Autoblog

Jonathan Schipper started grinding models of muscle cars into each other like tectonic plates as a way to express the "slow, inevitable death of American Muscle," and he's progressed to using two actual cars at an installation at Chicago's NEXT Art fair.

Well, let us tell you, Jonathan: American muscle is alive and well. Taken a look at horsepower ratings lately? How about some recent Nurburgring lap times from GM products? Time and technology have marched on from the Firebird and Camaro of the Foghat era, so there's no need to give two examples a slow ride into each other's sheetmetal just to point out that there's hardly any around. Cars are a commodity, so by nature, old cars will "die off" through crashes, rusting away, or being recycled for parts and then sold for scrap. It could be that we just don't get it, but really, maybe Schipper could learn how to paint like Von Dutch if he wants to do art with cars. This particular piece makes Piss Christ look like the Mona Lisa. Time-lapse video after the jump - thanks for the tip, Joe!

[Source: Hemmings, Photo: Art Addict]

The Chicago Auto Show wasn't that eventful, but that's what we lead off Autoblog Podcast episode #87 with. The Challenger was the biggest deal, followed by the Denali XT, and then a bunch of inconsequential things. We did find ourselves talking about the Suzuki Equator and the Ford Transit Connect, too. We give you our first up close and personal impressions of the Challenger SRT-8 in this podcast. We also saw the VW Routan, which certainly doesn't conjure warm, fuzzy memories of Type IIs gone by. Chevy's Traverse calls into question the usefulness of Saturn's Outlook in the product lineup. Speaking of GM badge-engineering, we got word this week that Pontiac will not be getting a Trans Am companion to the Camaro, dang. Another disappointment is the rumor that Cerberus is going to let the Viper run down without rewinding the clock for a third generation. We wrap up by touching on the possibility that an Indian pickup could be the first diesel hybrid in the US, even though it's not even being imported yet, and we're sure that when it gets here, it'll generate even more hate than the new Acura RL. 42 minutes, that's it. Sorry it's a little late this week, it's all Alex's fault, I swear.

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By buying this (garishly) customized Firebird, you're really purchasing a way of life. Inexplicably listed as a 1971, when it's clearly about a decade newer, this car is your ticket to a full-on star shrine. You get the car, a trunkful of memorabilia and knicknacks, even a domain name (travoltafever.com). The car itself was built in 1979 by George Barris, and it encapsulates some of the pop culture ethos of the late 1970s. The interior has a manly theme inspired by Urban Cowboy, though when we set our gaze upon it, all we could think was Brokeback Mountain. Nevertheless, it's certainly better than the stock Poncho interior was. The exterior has been flared in an odd way, endowed with a large spoiler, and painted in the fashion of the time. The car is actually named "Travolta Fever," so says the hood. How awesome, you could have a Firebird named after the same virus that inspired Travolta to release a double album.

All snarkiness aside, it's a cool piece of Kustom Kar history, which is inextricably linked with a well known Hollywood star. Star value always inflates car prices, for better or worse. This one comes with a collection of other memorabilia, as well, and looks to be in good shape. There's no telling whether it will truly appreciate in value, but $25,000 isn't that outrageous for a car with a known celebrity link that comes with all kinds of extra stuff. Some of that stuff includes a Revell scale model kit, a copy of the "Travolta Fever" double LP, and various other pieces signed by George Barris. You're guaranteed to draw a crowd at your local car show with this thing, even if you're parked next to a Bandit Trans Am.

We visited this issue in February, when Winding Road speculated Pontiac would get a Camaro spinoff, but now Car and Driver is weighing in. With the imminent return of the Chevy Camaro, many Poncho fans have wondered about a possible return of the screaming chicken, as well. Pontiac's last attempt at reviving a storied model (GTO) met with mixed results. The GTO was supposed to be a slam dunk for Pontiac. Take an existing rear drive muscular platform, add a few Pontiac trim pieces and a GTO badge, and voilà, instant success. Well, it didn't quite go as planned and GTO sales were rather tepid. Not that it wasn't a good car, especially in 6.0 form, but it didn't really set hearts aflutter, especially compared to the wildly successful retro Mustang.

So will Pontiac get a new GTO, or maybe a Firebird instead? With the G8 coming to replace the Bonneville and Grand Prix, a suitable RWD platform is already approved for US consumption. And of course, it's also underpinning that hot new Camaro. So if Pontiac gets a new muscle coupe, will it show up as a goat or a chicken? That's what Car and Driver asked Pontiac. After a long silence, C and D finally got some answers. Surprisingly, they seem to point towards a new GTO. They based this on Bob Lutz's own words: "No carbon copy of the Camaro will make it into any other GM-brand showroom" is how they put it. They also point out that while a Firebird would have to be essentially the same as a Camaro, a GTO from the same platform could be bigger and different enough to claim its own place in the market, maybe more of a G8 coupe. Whichever badge this future Pontiac sport coupe wears, it should get the same 261-hp 3.6-liter DOHC V-6 or 362-hp LS2 6.0-liter V-8 options as the G8. They would be offered with five or six-speed automatics, respectively, but six-speed manuals should be available, as well. Tough choice, really – a Firebird that would be a restyled Camaro, or a GTO that could go its own way. Which would you choose?

[Source: Car and Driver]

We watched a marathon of the SpikeTV reality show based on the Bullrun Rally and hosted by Bill Goldberg, but weren't too terribly impressed with the premise. It seemed one needed only a decent proficiency at reading maps, as well as a lot of luck, to win. The winning team was the father/daughter duo of Mike and Morgan Alsop from Lafayette, Indiana, who took top Bullrun honors at the helm of their 2002 Pontiac Trans Am WS6. While the finale is still sitting on our TiVo, we know that the Alsops got as far as they did by making more friends than enemies, while watching their own backs at the same time. Meanwhile, their Trans Am performed flawlessly throughout the 4,800-mile rally and proved to be bulletproof, unlike the rides brought by many of their competition.

Like true Americans, father and daughter Alsop are eager to capitalize on their fifteen minutes of fame and have put the Championship Trans Am up for sale on eBay Motors. One of the Alsop's fellow Bullrunners already put his Lamborghini Murcielago up for sale on eBay, but he didn't have the decency to give the car a tune up or fix any of the damage it received from the competition. The Alsop's sent their car to a body shop immediately following the race and ordered up a new paint job, tires, suspension components and an engine tune up. So not only are you buying a hella fast Trans Am that's proven to be as reliable as the setting sun, you're also buying a car that's seen the bright lights of Hollywood and has a few stories to tell.

Thanks for the tip, Mike!

[Source: eBay Motors]

Every once in a while we see one of those flash-based spoof cartoons that are just too good to pass up. This one, which is a commercial for Australia's CarsGuide, takes a hilarious swipe at the early 80's car show Knight Rider to show how important the right car really is. From the car's request for a destination, to the constantly changing cast of women in "Day Rider's" passenger seat and the giant cell phone in a suitcase, this one has all the makings of comic immortality. The "plot" of the spoof is that Michael Day is trying to stop an illegal shipment of hair mousse. Fittingly, the character spoofing David Hasselhoff ends up laying on the ground at the end. Check it out after the jump.

[Source: YouTube via Hemmings Car Blog]

UPDATE: Our friends at Year One graciously hooked us up with the latest version of this video - embedded after the jump.



"Bandit you're reckless and you live much too hard..."

We feel a full-fledged late 1970s lovefest coming on soon. Not that it'd be any worse than the resurgence of 1980s pop culture among those that didn't live it. Let's just say it was bad the first time, and hasn't improved with age. One thing that is better this time around are the Bandit T/A recreations from Year One. We reported on these a while back, and since we're all hot for the darn thing, here's some more eye candy. Looks like Sheriff Buford T. Justice finally has his day in the sun at the end of this short promo video, which we've embedded after the jump.

[Source: Year One]

click the pic above to view a gallery of Year One Bandit Trans Ams

Every now and then when I'm hammering to make time on a road trip, this is what goes through my head: "East bound and down, loaded up and truckin'..." Second only to Star Wars in 1977, Hal Needham's iconic Smokey and the Bandit also seared itself into popular culture like the Space Opera. Thirty years on, a black 2nd-generation Trans Am still makes us think of bootlegging Coors.

To commemorate the Burt Reynolds vehicle, Year One is teaming up with the veteran actor and building a limited number of Bandit inspired Trans Ams. These cars won't be highly suspect like those that pop up on eBay from time to time, or aftermarket kits like those made by Trans Am Specialties and Choo Choo Customs back in the day. No, they'll be the real deal, and Year One isn't taking the easy way out, either. Since the Bandit car was a T/A, all of the Year One cars will be true T/As, and titled as such. You could get away with a Firebird as a basis, but that's not how Year One rolls.

There will be three variations on the Bandit theme, BAN1, thru BAN3. All cars have full body restorations first. Floors are replaced, as are other needed panels, so that the hi-po Ponchos have the best basis to build from. Flush-mounted glass, smooth fender flares, custom projector headlights and LED taillights update the basic car. Chassis mods firm up the structure with subframe connectors, tubular control arms and high performance bushings and springs. The interiors get pimped out in the same custom fashion, with "Bandit" inserts on the door panels, modern seats, a race-inspired gauge cluster and the requisite CB radio. It wouldn't be a Bandit car if you couldn't pick up that mic and say "Snoman, gotcher ears on?" BAN2 and BAN3 packages get increasing amounts of performance from monster aluminum 455s or LS-derived engines, as well as further chassis tweaks and more toys inside the cockpit, like a nav system and race harnesses.

Some history, and Year One's press release after the jump

[Source: Year One]

Gallery: Year One Bandit Trans Ams

It's been a while since I threw an old TV spot up for your enjoyment (though Dan has done a fine job serving up tasty nostalgia nuggets of late), and John's post on Winding Road's pie-in-the-sky Firebird Trans-Am future-fantasymobile had me flipping through my YouTube faves for something related to our fine flaming-feathered friend from Pontiac.

While that hypothetical TA clearly looks to the 70s for inspiration, I'm going back to the previous decade for today's bit of retro-marketing fun. It's got everything you'd expect: great old cars, entertaining period voice-over work, clever needling of the competition from Mercury, Ford, and Plymouth, plus a soundtrack that somehow lends the whole affair a sense of urgency. In fact, after viewing this I felt a strong desire to fly home in a magnificent new Pontiac Firebird...tonight.

Enjoy! The video's after the jump.

[Source: YouTube]

In its latest issue, Winding Road calls the fact that Pontiac will get its own rear-wheel drive coupe based on the same Zeta architecture (sorry, "Global RWD platform" is the new official name) used by the upcoming Camaro is a "poorly kept secret". We weren't aware the decision to give Pontiac a piece of the pie was so solid, but are pleased to hear the news nonetheless.

When a new rear-wheel drive Pontiac debuts sometime around 2010 as a 2011 model, however, what should it be called? The obvious choice is to reuse the GTO moniker that was controversially slapped on the back of a Holden Monaro coupe and sold in the U.S. from 2003 to 2006. But what's a Camaro without a Firebird Trans Am twin, we ask? GM still retains the rights to those names, and as the speculative rendering above done by Poblete proves, Burt Reynolds' most famous ride looks damn good updated for the new millennium! We encourage you to check out the latest issue of Winding Road by clicking here to see an additional rear shot of this Trans Am mockup. It's worth the extra couple clicks.

I'll be honest with everyone, I've never been the new Camaro's #1 fan in terms of design, but I could get behind a Trans Am that looks good, screaming chicken and all.

[Source: Winding Road]