You heard us right. After seven years without Pontiac's high performance musclecar, HPP has learned that ASC Creative Services, the company that converted Trans Ams and Formulas into WS-6 cars from 1995 to 2002, has completed a top-secret project to create the fifth-generation Trans Am.
Dave Byron is the lead designer of the proposed 2011 Trans Am. Luckily for Pontiac fans, he is a staunch Pontiac loyalist and depended heavily upon the classic Second-Gen Trans Am for his inspiration. In this exclusive interview with High Performance Pontiac, Byron tells us about the 2011 Trans Am and what you need to do to make it a reality.
High Performance Pontiac: What is ASC Creative Services?
Dave Byron: ASC Creative Services is a full-service design house specializing in automotive, transportation, and product design. We have a really talented group of designers, clay modelers, digital sculptors, and studio engineers with very diverse backgrounds, but one thing in common--we're all car nuts.
HPP: Please tell us a little about ASC's background and qualifications?
DB: We've been in business for over 40 years, and many probably remember us as American Sunroof Company. In more recent times, we expanded into full vehicle development, so the name was changed to American Specialty Cars. Right now, we're located right across from the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan. We've spent most of the past 10 years serving GM's Specialty Vehicle department, creating vehicles like the V-series Cadillac lineup, Woodward show cars like the GTO Dream Cruise Show Car, and a lot of SS development, including the Malibu SS. Over the last couple years, we've also served as Saleen's design team, creating cars like its supercar concept, the S5S Raptor.
HPP: What prompted you to create the 2011 Trans Am proposal for GM? Who came up with the idea?
DB: The concept and the proposal originated within ASC. I was watching GM develop the Camaro and I wanted to do a Trans Am proposal. I have two myself, a Third- and a Fourth-Gen, and I wanted to bring it back. We got a few guys together and started working after hours, like a Skunkworks-type of project.
Attention readers:Do you want...
Attention readers:Do you want to see the 2011 Trans Am built? Contact Steve Nowicki at (586) 446-4707 or steve.nowicki@ascglobal.com.
HPP: When did you present the 2011 Trans Am design to GM?
DB: We presented it to GM about a year ago.
HPP: Did you present renderings or models?
DB: Both. We presented renderings, a digital model, and a real-life model of the Trans Am.
HPP: Are you saying you've already built a 2011 Trans Am?
DB: Not at the time of the initial proposal. We showed GM these 1:3 scale models you see here. You can't drive them.
HPP: Were the renderings presented preliminary or final?
DB: There were preliminary renderings shown, but we did a lot of self-critiquing and collectively decided on two final designs to propose.
HPP: What were your goals with the design of the 2011 Trans Am?
DB: As you can see from the photos, there's clearly an inspiration from the '70-'73 Trans Ams. When I think back to my favorite Trans Am style, that's it--the blue one with the white stripe down the middle with the shaker hood. I'm a young designer. If you asked me to design a Trans Am from scratch, I wouldn't do a retro design, but with the Camaro body being the donor, you really have to stay retro. So that's how the design developed. I asked myself when I designed the 2011 Trans Am, "Can I look at my favorite Trans Am of the past, the '70-'73 era, develop that into what will work with the Camaro body the best, and provide something that's going to excite young people like me?"