HPP: When and how did you find the inspiration to create the Trans Am GTA?
LW: With creativity-as I later learned when I worked at General Motors' Design Staff, you never know when it's going to strike. Back in early 1985, Tom Davis, who was in charge of the GM80 program, which was going to be the successor to the Firebird/Camaros, wanted a team-building get-together offsite, and we were also studying at that time Heads-Up Displays (HUD). So we took a plane down to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, and toured both the section that used the Heads-Up Displays [the Air Force]-F-15 and F-16 jet fighters, and the museum. We also saw all the presidential aircrafts, but off in a hanger almost by itself was an SR-71 Blackbird. I remember walking in there, and I just stopped dead in my tracks when I saw that thing. What a gorgeous plane. It appeared to be roaring along at Mach 3 just sitting in the hangar. There was a little bit of white striping and a little bit of red striping, but essentially it was a black airplane, and I thought, Wow, that's a great design. They called it the Blackbird.
Well, I remembered the previous generation of Firebirds had these black Special Editions and Red Birds, Sky Birds, Yellow Birds, you name it. I thought, Wow, Blackbird-uplevel Trans Am-Blackbird. I just happened to put the two together standing right there. When I came back to the office on that rainy Saturday in late January or early February [1985] I said, "That's what our uplevel Trans Am is going to be. We're going to call it the 'Blackbird.'" So I put together a proposal to create a Blackbird-it was my codename for it, if you will.
HPP: You also proposed the mid-'80s Formula Firebird. Is this correct?
LW: Even before I got the Firebird job, my favorite Firebird of all time was the '77 Formula with the big, bold W50 Appearance Package in yellow. Jack Folden did that design when I was in college, and I thought this was even better than the screaming chicken on the Trans Am. To this day, it's my favorite Firebird. I kept saying, "That old SE-which was our mid-level model-is just not cutting it. We're going to bring back the Formula. We're going to put the same bold graphics on that thing, and it's going to be our mid-market car." So I took the proposal for the Blackbird, took the proposal for the Formula, married them, and started selling it through the Pontiac organization, first with our own work group and eventually through divisional management.
 This Flame Red Metallic GTA...  This Flame Red Metallic GTA shows off its tail. |  |  Here's Lou Wassel back in...  Here's Lou Wassel back in the day with his '85 Trans Am that was built to serve as his company car and was the prototype for the GTA package. (photo at upper right and below courtesy Lou Wassel) |
HPP: How long did it take to approve your concept of the Trans Am GTA and finalize the reintroduction of the Formula?
LW: In those days, the approval process took forever. That's why we came up with the idea in early 1985 and we didn't get the car out on the road until a year and a half later. Basically, other than the cloisonn emblems and the B2L 5.7L engine, the components to build these cars were already in the parts bin-they were nothing new. All they had to do was certify the 5.7L engine in that car. Everything else was pretty much there. For the proposal and the design theme for the GTA, I liked that monochromatic appearance. My boss at the time, the now-late Bill Heugh, and I called down to Design Staff and said, "Hey, we've got this idea for an uplevel Trans Am Blackbird. We're also thinking about bringing back the Formula. What do you think?"
John Schinella, design manager of Pontiac 2 Studio, said, "Oh, those are great ideas. I'll have Jack Folden go to work on a Formula graphics package right away." And he did-Jack had it done that afternoon.