Detroit: in a wholly-unanticipated move the New General Motors Corporation has confirmed that Pontiac Motor Division will begin building a limited-production run of Trans-Ams for the 2012 model year.
"We have been waiting for the right time to make this announcement, and we are pleased to initiate operations for Pontiac with one of the most iconic muscle cars of all time, the Pontiac Trans-Am," said the spokesman during the press-release introduction at the Renaissance Center Tuesday. "Many corporations have tuner versions of their cars for sale at a premium. This will be a prestigeous magnet to draw interested people into the GM showrooms. It is targeted at the performance enthusiast who may have missed-out on a GM muscle car when they were new, but who now has the income and desire to establish his individuality apart from the others on the road. We expect a strong 'halo-effect' for our other GM offerings, and people who come to see the Trans-Am may decide to buy another GM product if they aren't quick-enough to buy one of these limited-production Trans-Ams."
Since the initial production run of 3000 Trans-Ams is expected to sell quickly, the demand is going to exceed supply, so figures the GM corporate accounting division.
Details about the car remain sketchy, but insiders have been told there will be few options. Power is by an all-aluminum block/heads twin-turbo with direct fuel injection displacing close to 5.4 liters and coupled to a seven speed dual-clutch paddle-shifter transmission. Suspension is four-wheel independent with Brembo four piston brakes in a 15" rotor size at the front and slightly smaller 13" at the rear. The rear is four-link I.R.S. Rack & pinion steering is used with struts at all four corners using the GM-developed magnetohydraulic damping which can be controlled from the cockpit.
In a striking departure from other GM products, the car is being built with an extremely stiff honeycomb-bonded aluminum and composite tub onto which the suspension and engine sub assemblies will attach at precisely-machined plates. The goal is to keep the weight of the car to 3200 lbs. dry, and preproduction mules met that through the use of finite-element analysis and rapid-prototyping. "This is not a cheap car to build, but we are committed to seeing it on the floor of GM dealers in 2012," said the spokesman.
Evidently, the car will be a Pontiac in name only, as the car will be sold as such through existing GM dealers. "We do not have plans at this time to expand the offerings under the Pontiac banner," said the spokesman. "We want people to associate the car with the heyday of performance and the bold style of Pontiac coupled with its reputation for performance."
Pricing has not been announced, but those who know said it would be difficult to build the car for less than $75,000.
"We have been waiting for the right time to make this announcement, and we are pleased to initiate operations for Pontiac with one of the most iconic muscle cars of all time, the Pontiac Trans-Am," said the spokesman during the press-release introduction at the Renaissance Center Tuesday. "Many corporations have tuner versions of their cars for sale at a premium. This will be a prestigeous magnet to draw interested people into the GM showrooms. It is targeted at the performance enthusiast who may have missed-out on a GM muscle car when they were new, but who now has the income and desire to establish his individuality apart from the others on the road. We expect a strong 'halo-effect' for our other GM offerings, and people who come to see the Trans-Am may decide to buy another GM product if they aren't quick-enough to buy one of these limited-production Trans-Ams."
Since the initial production run of 3000 Trans-Ams is expected to sell quickly, the demand is going to exceed supply, so figures the GM corporate accounting division.
Details about the car remain sketchy, but insiders have been told there will be few options. Power is by an all-aluminum block/heads twin-turbo with direct fuel injection displacing close to 5.4 liters and coupled to a seven speed dual-clutch paddle-shifter transmission. Suspension is four-wheel independent with Brembo four piston brakes in a 15" rotor size at the front and slightly smaller 13" at the rear. The rear is four-link I.R.S. Rack & pinion steering is used with struts at all four corners using the GM-developed magnetohydraulic damping which can be controlled from the cockpit.
In a striking departure from other GM products, the car is being built with an extremely stiff honeycomb-bonded aluminum and composite tub onto which the suspension and engine sub assemblies will attach at precisely-machined plates. The goal is to keep the weight of the car to 3200 lbs. dry, and preproduction mules met that through the use of finite-element analysis and rapid-prototyping. "This is not a cheap car to build, but we are committed to seeing it on the floor of GM dealers in 2012," said the spokesman.
Evidently, the car will be a Pontiac in name only, as the car will be sold as such through existing GM dealers. "We do not have plans at this time to expand the offerings under the Pontiac banner," said the spokesman. "We want people to associate the car with the heyday of performance and the bold style of Pontiac coupled with its reputation for performance."
Pricing has not been announced, but those who know said it would be difficult to build the car for less than $75,000.
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