I thought the negotiations were going to happen this summer?

 

I am almost positive that fee was a whopping $10 per car... not per Firebird, but per Trans Am...

I know in a day and age where they are trying to shave pennies off a car, that may sound like a lot, but I think it is money well spent...

 

I've also heard this figure as well, and don't think it to be that bad. Heck, they could even just add it into the MSRP, and I'd be willing to pay for the name. Trans Am has tradition and heritage, just like Camaro.

 

I agree, I've spent $10 on dumber stuff like a Mobil 1 oil cap. An extra $10 for the Trans Am name is nothing

 

The clock is running and the vigil flame is burning brighter.

 

Wasn't it $5 per car? Either way it cost GM a few million during the T/A's lifespan. I'd say it was worth it too.

 

 

It's good to hear even like this but when they can actually say the word it will be better.

BTW, the Firebird never outsold the Camaro Guion.

 

No, Firebird never outsold the Camaro, but... the Trans Am was simply flattening the Z28 as well as all other "performance cars in the late 1970s.

1977: Z28-14,349 Trans Am-68,745
1978: Z28-54,907 Trans Am-93,364
1979: Z28-84,887 Trans Am-117,109

If you want to see how Trans Am's sales mushroomed in the 1970s (8 years straight): http://members.fbody.com/TransAm/figs.html

Trans Am outsold Z28 again in 1980 (50,896 vs 45,137), but by '81, Z28 was outselling Trans Am (43,272 vs 33,493).

More reason to believe the last real Trans Ams died when they lost their own engines.

 

They'll just have to build the Chevrolet Firebird to compete with the Mustang.

 

And largely due to one little low-budget, redneck-targetted movie about cars, semi-trucks, bar fights, stealing beer, boot-legging, and sexy girls that developed a cult-like following that mandated 2 more follow-up movies (that got more lame as they went IMO) before the rage slowed to a crawl...

THE MOVIE
NICE LINK

I LOVED that car and that movie...

 

Don't forget the more practical reasons:

-the 455 Super Duty was available until '74 (maybe later but I'm not positive)
-the 6.6L (400 cube?) engine was availble until what, 1980?
-the 4.9 Turbo 'Bird

Compare this to the fact chevy dropped the Z28 name from '76 through '78 (roughly, again not great with dates) from the Camaro out of respect; the performance didn't live up to the name.

Plus, the "screaming' chicken" is pretty cool.

 

That was the reason given to me.....directly from the horses mouth, over 20 years ago. I had a chance to meet and speak to Dave McClellan...(former chief engineer for Corvette/Camaro), at a Corvette event in the early '80s. The subject quickly turned from Corvettes to Z/28's (my favorite topic...even back then).

He told me that he personally discontinued the Z/28 after 1974...because meeting emission regulations would have given them a package unworthy of the Z/28 name.

On the other hand Pontiac still had it's 455/400....and they weren't afraid to use it in Firebird.

 

I'm afraid Dave McClellan blew a little smoke up your bottom in private. He didn't take over as chief engineer for Corvette till 1975.

McClellan was briefly a chassis engineer for Camaro/Nova. He first worked briefly on the Camaro/Nova/Corvette program, which was to develop a single chassis for those cars. This idea was the brainchild of Chevrolet General Manager, John Z. DeLorean.... Yes, THAT John Z. DeLorean. Needless to say, that idea was later canned.

Dave McCellan was well known for being a little self promoting, and not above exaggerating a bit, so you have to sort through a few things he told you in private. He's a genious of an engineer, but he has a reputation of piling it on.

He tried to convince you that a chief engineer (even though he was simply a "chassis engineer" at the time in question) had the power to "personally" decide to discontinue a car model because of a horsepower whim, over what Chevrolet's marketing department, Chevrolet's general manager, or even what GM's product development department may want.

The only difference between the '74 Z28 and L82 engines was the camshaft geared to make it's horses higher in the L82 (both engines had identical horsepower & torque ratings) if I remember correctly. That would make a '75 Z28 have 205 horsepower, '76 210. Trans Ams with 455s were running identical horsepower to the L82 both years. In short, if Corvette's L82 passed emissions, Z28's engine would have.


Camaro was to be discontinued after the 1974 model year as the Chevrolet Monza was to take Chevy's sporty car position. Firebird was to continue till it's sales died off. Based on everything I've been told & read, Z28's demise was related to this. GM wasn't going to clear a performance engine for a carline that was destined to die at any moment. Challenger & Barracuda were killed off suddenly, and most car rags at the time expected Camaro to be next, not making it to the end of 1974.

GM's decided at the last moment to continue the Camaro into 1975 & the rest is history.

None the less, Dave McClellan has a book out "From the Inside" that I want to pick up. It should be a good read.

 

After '74, L-82 was Chevy's top motor and became an option
on Corvette..... exclusively. The L-82 was the nucleous of the Z/28 package....but from '75 and on, was prohibited from being used in Camaro .
The Z/28 lost it's motor. Maybe that's what MacClellan was refering to...in a round-about way.

Chevy politics....I guess.

Pontiac...on the other hand....reserved it's best hardware for use in Trans Am.