1987 Pontiac Firebird - Historical Tour

An inside look at the production of the 1987 Pontiac Firebird Suntour

By Ray T. Bohacz

Editor's Note: Recently, High Performance Pontiac was given the opportunity to photograph an amazing one-off prototype from ASC (American Sunroof Corporation). The 1987 Suntour was an ASC concept vehicle that was built to break new ground in open-air motoring, but it never made it to the production line since GM was more interested in a convertible F-body. The first part of our story is in the words of Mark Trostle, President and CEO of ASC Creative Services, regarding the ill-fated concept. Part Two is a firsthand account of how this beautiful Pontiac came to current owner Jim Schmidt, a 59-year-old collector from Gainesville, Florida. Jim and his son Rick own National Parts Depot in Ocala, which supplies quality restoration parts for Pontiacs and other makes.

THEN ... WITH MARK TROSTLE
I'm an old timer here, 29 years at ASC. In that time I've witnessed a lot of change and evolution. I started as the only designer when it was a fledgling company in the early '70s--I remember going out in the shop and doing mockups and clay modeling myself. We worked very closely with [ASC founder] Heinz Prechter back then, and our main goal was to support our customers.

The turnaround time for projects was shorter in those days. We would get an idea, put together a proposal for a car, and in some cases put a car together in a week.

We progressed into doing some limited edition specialty vehicles for wealthy individuals who wanted something different. That evolved into vinyl and T-tops, convertibles, and some performance vehicles. As time passed we started working with McLaren, did the '84-86 Capri, and began getting involved with the manufacturers. We have three studios today, one for GM work, one for Chrysler, and one that supports Ford and other projects.

The Suntour came about thanks to a project that GM, our largest customer, was working on in-house. It was interested in the idea of pulling the windshield up over a vehicle's header, and we thought this would be a slick thing to do on an F-car. We were also playing around with a Camaro to create a convertible, but we thought that it would be cool to do something to the greenhouse of a Pontiac Firebird. Obviously, one of the main objectives was to retain the Firebird's structural rigidity, but we found that by pulling the windshield rearward, it actually reinforced the reconfigured A-pillars. We had cross-car reinforcement, as well.

The big challenge was the contour of the windshield. It has a big sweep to it, and there was the potential of "pie crusting" the edge of the glass. Additionally, the cost of a custom unit would have been high, so we ended up going with an Abrasive Resistant Polycarbonate that was a few mils thicker than glass.

From there, we began designing a retracting spoiler sunroof that spanned from one roof rail to the other, and would allow the driver to have an unobstructed view. The rear portion of the sunroof glass is actually cantilevered. Its entire glass panel goes back over the top of the bodywork, so the mechanism is at the front portion of the glass. There was probably 12-14 inches of glass that was cantilevered, so you had to be sure to have a nice set of mechanical components so the top wouldn't bounce around. But even with the top removed, this vehicle would have passed the crash tests. The A- and B-pillars were connected with a side rail and provided good strength, and this car had the factory rigid B-pillar area.

We didn't do anything mechanically to the vehicle as far as the drivetrain was concerned, but it was important to us to give the car a unique look. So we clay-modeled fascias and body side appliques, and then created all of the unique parts out of high-temp epoxy.

The Suntour received lower body cladding, a unique spoiler, driving lamps, and an exhaust. It needed a real high-quality paint job, so the body was blocked and sanded. Body gaps were checked, the Bird was sprayed, and then the silver paint was wet sanded and polished. We take a lot of pride in our projects and take a lot of time to properly fit the panels and do the prep work, and it came out great. The interior had a combo red leather/silver design with re-trimmed Recaro seats, and although we made quite a few changes to it, we tried to stay with parts that could be had off the shelf since we were hoping that it could be a production vehicle.

ASC actually had GM design come out and bless it. We had very good response from GM; it was pleased with the final result. This thing had really high visibility in General Motors--it always seemed to be a crowd favorite, and we used it time and time again on the show circuit for years. There was always a high level of enthusiasm for the car, but in the end, it came down to the business case, which was what it would take to actually produce the vehicle. With a project like this, you really need to have someone say 'let's make this happen.' We were working with GM on the convertible at the same time, which took everybody's eye off the Suntour. It was a diversion, and ultimately we did the Camaro convertible.

Suntour ended up being a great concept car, and it was a very successful effort. The key is that it was one of the first unique studies on alternative open air. When you look at the glass opening, it's what we now refer to as a rail-to-rail top. If you look around today you will see Porsche and other companies doing it, but this car was the first application of that design. The Buick LaCrosse concept's roof was an evolution of this design.One of the most memorable stories regarding the Suntour was when ASC's founder, Heinz Prechter, drove it. He had a reputation for being a very aggressive driver--being of German descent, he drove like he was on the Autobahn. One day he was heading out to a meeting with GM and he told us that he was going to take it. The prototype's polycarbonate windshield was a little tough to see out of, and it wasn't ready to be on the street, but he went blasting down the road at about 90 anyway. He went to the meeting and drove it back, and the car held together just fine. Not every one of our cars is driven by the founder of the company!

AND NOW ... WITH JIM SCHMIDT
The 1987 Firebird Suntour concept car came to my attention while attending the RM Auctions event at Novi, Michigan in April 1996. The consignor was a young design professional with American Sunroof Corporation who decided buying his first home was a higher priority than continuing to own the Suntour.

ASC was (and probably still is) the largest OEM value-added supplier to the auto industry, specializing in conversions such as sunroofs and convertibles, over-the-road truck interiors, and component production. They had an extensive engineering and prototype shop in the Detroit area, and spent considerable energy developing what they had hoped would be new and continuing contracts with the auto companies, such as two prototypes of a retractable-hardtop Corvette.

ASC policy was that every few years it would take bids from employees for concept cars that were no longer required. The seller had been the winning employee bidder for the Suntour, which was Michigan titled on September 28, 1995 with 159 miles from new. He told me that he thought he might be able to drive it for pleasure, but found that the hand-formed plastic windshield had so many facets to the inside surface it made him tired in a few minutes of driving. He was right! Also, the handcrafted 17x10-inch billet wheels had been machined from aluminum he deemed too soft, and were not thought safe from damage by Detroit's legendary "chuckholes." So off came the "one-off" 17-inch wheels and tires and on went the 16-inch Ronal alloy wheels with BFG P255/50ZR16 Comp TA rubber. The good news is he saved the originals, which I very quickly retrieved from his home garage. In time we will put them back on the Suntour, as it adds yet another special feature to the overall design concept.All the fascias and ground effects were created by ASC craftsmen and they are extremely well finished, as is the overall quality paintwork. The owner shared with me that ASC had spent over $80,000 on labor for this very sexy design development hoping to get the nod for production from GM. Unfortunately, the Suntour stands alone, the only one ever built. Had it been produced in quantity, it would be a present and future collector car. But that is history...

HPP would like to extend its thanks to Mark Trostle and Mark Pauze of ASC and Jim and Rick Schmidt for providing historical information about the Suntour.

Digital vintage photo and Kelsey Hayes wheel photo courtesy of National Parts Depot