Timing, it is said, is everything. It's true whether you bought Microsoft stock in the early '80s or Enron stock last week. In other words, being in the right place at the right time is much more important than having a great idea at the wrong time. Unfortunately, a killer idea executed too late describes the story behind the star-crossed, Collector Edition Yellow-styled Firebird seen here.
Packing the appearance of the '02 Collector Edition (with some subtle differences) and the motivation of GM's LS6 Gen-III engine, this pilot vehicle was a proposed Firebird special package commissioned by members of GM's F-car teams and built by GMMG, Inc.
Headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, GMMG has been busy the last few years creating specialized performance versions of the F-cars for a few dealers across the country. They built the BlackBird Trans Ams for Atlanta's Carl Black Pontiac, as well as a series of special Birds for resto giant Year One.
Most of GMMG's work, however, has been with Camaros; they've created numerous Berger Chevrolet (Grand Rapids, Michigan) editions and the Dale Earnhardt Intimidator SS edition for the Earnhardt dealership (Newton, North Carolina). This preeminent focus on the Camaro was recognized by Camaro marketing team member Scott Settlemire (a real advocate for the F-car and an enthusiastic participant in the hobby that is rarely seen anymore in Detroit), who worked shoulder to shoulder to make F-car decisions with the Firebird team.
"It would be good to do something special for the Firebird guys," Settlemire told GMMG president, Matt Murphy. Murphy agreed, and the pair, along with John Heinracy, of GM Engineering (and father of the original 1LE F-cars of the late '80s), set out to develop a performance-oriented Firebird, based on the ZL-1 Supercar package GMMG was working on for the '02 Camaro.
Along with the factory 1LE suspension parts, 18-inch rolling stock and interior upgrades, the heart of the ZL-1 package was the Corvette Z06's LS6 engine.
"John [Heinracy] suggested we build the vehicle first, then show it to the Firebird team," says Murphy. "The idea was to develop a pilot vehicle with brand team support, then propose a plan for a limited production run."
With Settlemire's and Firebird brand team member Kurt Collins' nods for approval, GMMG started scrounging donor parts for the prototype. A used '98 Firebird V-6 car was purchased from a Texas Honda dealership to serve as the vehicle's base. GM shipped the LS6 engine and related components, while the brand team was able to procure a V-8 donor car for the ancillary swap items, including the transmission, fuel tank, fuel lines, etc. The car, a Camaro SS, had been used at Justin Bell's Florida driving school and stuffed into a wall by an overanxious, under-experienced student. Though bent from end to end, most of the good parts underneath were usable.
Although swapping the new LS6 and used F-car donor parts to the V-6 body went smoothly, Murphy says rewiring the car was the biggest headache.