1974 Pontiac Trans Am - Sexy Mutha'

Though he worked full-time while attending college, the cost of a brand-new Trans Am was out of John's reach. Then in 1973 he was hired by the San Bernardino County (California) Sheriff's Department and things looked brighter. In May 1974, he completed his Academy training and was ready to purchase a graduation present—of course, he had his sights set on a new-in-the-wrapper '74 T/A. "I started shopping for my Super-Duty 455 and soon learned that it was impossible to find one," he says. "I visited dealership after dealership and was told the same tall tales over and over, from 'No more are available,' to 'They are not allowed to be sold in California.'"

"We drove to Savage Pontiac in Monrovia," John explains. "As we drove in front of the dealership, sitting right on the corner was a new '74 T/A. It was Cameo White, with blue decals, and a blue screaming-chicken hood decal. Inside, the cabin featured an eye-catching, two-tone red-on-red interior, and brilliant colored lettering on the front passenger window, proclaiming, 'Sexy Mutha.' Talk about standing out! The yellow, red, and blue writing on the windshield with a multi-colored circle around it caught my attention."

The rookie deputy spoke to a salesman and heard the same old sob story: "Super-Duty Trans Ams were very difficult to get and a dealership would not trade it unless it got another one in return."

After returning to the dealership, John began negotiations to take the thrill-ride T/A home for good. That's when the dealership told him the car was already spoken for. He explains: "It seems that this particular T/A and nine others were to be sent to Las Vegas to a dealer that was exporting them. My understanding was that they were going to Japan. Fortunately, Mr. Romano, the dealership sales manager, knew how much I wanted this car. He made a few calls and substituted a similarly-equipped T/A for the trip overseas. The T/A was mine."

John enjoyed the T/A for the next decade. "It continued to impress me with its power and handling. I remember getting on it and twisting, and then literally snapping the rear stabilizer bar in half when it was only four months old. Many mechanics were amazed at the quickness of this car, "he says.

By January 1985, John's Sexy Mutha T/A had logged 52,000 spirited miles and began to burn oil, prompting him to overhaul the engine at a local speed shop. "If I recall, the rebuilder used TRW forged pistons sized 0.030 over, floating wristpins, and other performance mods typical to the time period. The shop's workers also balanced the engine, and installed a set of Doug Thorley headers. During the rebuild, the shop showed John that the stock intake was cracked, needed welding, and couldn't be replaced because the part number was no longer available, "That didn't make sense to me," John says. He found out years later exactly why the intake manifold was no longer available—he says it was an SD-455 'LS2' and the factory installed it onto his D-port car!"

"This time, the T/A received the full treatment," John continues. The 455's bottom end, which was rebuilt once, was inspected and deemed operational, so NASCAR engine builder and tuner Jim Van Gordon, of Van Gordon Racing in Upland, mildly ported and polished the stock 4X heads and fitted them with Manley Racemaster stainless-steel 2.11/1.66 valves. He recalibrated and installed a No. 7044270 SD-455 carb, which tops a non-production ultra-rare SD aluminum intake (PN 485640). The distributor is original, but is upgraded with a Pertronix ignition module, and MSD 8mm wires and ACDelco 45S plugs complete the ignition path.

Upon John's suggestion, the shop also installed a Comp Cam hydraulic flat-tappet cam with 218/218-degrees duration at 0.050 lift, and 0.454/0.454-inch lift. Exhumed fumes route their way through a set of new ceramic-coated Doug Thorley headers (1¾-in primaries, 3-inch collectors) to a custom 3-inch dual-exhaust featuring Flowmaster mufflers.

Since he cared for his T/A's interior since day one, very little work was required to return it to its radiant glow. He replaced the front seat upholstery, carpet, and headliner with reproduction parts and had his original AM/FM in-dash stereo rebuilt. The door panels, dash, gauges, and trim are original.

John's T/A was an accident-free, rust-free survivor, so a basic exterior refinish using BASF basecoat/clearcoat paints was performed by West Coast Collision in San Bernardino. Afterwards, the shop used 3M polishing products to give the code-11 Cameo White exterior a high luster, and installed new decals. "I admit I used creative freedom with replacing the decals," John laughs. "The blue hood bird never made sense to me with a red interior. The only solution was to apply the '74 orange decals and hood bird. Man, did that make a difference!"

Pontiac fans won't find the Sexy Mutha 455 (SM-455 for short) listed in any history of the Trans Am. Nonetheless, for this original owner, his T/A looks nearly as fine today as the first time he set eyes on it back in the day. "I couldn't be happier with how fate directed me to this car," John says. "It may not be a Super-Duty, but it's one Sexy Mutha."

John Chencharick would like to thank the following folks who assisted or contributed to this project: Van Gordon Racing (Upland), American Muscle Car, Sal Perez and Jeff Bachar (San Bernardino), West Coast Collision (San Bernardino), Precision Auto (Bloomington), and Restore a Muscle Car (Lincoln, Nebraska).

John Chencharick and High Performance Pontiac would like to give special thanks to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and Deputy Chief Sheree Stewart for being so helpful and arranging the photo shoot to take place at the Sheriff's EVOC Driving Center.