In the 1980s, Chevrolet was justifiably proud of the Corvette and felt that it sat safely at the top of the performance hierarchy at General Motors. But elsewhere under the GM umbrella, rival designers wanted to shake things up with something even quicker than the ‘Vette. Pontiac celebrated the Trans Am’s 20th birthday with a car that could not merely edge past the contemporary Corvette but turned out to be more than a second quicker to get to 60 mph. It was one of the most extraordinary production cars the company had ever created. And while the backstory was rooted in early turbo-era ingenuity, the project may also have led to some awkward internal chats.
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