SEMA 2009: Pinkee's Rod Shop 1977 Pontiac Firebird

The Firebird is having somewhat of a renaissance since Pontiac hit the graveyard and folks are turning new Camaros into Trans Ams. But the old 70's body style 'birds have always been a hit with the crowd that maybe still to this day watches Smokey and the Bandit over and over.

This fine example of a 1977 Pontiac Firebird was in attendance at SEMA, and it was built by Pinkee's Rod Shop in Windsor, Colorado. It features many aspects of a retro rod, which was quite a popular theme at SEMA.

The fastest car in Europe, a 252 MPH Pontiac Trans Am

One would imagine that the fastest car in Europe would be some form of super car, an exotic such as a Lambo or Ferrari. But one would be wrong, as the car that lays claim to that title is actually a 1987 Trans Am.



Not your average Trans Am, of course. This one is complete with 1400 horsepower, and the goods to back up all that power. The 8.9 litre V8 has officially been clocked at a startling 407 kph, or 252 miles per hour.



Needless to say, there isn't much that is stock about this car. Built by Polly Motorsport of Norway, there's a wealth of expertise under the normal looking skin. And the best part is that the car is allegedly street legal!



Check out the video here.



Subject: Fastest street legal official road car in Europe!



A 1987 Trans Am fastest official street legal road car in Europe!



Paul brought his Pontiac to the Papenburg car testing track, one of the newest and most advanced test tracks in the world. Mercedes where testing their new AMG sports models the same day as Pal was going for his personal speed record. Some engineers from AMG team criticized the optimistic Norwegian team for bringing an 80's trimmed American car to this super test track for the advanced European supercars. But what they didn't quite comprehend is that Pal Arvil Blytt and his Polly motorsport team from Norway works at a motor tuner garage in Godvik Norway and most important of all nothing more than the shell of this car resembles the stock Pontiac. With a brisk 8.9L V8 producing a whopping 1407 HP, Pal was soon doing AMG top speeds of 300km/h in his warming laps. After driving a couple of rounds around the track, Paul felt ready to see what his road machine would do! And after pressing the pedal to the metal the ARP technician Christoph Tharrey came over with his laptop computer with a big grin. Here we have the official numbers: 407.134 km/h



You may say well the 9FF team drove 409km/h in an extremely rebuilt Porsche 911 at the same track; this speed was recorded with their own equipment and therefore can be fixed and therefore is not recorded as an official speed record. Bugatti Veyron 407km/h is also recorded with their own equipment.



As the Papenburg track is to small for the Pontiac to reach its potential top speed of 435km/h and Volkswagen's test track costs 25.000 Euro an hour to rent. Paul is bringing his road legal car to the US in 2009 to challenge Shelby supercars official record of 412km/h.

Twin Turbo Saleen Parnelli Jones Mustang on Ebay

While Ebay in general can be a helpful shopping tool and present some great deals, sometimes it is just a tease that has us all thinking wishfully. In this case, seeing a Parnelli Jones Mustang that has been twin turbocharged by it's owner, said editor has feelings to the latter.



With it's Trans Am inspired looks and super exclusivity thanks to only 500 being built, the Parnelli Jones edition trumps pretty much all of the other thousands of Mustang special edition variants. Most owners figure to have put their copies of the car in a hermetically sealed chamber to preserve it's value.



But not this particular owner. He added dual 57mm Precision turbos, upgraded forged pistons, aluminum heads, a full three-inch exhaust system, and much, much more. In total, the motor produces 768 horsepower and 769 lb-ft torque -- at the wheels! The exterior remains stock, providing as much of a sleeper look as possible when one's car is painted grabber orange.



As of this writing, the car is up to $41,000, which isn't a bad deal at all considering. So if you have the funds and the driving ability to handle this one, here's the link.

SSP bringing back the Firehawk name on G8 GT

The Firehawk is coming back. Much to the chagrin of Firebird fans, however, it won't appear on a new version of the Firebird but on the upcoming G8 GT.



The Firehawk name is well known by GM performance buffs, having graced some of the highest performing Firebird models from 1991 until 2002. Built by New Jersey based SLP (Street Legal Performance), the Firehawk models received various levels of performance upgrades and could hang with the best of American muscle during its day: the later models could run 0 to 60 mph in around five seconds and passing the 1/4 mile in the mid 13's.



While the Firebird sadly wasn't reborn alongside the new Camaro, SLP has decided to bring back the Firehawk moniker and use it on the Pontiac G8 with three special editions. The V6 and V8 will be offered with performance packages, along with a supercharged edition. The upgraded rides will be offered alongside the regular models at dealerships and will carry a full warranty.



While this sounds like great news to most of us, the folks at LS1Tech.com were literally outraged that the Firehawk name would be used on anything besides a Firebird, much less a four door sedan.



For the record, SLP owns the Firehawk name and can use it any way it seems fit. We'll save final judgement for when the car is unveiled and we get some solid performance numbers.