Autoblog UK

Since 2004, a string of muscle cars from the sixties and seventies have been making a comeback. Mustangs, Challengers and Camaros can again be found in places other than America. Iconic names bristling with new technology sell well. All that's actually still missing is a retro version of the Firebird, Pontiac's last great cult car.

In 2009, General Motors announced Pontiac's demise due to the worldwide economic crisis. Unfortunately for fans, there won't be a successor to the Firebird. But in the USA, there's one customizer itching to turn dreams into reality. For many years, drag racer John Lingenfelter has belonged to the cream of the US tuning scene. At the SEMA show in Las Vegas, the Indiana-based tuner displayed a Pontiac 455 T/A built on Chevrolet Camaro underpinnings. Lingenfelter intends to gauge the public's response before finally deciding whether to put the Firebird into production. One thing in favour of this relaunch must surely be the performance of the V8 engine under the shaker scoop that should put out 655bhp.