Third Gen Pontiac Trans Am in Pics
From 1982 until 1992 no one could doubt the power behind Pontiac’s Trans Am. This Third-Generation Fire Bird variant was one of the most popular and recognizable, due mostly to a 4-year run on NBC’s Knight Rider – featuring The Hoff, his chest hair and his partner KITT – a 1982 Trans Am.
It may be too much proclaiming these 3rd-Gen Trans Ams were “the golden age of Fire Bird” – but for a child of the ’80′s, this vehicle encompasses my youth better than sandlot baseball, Pacman, and OJ Simpson (before he killed two people) combined.
Pontiac completely redesigned their Fire Bird Trans Am for 1982, and offered it in three separate engine varieties. Fire Bird also shared about 60% of parts with another General Motors classic car, the Chevy Camaro. Trans Am buyers received a “Turbo Bulge” hood, styled loosely after the earlier Turbo Trans Am. This “bulge” remained beyond this generation’s 10 year run, and was made functional for the Crossfire-injected 305.
GM’s muscle car era may have been over by then, but that doesn’t mean Trans Am had to be slow. 1985′s model reached over 210 horse power, and was available with new hood vents and a redesign of the old-school Fire Bird decal. Trans Am received a great honor in ’89, being chosen for the pace car during the Indianapolis 500.
We have all missed the Trams Am, and since its demise fans world wide have customized their Pontiacs, raced them, and ever showed them off at local car events. But any true Trans Am fan who was around during the 3rd-Gen era should follow in the footsteps of these countless enthusiasts – who have completely turned their 80′s Fired Birds into KITT replicas!
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