Well, now…time really does fly. To be honest, it’s only been nineteen years since I was nosing around Ferguson Pontiac in Colorado Springs, looking at a WS6 package Trans Am in Sunset Orange, listening to some guy as he railed on and on about how the LS1 V8 was the greatest thing to ever happen to Pontiac and how the new Trans Am was a screamer…he knew, after all, because he had taken the car out onto Powers Boulevard one evening and let ‘er rip. As he completely lied through his teeth about how fast he was actually going, I was just imagining how sensational it would be to rip gears from a dead stop in the car that had the sweet smell of “new car” all over it. Nothing against my Monte SS parked outside, but 185 smogged horsepower wasn’t going to so much as even annoy the Trans Am. But if I had to hear this guy go on about any more of his driving prowess, I was liable to drop a dime on his boss. “Hey, this guy just said that the fuel cutoff kicked in on him at nearly 160 miles an hour the other night…”
And while it’s only natural to call the salesman out as a storyteller who was having a few moments of fun with a drooling idiot of a teenager who could, in no way, afford one, the salesman was right about one thing: the LS mill was going to be a game-changer, even for Pontiac. The LS-powered F-bodies signified an escalation in the horsepower war that had managed to hover just under the 300 horsepower mark for a bit. The moves that came after would be impressive: after an embarrassing issue of underpowered Cobras, Ford would unleash the Terminator Cobras, IRS suspension, blower and all. The F-bodies would disappear in 2002, but the Pontiac GTO, a rebadged Holden, would appear, and would have a follow-up with the Pontiac G8 before the division succumbed to the 2008 financial meltdown. Chrysler would jump back into the game with V8, rear-wheel-drive sedans that pushed 350 horsepower easily, trucks would get into the act, and look at where we are at now.
I was looking into buying a Camaro SS in 1998 but didn’t like the angle of the windshield and horrible blindspot.
Thank you GM for the LS1. You’re my hero!
A buddy of mine had trouble recently selling 2001 T/A LS1/6 speed w/110k miles for $6500!! Solid SoCal car. I was shocked he had trouble selling it!! He ended up close to that price, but there weren’t many lookers at any price….
My brother in-law bought a 98 TA for 10 grand that had 20,000 miles.