Who Is Brave Enough To Drive This Twin-Turbo Pontiac Trans Am?

By Elizabeth Puckett Feb 05, 2019

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By Elizabeth Puckett Feb 05, 2019

With little over 2000 miles on the clock after a professional build by Schwartz Performance, this fully sorted magazine car has a twin-turbo restomod that screams of perfection. Up for sale now, dare you get behind the wheel?

Some will call it pro-touring, others will peg it as a restomod. Either way, this 1981 Pontiac Trans Am is positioned deep within the hottest segment of the collector car market. Boasting nearly perfect condition, the Pontiac has a well-documented history of power and speed. Professionally built by Schwartz Performance, the Trans Am has all the modern trappings and technology of today’s muscle cars, with the vintage frame of an iconic second-generation F-Body.

The chassis, engine, and transmission are said to have cost $90,000, and the seller claims the muscle car has the ability to trounce exotic sports cars. Equipped with a set of twin-turbochargers, the powerhouse of the build is based on a LS9 iron block engine from the GM Gen-IV engine family - backing the powerful drivetrain is a Bowler 4L85e four-speed automatic; specially made to handle the stresses of a full-size pickup truck.

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["Radical Twin-Turbo 1981 Pontiac Trans Am By Schwartz Performance"]

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The Mosler rearend feeds about 1040-horsepower to the rear tires (or about 1300-hp coming off the flywheel). This power is good enough to take the car over 200 miles per hour in the half-mile. Madness.

In order to carry the car like a modern muscle car, it has a fully adjustable suspension, and the occupants can enjoy the brand new interior that retains its classic looks, while also delivering some modern features.

An interesting, and seemingly insignificant, discrepancy in the ad on eBay says that the seller is the original owner since the build. However, if you jump over to an ad from Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction in 2015, you’ll learn that car was indeed sold at this time, and had already been built by Schwartz. Without knowing the full story, it’s hard to guess what the story is, but it did sell for just over $100K in 2015, and the current owner is seeking quite a bit more with a Buy It Now price of $160K.