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| This is one of my favorite scenes from the movie. |
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| Even the smog choked engines could easily throw up clouds of dust. |
He might have to be.
Even more to the point, can he be happy with an SN95 Mustang?
Who might we be talking about?
That would be me and my '96 Mustang GT convertible.
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| This is mine, taken almost ten years ago. |
Don't laugh.
I caught the tail end of Smokey and the Bandit last night on TV. It was the last third of the movie, with a lot of the action still left in the story.
I wouldn't attempt to critically evaluate the movie, there's just not enough substance there for that. I'm sure that the real critics hated it. But the movie going public loved it. I know that I did. It's just for fun, but it's the best of the three Bandit movies. Though that probably isn't saying very much!
The second episode of the series is so bad that I can't even bring myself to watch it. The less said about the third movie the better!
This isn't about movie making, it's about legend making. Burt Reynolds was already a big star when he jumped into the seat of that Pontiac. The success of the movie didn't hurt his popularity. The Trans Am was the legend that was made in this movie, in the eyes of car buying America. Sales jumped substantially after the release of the film.
I'll admit to being influenced by the movie's hero treatment of the Trans Am, does that make me a fanboi?
There was another Trans Am, not as well remembered as a certain green Mustang, in another movie, though the color was similar.
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| The Duke might look like your Dad, but he sure doesn't drive like him! |
John Wayne drove a Brewster green T/A through Seattle in McQ. In what was ultimately a pointless car chase sequence. Most car chase sequences usually end up being pointless. If the pursued vehicle ends up crashing and killing the driver, the pursuer, usually a cop, loses any information that the dead bad guy could provide for the investigation. I guess these "under cover cars" are lacking a radio so they can't coordinate with other units to make an effective arrest. Besides, the chase is usually there to add excitement, and serves as the hero moment.
Of course the Mustang has had it's own moment of glory, in a movie that was released well before the Bandit's adventures.
Bullitt.
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| It doesn't hurt that it was driven by Steve McQueen. |
The second generation of GM's F body was a stunner. The first generation was a nicely proportioned, sleek little car. The second gen received an infusion of testosterone and was transformed, much like that skinny kid at the office that's been hitting the gym and maybe the juice.
The new F body now displayed a new level of aggression and muscularity.
I've had a personal relationship with this generation of F body.
My older brother bought a new '73 Camaro after high school. It was the type LT. Lusso Turismo; Luxury Touring, the luxury edition not the performance model. It was equipped with a two barrel 350 V8 that was adequate. He added a nice set of glass pack duals. This was all pre smog, oh, those were the Days! He later traded it in for a year old '76 Trans Am. This was fully equipped with A/C, power windows and the rest. The 400 V8 was teamed with the turbo hydramatic. This was a good combo. The 400 provided effortless performance up to 100 mph. It wasn't a stormer like earlier 455 Super Duty models, but it was plenty fast enough. He later surrendered to the notion that he should stir his own gears, and traded that T/A in on a '76 Camaro with a four speed. That was an unsatisfactory pairing. These malaise era motors weren't happy about revving and the transmission was notchy and hard to shift. It was actually an unpleasant car to drive. It least it had T tops!
My younger brother had a actual twin to the Bandit's black '77, even down to the four speed. It developed some driveability issues and he soon lost interest in it. I guess I could have bought it from him. I had my '77 Coupe de Ville at this time, and I wasn't that impressed by Trans Ams. I did get to drive it a couple of times.
If I wasn't interested then, what makes me interested now? Times and people change.
The early Trans Am with the optional Super Duty 455 motor was a true supercar. By the time 1977 rolled around Pontiac was doing it's best in preserving the T/A's performance image even though actual performance had declined over the years. Still, it was one of the quickest and best handling American cars available on the market.
The '77 T/A was a fairly large and brawny car. An overall length of 196.8 in. wheelbase at 108 in. width of 73.4 in. and height of 49.3 in. It weighed in at least at 3,530 lbs.
Compare that my '97 Mustang; it's overall length of 181.5 in. the wheelbase stretches 101.3 in. with 52.8 in. height, width of 71.8 in. and weighs in at 3,457 lbs.
Compared to the older T/A my Mustang does come off as a bit petite.
The T/A is longer, lower, wider, and comes equipped with a much bigger motor, 400 c.i. compared to 288 c.i. ( 4.6 liter).
But what about power?
The T/A came standard with a 180 h.p. motor. Another 500.00 dollars would upgrade you to a 200 hp. engine.
The Mustang's first year of the modular motor cranked out 215 hp. and 285 ft. lbs. of torque
Numbers are just numbers. I'll provide performance figures from Car and Driver's road tests.
Trans Am ( 200 hp.): 1/4 mile 16.9 @82 mph. top speed of 110 mph. ( at red line) It would pull past the recommended rev range. Interestingly enough, the Z28 Camaro the T/A was tested against was slightly quicker. Skidpad results, 8.1G Fuel economy was 12 mpg overall. The overall handling of the T/A was considered to be very good. It was at least equal to the contemporary Corvette.
Mustang GT (manual transmission) : 1/4 mile 15.1 @92 mph 0-60 6.6 secs. .85 G w/optional 17 in. wheels. Top speed? 140 mph. Fuel economy? C/D observed 22 mpg. EPA rated at 25 hwy. That's what I get.
Maybe my Mustang doesn't deserve to be called a girl's car.
Most people like the basic second generation Firebird and Camaro. Many like the winged and decal laden T/A. Count me in that group.
The screaming chicken was always an option. It was a bit over the top, but it was of the times. The Formula model was a little cleaner in design, and you could get the same power train as the T/A.
The '94 Mustang received a lot of criticism over it's styling when it was introduced. It was sometimes even described as looking feminine, compared to the last version of the Fox bodied GT. Those displayed a lot of attitude and aggression. The '94 seemed a bit demure, an editor from Car Craft had described it as looking somewhat Japanese, almost like a Celica!
The Mustangs bulging, blistered fenders made the OEM 15 inch wheels on the V6 models look absolutely tiny. Even the standard 16 in. wheels on the GT look a bit weak. The optional 17 in. wheels are almost big enough.
The "New Edge" design flattened out the sides and had slightly flared wheel openings. These highlighted the wheels instead of hiding them. It seems that most are fans of the later design.
How does driving the Trans Am feel?
The feel of the T/A is that of a much heavier vehicle, consistent with a classic Muscle Car. The large displacement motor delivers instant low speed torque. The '96 4.6 suffers from very high gearing which hurts the low speed performance, but pays huge dividends in smoothness and economy.
The mystique.
There haven't been any movies made that feature the SN95. At least that I know of. The earlier Fox bodied Mustang GT got a shout out from Vanilla Ice as he was cruising in his 5.O. Actually, these models got a rep as belonging to "Urban Utes" (My Cousin Vinnie reference!) sporting a backwards ball cap and big "gold" medallion on a chain.
Objectively speaking.
Objectively speaking, there isn't even any contest. The "96" Mustang beats the old T/A in every category by huge margins. Almost one second and 10 mph faster in the 1/4. Most impressive is the Mustang's 140 mph. top end compared to the T/A's 110 ( 130 mph. when over revved) top end charge. And the Mustang will get 25 mpg. on the freeway, almost twice the mileage of the T/A. Being a newer car the Mustang boasts four wheel disc brakes, ABS, rack and pinion steering, fuel injection and an overdrive automatic transmission. Plus safety features like three way belts and dual airbags. And the '96 and '97 GT's are the Slowest ones!
Subjectively speaking.
The Cobra has always been the high performance Mustang. The DOHC motors made these cars really fast. Culminating in the dreaded Terminator supercharged models. The bread and butter GTs received improved performance over the successive models until 300 hp was standard in 2005. There have been many tuner models of the Mustang available, and these are much faster and better handling than the standard GTs, but let's not compare apples to oranges. The Saleen Speedster is one of the most popular and copied tuner versions of this generation of Mustang.
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| The coupes still look modern. |
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| I've got one of those S-351 wings for my car. |
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| Saleen Speedsters are, and remain pretty cool looking. |
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I'm not a big fan of the louvered front and rear bumpers, the rear seat cover, and especially the fake roll bar, called a light bar. Nobody says that I have to use those parts on my car. I do like those cool rear wings. I like it much better than the stock more rounded unit. It seems to lengthen and lower the rear view of the car.
Cost benefit analysis.
Buying any vintage Firebird, whether Trans Am or not, will cost me more than just holding onto my GT. Even if I bought a good example it would need some updating just to equal my GT's performance. But let's take a quick look on the net. What could I buy?
What's out there now on CL?
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| Here's a nice '77 price now lowered to 25,000 |
This would be the wisest choice. It looks really nice and should be ready to enjoy. You just need to cough up 25 grand. To keep things in perspective, a new Mustang GT could set you back almost 40K. In full disclosure, a new Mustang GT convertible is just about the only new car I would desire.
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| '79 Firebird, blown 350 engine 4,900 dollars. Jim Rockford, here's your car. |
This is just a regular Firebird, it's not even a Bandit clone or even a T/A, but the '79 was used in the second movie. It's a complete car with a blown 350. Not a bad start.
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| No engine, transmission or interior. No problems. Pay the man 5,500 dollars. |
This '76 is pretty rough. It's missing a lot, but it's a real T/A and that's worth something. It's going to take some coin to bring it up to snuff. 5,500 bucks is a bit easier to swallow and it's going to be a long and expensive process getting it back on the road. Still you can tell all your buds that you've got a real T/A in the garage!
Does it really make a difference?
I wrote earlier that times and people change. The biggest change is that I'm now forty years past my 20's and there is now that magical influence of something called nostalgia. When I was in my early 20's I wasn't feeling any nostalgia for the past. I was looking forward to my future life as an adult, not looking back with longing at the time I rode a Sting Ray bicycle!
If I'm being realistic I know that I'm never going to pay 25K for any old Trans Am. This is not to say that the T/A is not a desirable car. Yes, they are very cool, and the styling is so much sexier than the SN95 Mustang. Honestly, If I was going to spend my own money it will probably be for a 2005 and up convertible GT.
Hoping and dreaming.
What about the later retro Mustang?
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| 2007 Parnelli Jones replica |
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| These Mustangs have got the beef. |
These post 2005 (S197) model Mustangs have some real improvements. They have a longer wheelbase, wider track, which makes them steadier on the road. The longer wheelbase gives more room up front for the driver, more room in the back seat, and even the trunk is larger with a fold down rear seat in the coupes. Standard hp. is up to 300 in the GT. Even the V6's have 200 hp.
They do feel bigger and the hood is longer and wider. It blocks the view of the road a little. It doesn't drop down like the earlier models. These are similar in size to the T/A.
The styling references the 65-66 fastback, while the front end is somewhat reminiscent of the 1969-70. Everyone said that they looked almost exactly like the 66-69 fastbacks. I thought so too, at first. I said the same thing until I saw both models parked side by side at the Pacific Coast Dream Machines show. The later S197 looks much bigger and taller. Either way, they are more like the T/A in size and feel.
I find the Parnelli Jones version and the later Boss 302 models to be very attractive. My own experience with my 2007 V6 coupe reinforces the idea that they are very good road cars. Even if you started with the base V6 model, you would have a very good car. Moving up to the deluxe and especially GT levels will provide you with a very satisfying car.
What can I do with my car?
I have a few ideas for mildly customizing and improving the looks of my Mustang. I'll be sharing those ideas on future blog entries. Do I need to make it faster with a supercharger or something? The beauty of a Mustang is that you can make it as fast as you can afford. I find that I'm quite satisfied with it's performance and handling. Does that just make me an old man? Hey, I am an old Man! Hopefully I've learned something over the years. Overall, I just really like my Mustang, it's such an honest car.
Perhaps it's time to just turn the page on the Pontiac Trans Am, stop dreaming, move on, and live in Today.
The answer to the question I posed at the beginning of the post is an emphatic YES!
No matter what car you own, it's always better to just get out and drive. That's what it's all about.
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