Mr. Wellwood is a shop teacher in British Columbia, the kind of shop teacher we all wish we had when we were in school. Mr. Wellwood drives a Pontiac Firefly…the Canadian version of the car we knew as the Chevrolet Sprint, the forerunner to the Geo Metro. Fun fact, if you didn’t know: the Firefly/Sprint/Metro was a rebadged Suzuki Cultus. That’s a known fact. What you might not know is that the Cultus was a discarded GM product called the M-platform. GM sold the design to Suzuki in exchange for a five percent stake in the company. So, in a roundabout way of thinking, this isn’t an import so much as it’s a return to form. In several ways, actually…
One look at the wheels should give away what’s going on here. A Pontiac Firebird donated a 305 to go into the Firefly, and the result is…well, surprisingly mild! Or, at least it was mild. You see, this video is of the stock 305 from last year. That engine expired. In it’s place is a 350 that should be good for “320 horsepower and 400 ft/lbs of torque.”
Dear God.
If you want to see the build or keep tabs on the work with the Firefly, you can see Mr. Wellwood’s blog HERE.
This is oddly cool. Needs more power! Where is Chevy Hatin mad Gordo?
Its Geordie – and believe it or not I don’t hate this!
Its so subtle that you couldn’t tell it had a V8 in it only the wheels hint at much more power. Also I’m a long term Pontiac fan right back to the days when Mickey Thompson was breaking every record under the sun using Pontiac power.
You’ll notice there is also a home-built Lotus Seven replica in his garage. Gary’s done several awesome projects – this is kind of like bringing the V8 Vega and V8 Pinto a decade forward.