The story behind the Black and Gold Trans Am…

As the only girl raised with three gear-head brothers, I was destined to have a love for cars.  It goes back to the mid Seventies when my oldest brother inherited a 1962 Chevy Bel Air.  It was a bucket of bolts! During reconstruction, I would hang around and eventually became the resident gofer – quickly learning all types of tools, sizes, and purposes.  Upon completion I was promoted to wheel polisher, those Cragars (developed by Roy Richter) never shined so bright!  Eventually, I moved up to passenger status because my mom asked him to take me to softball practice one afternoon. I was under the impression that the car would come to a complete stop so I could disembark safely.  Nope, being the older brother that he was, he did a slow roll and thankfully I managed to make it out safely.

A Life of Trucks and Engines

Through the seventies and eighties, my brothers continued to buy, refurbish, and sell a wide variety of muscle cars. These included show cars, Too High 4Xs, motorcycles, trucks  – you name it – it probably lived at our house once.  I was always available to be chief gofer and wheel shiner. My value increased when I turned 16,  I could make auto part store runs.  Some may think it strange for a teenage girl to enjoy this, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

That Black and Gold Trans Am

Fast forward to the spring of 2023 when my husband felt the desire to revisit his youth and purchase a 1976 Black and Gold Trans Am.  People ask if I supported his purchase….support it?? I was the one in the passenger seat telling him to drive faster and run the RPMs up!  The following spring, I sold my SUV and asked my husband to find me “a little something” to drive back and forth to work.  Little did I realize that I would end up with my first Firebird.  This 1994 25th Anniversary Edition convertible was not what I meant by “a little something” but as soon as I saw it, I was hooked.