It took ten members of the Mike Raisor Premier team to put this show-stopper Fourth-Gen together. The logo is a tribute to The Flying Tigers of WW II. (See sidebar.)
Racing
Although Mike's show car looks right at home at world-class auto events, he also designed it to be a racer. "I used an 8-point rollcage that came installed in the Trans Am and added a Simpson 5-point harnesses," he says. With motor only, the Trans Am produced 453 horsepower at the rear wheels. But Mike says that wasn't enough power for him. He added a single-stage wet nitrous system from Nitrous Express, which is armed with a window switch and activated via a throttle relay that sprays a 200-shot of juice at 3,800 rpm. On juice, the T/A pulled 527 rwhp.
Conclusion
It's no surprise that the LSXP-40 Trans Am was a huge hit at SEMA. "The response was incredible," Mike says. "Tens of thousands of people saw the car. Its workmanship and paint were eye-catchers and many people brought their friends and acquaintances back again and again to see it. The biggest question was, 'Is that all really paint?' We started the car several times so people could hear it run, and we also turned the MTX outboard speakers on so people could hear the sound outside of the car. Power TV did a piece on the car and ESPN shot it and put it on their Web site."
Creating this wild Trans Am has been another great moment in the national spotlight for Mike. "It comes down to passion," he tells HPP. "We wanted to show what our new shop, Premier Autosports, could do for our customers, and then take the LSXP-40 Trans Am to events, have fun and show all the hard work. Special thanks to Dr. Jamie Meyer of GM Performance Parts, BMR Fabrication and Stainless Steel Brake Corporation for all of their assistance on this project. Without them, we would still be in the shop."
A Trans Am with an overbite? No, this is the mouth to the LSXP-40 Trans Am sprayed in House of Kolors specialty paints. To create this monstrous effect, Mike switched out the nose of the Trans Am for a Formula piece, which does not have provisions for foglamps.
A Bird Of War
Anyone looking at the paint scheme on this Firebird recognizes the military theme, but did you know that this automotive tribute is of an aircraft of the Chinese Air Force American Volunteer Group (AVG) in WWII? "The Flying Tigers" became legendary as the nickname of the American Volunteer Group, comprised of U.S. military pilots and crews recruited with clandestine U.S. Government support to defend China against the invading Japanese. This was quietly accomplished in the Spring/Summer of 1941, before the United States entered the war. The AVG was critical to China's survival, as they were the defacto Chinese Air Force at the time.
The AVG spent the Summer and Fall of 1941 en route to Burma for training. The group first saw combat on December 20, 1941. As this was twelve days after Pearl Harbor and the U.S.'s entry into the war, secrecy became unnecessary. Frequently outnumbered by 15 to 1, The Flying Tigers achieved great success against unbeaten Japanese flyers during a period when the Japanese forces continued to roll up victory after victory.
AVG flew Curtiss P-40 fighters, which had a large shark face painted on the cowling. Although durable, the heavy P-40 was considered obsolete by WWII fighter standards. The AVG pilots were trained to avoid "dogfights" with Japanese aircraft, since they were faster climbers and much more maneuverable, but the P-40s were used effectively in diving attacks, where their superior dive speed kept them out of trouble. In only seven months of action, The Flying Tigers were credited with destroying almost 300 Japanese aircraft with a loss of only 14 pilots.
With an American press searching desperately to find good news to report in early 1942, the success of the AVG began to attract considerable attention. Their Washington support group dubbed the AVG The Flying Tigers, and they became known as "Fei Hu" or "Sharks' teeth" by the Chinese. The fledgling Walt Disney Company created a "Flying Tiger" Squadron insignia, and they became a sorely needed morale boost for victory-hungry Americans during the bleak days after Pearl Harbor.