1999 Pontiac Trans Am 30th Anniversary - Raider Of The Lost Art

For the members of HPP's staff, the idea of growing up in the golden years of hot rodding is both magical and intimidating. The guys from the '40s and '50s were the innovators in this great hobby that we know and love--back then, if you didn't know how to cut, weld, shape, swap, or otherwise modify, you weren't a hot rodder. At the start of the 21st century, us young punks are pampered by 12-second stockers, keystroke horsepower and well-designed mail order speed parts--and most of the time, the size of your wallet dictates your street cred.

Strange that no one told 23-year-old Charles Hornsby that. Sure, he had to ante up like everyone else for the pricey 30th Anniversary Trans Am gracing our fair pages, and a good portion of his mods came by way of the almighty dollar. But take the time and really study the accompanying photos-everywhere you look there's a mod here, a swap there, a cleverly imagined idea realized in aluminum and ABS plastic.

The beginning of Chuck's story isn't notable--he went from a brand new '96 V6 Firebird to a more powerful '95 T/A a year later. In 1999 he was home from college when the LT1-powered Bird started giving him problems, so he began searching for a suitable replacement in his hometown of Temple.

"I remember driving by Tranum Pontiac on a Friday in July," Hornsby starts. "I could just make out the tail through the window, so I stopped." That tail belonged to a real live 30th Anniversary T/A, and after a few squabbles regarding a test drive before purchase, Chuck drove away on Sunday with three miles on the Bird's odometer. Soon it was time to head back to Lubbock and Texas Tech, where the virginal stocker got its first taste of the good stuff.

A set of 1.75-inch Mac mid-length headers and a Flowmaster muffler were the first changes, and an LS1 Motorsports lid, a ported and polished throttle body, and EGR and TB bypass mods were done. Hornsby enjoyed this state of tune while deciding to upgrade the sound system. He made a trip to Vision Audio in Lubbock, where an alarm system was installed with shock and infrared sensors, remote start and remote window roll down. An 1800-watt Kenwood audio system featuring an in-dash DVD player was decided upon, although it turned this Texan's stomach to see his brand-new baby torn apart.

He got serious again in 2002 with a set of Motive's 3.73 gears, which were installed a couple of months before the 3600-stall Vigilante lock-up converter met the flexplate. B&M's trans coolers are always a good idea in these situations, and Chuck didn't disappoint. LG Motorsports' weld-in subframe connectors brought strength and longevity to the F-body.

Unfortunately, the stock 4L60E didn't. Another trip home from TT was made in the dead of night, as good a time as any for the 2-3 clutches to bow out. Now shiftless, Chuck finished his trip from Abilene to Temple in five hours, with an average speed of 30 miles an hour. He flew back to school that Monday and made some calls to have it fixed at a performance shop, but his father was one step ahead of him. The elder Hornsby had Tranum fix it--complete with a one-year warranty. "As long as I didn't put a shift kit in it," Hornsby laughs.

Two weeks later, a TransGo shift kit was installed by Phantom Performance in Duncanville, Texas. The gears had been making some noise on the highway, so Phantom redid the install and added LG Motorsports' 10-bolt rear end girdle. A quieter factory WS6 muffler flowed well enough to keep Hornsby happy, so it was replaced as well.