This was one of the toughest-looking GTOs ever made. Complete, but not over-done. “The Judge” option also arrived in ‘69 giving GTO buyers yet another option to choose from for their Goat.

Pontiac had its second best year for the GTO in ‘66. They sold 87,684 units.

It was a little odd that Pontiac was paying the SCCA a royalty to use the “Trans-Am” name for their “racing option” Firebird, yet Chevy was dominating the Trans-Am racing series. Much of that had to do with Chevrolet’s back-door relationship with numerous Chevy road racing teams. It also helped that they had the best sports sedan team management of the times - the Penske Racing Team.

Even though the Firebird was first cousin to the Camaro, no one associated Pontiac with road racing. There were many NASCAR and drag racing connections, but nothing in road racing. Consequently, the ‘69 Trans-Am Firebird hardly got noticed.

Pontiac backed a 70-1/2 Trans-Am racing team, but by then Penske was racing an AMC Javelin and no one could touch them, not even Jim Hall’s Chaparral Camaros.

When the 70-1/2 Camaro / Firebirds were first shown the automotive press went nuts! Where did these come from, Ferrari or Maseratti?” was the question most asked. But everyone’s eye went to the white Firebird with the single blue stripe over the hood, top, and rear deck. You know, the Trans-Am!

While the Z-28 Camaro looked cool, the Trans-Am was just over the boiling point. It had all of this way-cool body stuff - front air-dam / wheel flairs, front fender vents, a reverse opening shaker hood scoop, rear-wheel arches, and a flipper rear spoiler. Then there were mag wheels, fat 60-series tires, dual exhaust, a 4-speed, and a 455-cid engine. All bundled up with lots of “go-fast around curves” suspension parts. For 1970, it didn’t get much better than that.

Print #BPS-12 The 70-1/2 Trans-Am Firebird was an awesome car, but somewhat of a mixed bag of hardware and image. Pontiac licensed the “Trans-Am” name from SCCA (the Sports Car Club of America). The Trans-Am racing series was very popular in the late ‘60s when GM and Ford pony cars raced in the series. Chevy came out with the Z-28 in ‘67 specifically as a base to build race cars. Pontiac then release the Trans-Am in ‘69. The car got a little attention and was overshadowed by the Z-28.

But when Chevy and Pontiac unveiled the all-new ‘70-1/2 Camaro and Firebird and their Trans-Am inspired versions, (the Z-28 and the Trans-Am) car lovers were blown away by the Trans-Am. The new T/A was simply stunning and made the Z-28 look somewhat incomplete. The TA had a distinctive front spoiler that wrapped up in front of the front wheel openings and a big flipper rear spoiler. The front fenders had cool looking engine compartment vents. The hood didn’t had just a scoop, it had a “Shaker Scoop” that faced backwards so that it could draw in cool air from the negative air pressure area at the base of the windshield. With a single wide stripe that ran over the hood and top of the car, the overall look was “DON’T MESS WITH ME!”

However, where as the Z-28 was using a 350 cid small-block (the 302 version was enlarged), the Trans-Am used a big-block 400 cid engine. And to ice the cake even more, there was a 455 Super Duty version! Clearly the big-block Trans-Am Firebirds weren’t “Trans-Am Racing Series” material, but they sure were winners on the street and the strip.

Happily, the Trans-Am, the Z-28, and the Mustang ended up being the longest running of all of the pony cars from the mid-to-late '60s to today!