-slappin' belly laughs when we hear the words "1980 Turbo Trans Am" spoken, since we all know it was, well, kinda terrible. But still, look at the optimism in this ad! The confidence! Why, even the Black Gold 280ZX guy was probably envious of the blown Screamin' Chicken back in 1980. – Murilee Martin\ More »

Corvette Bummer

For your evening enjoyment, we bring you what may be the lamest car chase to feature a cast member of Star Wars IV-VI. Plus, you know, there's that amazingly-customized 'Vette and an early-3rd 2nd-Gen TA. Sadly, they blew up the wrong car. – Davey G. Johnson More »

Jalopnik Gets Massively Mopar At The 2007 Chrysler Employee Motorsport Association Auto Show

We took a moment out of our lazy busy weekend schedule to head on up to Auburn Hills and the DaimlerChrysler Tech Center for the annual auto show for the Chrysler Employee Motorsport Association (CEMA). Although they've been doing it for 18 years, this is only the second time we've been lucky enough to attend an event all about featuring the best and brightest of Chrysler employee-owned classic and not-so-classic cars. There's no requirement of ownership of Mopar muscle for membership, there's obviously more of that on display at the show than any other brand of Motown motorabilia. For instance, we found these twin 1974 Pontiac Firebird Trans Ams sitting amidst the 340 or so vehicles on display at the mainly Mopar event. With one dressed up in admiralty blue and the other colored buccaneer red, these Super Duty-powered screaming chickens drew respectful nods from even the most die-hard Chrysler employees. More »

KITT vs. Airwolf!

Given that both Knight Rider and Airwolf seem to be cut from the same 1980s cloth it's almost surprising that there was a never a TV movie made of this epic meeting of the super-machines. Nevertheless, an enterprising fan took it upon himself to creatively edit one himself. And we have to say, other than the Hoff's changing shirt colors and a distinct lack of Tim Conway and Carl Ballantine, the helicopter/Trans Am shoot out is actually kind of a hoot. – Davey G. Johnson More »

KITT and Michael Do San Francisco

As previously stated, we're suckers for law-enforcement drama in the City by the Bay. We're not exactly suckers for Knight Rider, which in our mind just isn't as rad as Airwolf and is nowhere near as awesome as The A-Team. That said, we do enjoy a bit of KITTsch (d'oh) now and then, so here's a car chase through Sucka Free featuring a self-driving Thunderbird and a supposedly-turbine-powered Trans Am that sound suspiciously like it's got a 305 in it. – Davey G. Johnson More »

Hoff Needs KITT Now More Than Ever

In light of David Hasselhoff's recent how-to eat a cheeseburger while really tired instructional video, it may be time to send out the call to KITT and all KITT replicars to help the Hoff through these troubled times. If KITT can stop KARR dead in its tracks then a short press of the turbo boost button could be just what Hasselhoff needs. Oh yeah - and lasers. Lots of lasers. – Mike Bumbeck More »

They're Gonna Do What They Say Can't Be Done: YearOne to Build Bandit Trans Am Restomod

Resto shop YearOne and Burt Reynolds have formed a holy alliance to revive a classic of such massive pop-cultural significance, no amount of throwaway hyperbole can do it Buford T. justice. They're planning to build a limited run of Bandit Trans Am models. As Autoblog reports, the cars will be created from original donor T/As, not base Firebirds tarted up with the screaming chicken and a few black-and-gold gewgaws. If you'll recall, the Bandit cop decoy was a Trans Am 50th Anniversary edition SE (no "Bandit" model ever existed). YearOne says it's building three variants, BAN1, thru BAN3, all completely done-over from scratch in restomod fashion. No word on price yet, but who can put a price on nostalgia? – Mike Spinelli More »

Want To Own KITT? For You, Only $149,995!

Everyone's favorite '82 Trans Am is now available at Kassabian Motors in Dublin, CA, for the low, low price of $149,995.00 (apparently it was $150K but Kassabian was feeling generous and knocked five clams off the sticker). The car, one of three used during the production of Knight Rider, isn't street legal (a matter of some missing smog gear) and all the electronic gear has been changed by a "reproduction company," but hey, the T-tops are still good! – Murilee Martin More »

The Joy of the Tiny Turbo Trans Am

This photo is of a Jalopnik reader. We shall not mention who, but as a child, he was obviously sucked in by the superficial radness of the Turbo Trans Am. Admittedly, we were too in the day, because if a Trans Am is good, one with a turbocharger is naturally better. Sadly, this was not the case, and this poor pedal-powered version of the worst of the 2nd Gen TAs fell off the back of the car on a family trip. Said Jalopnik reader says he still misses it. Perversely, we do, too. We still wish we had our General Lee big wheel. – Davey G. Johnson More »

IMSA Merkurs! Yes!

Back when Ford was preparing to launch Merkur, they decided it might raise a bit of brand awareness to campaign the XR4Ti in IMSA's GTU class. With a slight dip in displacement over the car's Pinto-based 2.3 mill, the cars, prepared and campaigned by Kent Racing. A bit later, FoMoCo shifted the XR4Ti's mission to Trans-Am and over-two-litre IMSA competition, with the Merks running under Roush's aegis. Peter Cipolla, a man from the Show-Me State we can throw our weight behind, has rescued a couple of these mighty orphan warriors from bygone days, and for that, we owe him a package of schnitzel and an ice-cold MGD. – Davey G. Johnson More »

Whither Johnny Morton? Datsun 510 is AB's Reader's Ride of the Day

As we power up the Jalopnik laptop each morning, we're usually greeted by a period shot of Pete Brock's BRE racing team circa 1971: driver John Morton, Brock and engine chief John Caldwell, along with the Datsun 510 racer the team ran in the SCCA Trans Am series that year. That the Jalop comprises all manner of 510 geeks is no secret, which is why we were plenty psyched when Autoblog picked a restored, tuner model as its reader ride of the day. It's a bit of a Frankenstein's monster, this butterscotch brown '72, sporting BMW headlamps, a suspension fitted with bespoke swaybars, and a turbo-boosted Nissan SR20DET under the hood producing 300 hp at the wheel. It even has a BRE-style air dam, which all proper 510s should. Click through for more Datsun geekery, in the form of John Morton's commercial for the original 280z. – Mike Spinelli More »

SEMA Show: Time Machine Huffs Sunoco, Churns Out Mustangs

At once both onward and backward into Trans Am racing are these two Ford Mustangs spotted at SEMA. The original was driven by none other than Parnelli Jones to multiple victories in the venerable American racing series that used relatively stock cars and both direction of turns. The 1969 1970 was originally built by Kar Kraft and later refined by Bud Moore Engineering. The updated version sprang from the Ford modification braintrust at Saleen. If the desire to huff Sunoco is strong, please do it through one or more carburetors or injectors mounted atop an engine, and no glue sniffing if building the model version. Check out the chin spoiler mounted air system and brutally simple interior of the 1969 1970 in the [Gallery]– Mike Bumbeck More »

Trans-Am Racing Could Make a Proper Comeback, Says C&D

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The Hoff Looks For Freedom, KITT Flies

The always-reliable TexansAreHot tossed us this link to a video montage of David Hasselhoff singing his "Looking for Freedom" in surreal locales intercut with footage of KITT hurtling through the air. And frankly, anything more we could say is superflous. You'll just have to watch. More »