I’m pretty sure we all know that sinking feeling of regret. When you know you’ve done something stupid, that just can’t be undone. Maybe it’s crashing a car, maybe it’s walking in on your parents, or maybe it’s selling your pride and joy. In some situations the feeling kicks in straight away, while in others, it takes much longer to rear its ugly, unwanted head. For Daniel Vincent, it was the latter — the long, slow increasing feeling of regret about selling his dream car.

Sure, he replaced it with other cars, plenty of them in fact, but nothing could ever match the feeling that he got when he was behind the wheel of his ’67 Camaro. Like most custom car owners though, Daniel always likes to be a bit different, and prefers not have a car the same as anyone else’s. So what do you do when you’re in this situation? The more he thought about it, the more the idea of (more…)

American muscle car tuner Trans Am Depot has decided it can’t wait for GM any longer and has resurrected the iconic 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge itself. Based on the latest version of Chevy’s Camaro the tuner is showing some humour in naming its creation the GT9 Goat.

The teaser images of the faux-Pontiac reveal a specially made nose piece with a split grille and a reworked bonnet complete with air scoops. At the rear, there’s new tail lamp and bumper designs as well as a restyled deck with an extroverted wing. The characteristic Judge side stripes and decals are included and quad tail pipes and special alloy wheel options complete the retro-inspired look. There’s no word yet if there will be any kind of upgrades to the cabin fit out or the mechanical underpinnings of the Camaro.

Trans Am Depot has announced that its GT9 Goat will be available for order in the next few months. The company released an official statement saying “The 6T9 Goat concept was created by designer Kevin Morgan to capture the look and feel of the classic ’69 GTO Judge. The 1969 GTO is considered by many to be one of the top ten muscle cars of all time. This modern day version incorporates the look of yesteryear with the modern convenience and technology of today.” (more…)

If you think Stephen Farmer’s Pontiac looks good from the top, wait till you see what’s hiding underneath.

It’s all too common these days to find cars that look like the toughest thing since Jake the Muss, but which lack any real substance underneath it all. So it’s refreshing when you stumble upon a car such as Stephen Farmer’s 1968 Pontiac Firebird, which is far more than initially meets the eye.

From the outset, it’s easy to see the car has been well-built, although it’s fair to say it looks more like Jake the Muss wearing lipstick and a summer dress than it does anything tough. However, the car could be compared to some sort of archaeologist’s dream. The more you dig and look, the more you find, including things that you didn’t know ever existed, and parts that have never before been seen on this side of the globe.

Bird Of Prey

Given the spare-no-expense quality of the Firebird, it’s perhaps surprising to learn that Stephen had never previously owned a muscle car. He was, however, lucky enough to grow up around American iron. “I remember the late ’60s when dad had a ’68 Pontiac Laurentian with bench seats, with the same peaked nose, and the days when we’d go to Browns Bay for holidays; it was miles away then. I have great memories of that car, but now I’m older and know a bit more, the Firebird is a better car.”

But why, after all these years, build such an impressive beast? The short version goes something like this: after being around motorsport and particularly circuit racing all his life, when he returned from overseas 10 years ago Stephen got involved with International Motorsport and its owner, Lyall Williamson. International Motorsport runs a host of circuit cars, including NZV8 touring cars, Porsche Cup cars and more. “During the motorsport off-season, a lot of International Motorsport’s resources were underutilised,” Stephen says. “Lyall had recognised this in the past, and had the staff perform a few very impressive nut and bolt restorations on Mustangs and an old Porsche, although one of the Mustangs did end up with an NZV8 engine in it!”

Knowing International Motorsport had the knowledge ” thanks to Lyall and his staff ” the facilities and contacts after years of being involved in the motorsport scene, it made sense for Stephen and Lyall to join forces and create a company that could work alongside the motorsport business and focus on creating vehicles such as the Pontiac that Stephen was dreaming of. And so International Performance Classics was born.

The first project for the new venture was sourced and the rest is history.

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This ’69 Pontiac GTO isn’t just the judge, it’s the jury and executioner too.

The Pontiac GTO is the godfather of all muscle cars, the one that started the big engine in medium body trend.

The initials that make up its name stand for Gran Turismo Omologato, but more commonly the car is known as ‘the great one’.

From when production began in 1964 until the last GTO rolled off the production line in 1974, no fewer than 514,793 GTOs were sold. And that doesn’t even include the late-model Holden Monaros that were rebadged and sold as GTOs.

Pontiac engineer Russell Gee and chief engineer John DeLorean had the brainwave to create the GTO in 1963, after General Motors had banned the company’s divisions from becoming involved in motorsport.

At the time, Pontiac’s image was largely built around high-performance vehicles, and the key marketing plan was to win races on Sunday to help sell cars on Monday. Chances are if it were not for these engineers who went against GM’s non-competition policy, the Pontiac name would have disappeared long before it did.

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The one-of-one Pontiac GTO Judge convertible seen here is about to hit the block over in the states and will prove to be a closely watched auction.

It’s a triple black 1969 GTO Judge convertible and is being released for auction by the Pontiac Historical Society, this one-of-a-kind machine was produced out of 108 Judge convertibles in the big 6-9.

Riding on redlines, this masterpiece comes with a Ram Air III-equipped 400-cubic inch (6.6-litre) V8 putting down 366 horsepower through a 4-speed tranny. Its option list includes Rallye gauges, a wood rim steering wheel, an 8-track player and a bonnet mounted tachometer.

In terms of value, the car has been through a complete restoration with almost all new old stock parts and has since had zero miles on it.

A tribute to the Pontiac Motor Division

If you’re a Pontiac fan you’d already have cried your tears about the brand’s death. But today there’s something to smile about, as a new to market classic Pontiac GTO, Firebird, Trans Am, and a Holden Commodore HSV GTS-R are all on sale.

These enviable selection of cars comes from the personal collection of Jim Wangers, who was Pontiac’s chief marketing manager during the brand’s glory days of muscle cars, sportscars and a favourable position right behind Chevrolet in General Motors’ brand line-up. With that history the 10 machines for sale are expected to be excellent examples of the breed.

First car up is a 1965 GTO Sport Coupe, this car represents the second year of the model’s existence and stands as a tribute to the early muscle car. If you’re after drop-top motoring there’s a 1966 Goat also for sale. Also available are two Carousel Red GTO Judges from 1969.

If you prefer the F-body you can choose from a first-year 1967 Firebird, a very rare 1969 Trans Am, a 1979 Trans Am 10th Anniversary car with less than 100 miles on the odometer, a 20th Anniversary Trans Am with the turbocharged V6 engine from the Buick Grand National from 1989 and finally, a white and blue 30th Anniversary Trans Am convertible.

Finally, hiding away in Wangers collection is some Aussie muscle in the form of a 2000 Holden Commodore HSV GTS-R, which Wangers has described as “the very car that inspired Bob Lutz to seek from Holden a car for U.S. buyers — the ’04 Pontiac GTO.”

To find out more click here to visit the Jim Wangers Collection website. Check out images of the cars in the gallery below.

Video of a very mean 1970 Pontiac GTO

When General Motors in the States first announced it was winding down the Pontiac brand, there were some serious concerns for Holden’s health, but we all moved on. After all, Holden was doing alright domestically and how much money was it really making providing America with left-hand-drive versions of the Commodore to sell as Pontiacs? Turns out it was a lot of money and now Holden is feeling the loss of that deal in a big way.

According to a recent report, Holden has announced a loss of $192 million USD. Thanks to the American thirst for Australian V8s, Holden raked in $5.3 billion USD in revenue in 2008, but just $3.6 billion last year.

It wasn’t just the absence of American market sales, though. Holden also saw general sales plummet due to a global recession last year.

One of the cool things about this Pontiac are the red brake shoes. Listen as Samuel L. Jackson explains.

What do Bootsy Collins and Pontiac have in common? Samuel L. Jackson gives you the word.

From late February the Commodore SS V-Series Special Edition Sedan, Sportwagon and Ute will hit New Zealand streets. The special editions will be instantly recognisable with styling treatments even more aggressive than Holden’s established performance hero models.

The SS V-Series Special Edition will boast a new twin nostril front fascia with unique lower splitter and twin letter-box hood scoops. The sedan variant will feature a decklid spoiler and chrome highlights.

Simon Carr, Holden New Zealand’s Managing Director says that high performance sports cars with unique specifications have always been popular with New Zealand motorists.

“The SS V-Series has always been about sports performance and ultimate road presence.  Now we’ve dialled it up even further with this striking new look.”

The SS V-Series Special Edition will be available at current pricing and comes in three colours — Phantom black, Red Hot and Voodoo blue.

Pricing:

• SS V-Series Special Edition Sedan – $69,790
• SS V-Series Special Edition Sportwagon – $72,490
• SS V-Series Special Edition Ute – $58,590

Classic V8 racing from Eastern Creek, genuine 1978 Group C Holden A9X Torana that raced Bathurst in 1978 and 1979; 1967 Pontiac Firebird convertible; Powercruise and more

Classic V8 racing from Eastern Creek, genuine 1978 Group C Holden A9X Torana that raced Bathurst in 1978 and 1979; 1967 Pontiac Firebird convertible; Powercruise and more

For those who really get a kick out of driving

Your choice is simple: Pontiac’s wide track Le Mans – it’s a cut above

It takes a great car to make a great car deal

1969 Tran American Road Racing Series promotional film

Excerpt of the 1968 SCCA Trans Am racing season from The History of the Trans Am Series 1966-1995 DVD

As Stock drag racing heated up at the dawn of the Sixties, the factories were serving up a constant stream of engines, transmissions and lightweight body parts. In response, the sanctioning bodies started dedicated classes to separate the special lightweight factory racers from the amateur weekend sportsmen running real showroom stockers.

This 1982 video indoctrinates the sales team

Lamborghini vs Pontiac in the car chase scene of the opening credits from the film Cannonball Run

Rotisserie restoration, this Judge in black has the Ram Air III engine and more