This 1987 Pontiac Firebird is the funkiest thing I've seen since I stumbled across that oh-so-goth twin-turbo, Ford V-10 powered Cadillac Fleetwood earlier this year. Oh, it may not look it, but this is one special homemade hot rod.
And that there is why. Someone swapped out the Chevrolet LG4, 5.0-liter V-8 this was born with for a turbocharged, Buick 3.8-liter V-6. This engine most famous for powering 1985-1987 Buick Grand National's and the 1987-only, Buick GNX. Obvious too that this car was originally yellow; looks much better in black in my opine. Yours may vary, see dealer for details.
If you're like, "why would anyone do that", well, you don't get this. In this day and age of all but ubiquitous "LS-swaps", something like this is quite refreshing. And with a Facebook Marketplace asking price of just $6,000, I may need to be restrained. It's down near Dayton which is a good three hour haul for me from up here in god-forsaken Cleveland, and I do have better things to do with my time than take a six-hour road trip for something I really have no intent on buying. I have close friends in that area I haven't seen in a while; would be nice to see them and kick the turbo on this thing.
Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am cognoscenti know that this swap isn't that far out of the ordinary. Pontiac offered Buick's turbo V-6 on a limited run of 20th-anniversary Trans Am's for 1989. Albeit, one that was modified to be, ahem, "more reliable". John Davis and his Motorweek '89 team clocked it going from zero-to-sixty in 5.4-seconds and "melting the quarter mile" in 14.2. That's rather mundane if not ho-hum today, but back in 1989 that was seriously quick.
Some Trans Am aficionado's claim the 20th-anniversary T/A with the Buick turbo V-6 could do zero-to-sixty in 4.6- and the quarter mile in 13.4-seconds. Whose ever numbers are correct, either way, the 20th-anniversary turbo T/A was faster in a straight line than a top-of-the-line Firebird GTA (Gran Turismo Americano) with a slightly detuned Chevrolet Corvette L98, 5.7-liter V-8; 6.5-seconds zero-to-sixty and 15-seconds in the quarter mile. It even smoked an L98 Corvette that could only muster 6.6-seconds zero-to-sixty and a 14.9-second quarter mile.
Other Pontiac pundits will recall the "Turbo Trans Am" of 1980 and 1981 infamy. Pontiac eschewed the Buick V-6 that time around using the same Garret turbocharger Buick used to boost their 4.9-liter V-8. Fastest one of these could do zero-to-sixty was 9.0-seconds, quarter-mile in 17.2. Yikes, I know. Even Smokey and The Bandit II was a forgettable - that was the one with the elephants. Best I can say about "Smokey II" was it wasn't "Smokey III". The bulge on the hood was to clear the turbo.
My concern with this thing is what to do if something goes wrong on it - gosh, who would you take it to? I guess a speed shop might be able to, but the wonky engine might explain the relatively low asking price for this. I mean, it's hard enough these days to find a mechanic who can work on old cars let alone something like this. Still, I applaud the person or persons who dared to be different. That takes guts.
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