A girl in my high school had a brand-new Turbo Trans Am just like this '81 in luscious dark red. Beautiful car. She was way out my league too. The fact she not only drove a brand-new car but a Turbo Trans Am made her "Hollywood" in my eyes.
I thought her car fitting for her as it was as unapproachable as she was. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt that she wasn't as shallow as these cars were. "All show and no go" as they say. Or, "all fluff and no stuff". Didn't matter because they both looked so damn good. The world's at your beck and call when you're young and beautiful. Everything comes out in the wash, though.
On the heels of a surge in popularity after "Smokey and The Bandit" shot Trans Am's to the pinnacle of the public's automotive awareness, to be in compliance with federal fuel economy and emissions regulations, Pontiac had to drop the big engines that powered the Bandit era T/A's. Rather than stuff T/A's with the Chevrolet 350-cubic inch V-8 that powered Camaro Z/28's and Corvette's, Pontiac bolted the same Garret turbocharger Buick used on their blown 231-cubic inch V-6 to their 301-cubic inch V-8. An underwhelming legend was born.
It wasn't all bad. At maximum boost, the turbo 301 spooled up 210-horsepower and 345-foot pounds. Not bad. Actually, on paper, that's more torque than the Pontiac 455 that made Bo Darville's car go. For the record, all the T/A's in Smokey and The Bandit, the original not the farcical sequels, were 1976 T/A's with the front ends from 1977 models affixed to them. There are conflicting stories about what was under the hood of the six T/A's used in "Smokey". For 1976, the standard Trans Am engine was Pontiac's 400-cubic inch V-8 and their 455 was optional. For 1977-1979, if a Trans Am has "T/A 6.6" on the Shaker, it has a Pontiac 400. If it says "6.6 LITRE", yes, "LITRE", it has Oldsmobile's 403-cubic incher.
Problem was, the boost got spent quickly and after the reserve was gone, the engine wind milled. Buick's much smaller V-6 wasn't any better of course and GM only figured out how to make those engines run right with the advent of port fuel injection. Pontiac had planned to further refine the turbo 301 but GM scuttled Pontiac's engine program negating them to only pushing out (4-cylinder) "Iron Dukes". Fun fact, there's a hood bulge on 1982 and 1983 T/A's that was to make room for the turbo 301.
My time in "Bandit era" T/A's was less than enthralling, perhaps not unlike going on a date with that girl that had that dark red '81 in high school. I found the ride harsh, flinty and truck like. Squeaks, rattles and moans and groans galore. They did handle well, everything is relative, and of course the big engines made the cars fly. And they looked so good. Damn.
Back in high school, would you rather have been good looking or smart?
No comments:
Post a Comment