[Auto] 1987 Pontiac Tojan, a Firebird Like You've Never Seen Before, Is Today's Bring a Trailer Find

[7aMoDi]

The Tojan married unique styling and a Firebird chassis. The cars were sold at Pontiac dealers in the 1980s. This is one nearly forgotten piece of Pontiac history. The 1980s F-body Pontiac Firebird was incredibly po[CENSORED]r, thanks in part to its starring role the show Knight Rider. The Firebird-based Tojan, however, is a car most people have never heard of. This all-black example shows its unique design off best, and it's up for auction on Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos. Somewhere between an official production car and an independent build, it's the kind of car that will have nearly every bystander asking, "What is that thing?"

 

Should you make the winning bid, here's the story you should get ready to tell and re-tell again: At the start of the 1980s, Pontiac was looking for opportunities to set itself apart from GM's other brands. Specifically, executives wanted to lean into the “We build excitement!” tagline. Thus, they contracted with Omaha, Nebraska–based Knudsen Automotive, a coachbuilder that made cars similar to the neo-classic Excalibur, to build a prototype Firebird-based machine that would offer next-level performance and exclusivity.

 

The Tojan's design—that's "Tojan" not "Trojan," possibly due to some obvious copyright issues—was sketched by Harry Bentley Bradley. Bradley had designed most of the original Hot Wheels toy cars as well as the modern version of the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile. The Tojan sadly would be far a more obscure example of his work. Which is a shame because, given the constraints of working a gen-three Firebird body, the Tojan's design looks like it might have rolled out of the futuristic dystopia of the videogame Cyberpunk 2077.

 

Inside, you get some nicely bolstered Recaros and burled wood trim, the latter being the 1980s version of piano black plastic. All the expected '80s luxuries are here, from an AM/FM stereo with subwoofer to air-conditioning and cruise control.

 

The first Pontiac Tojan prototype reportedly was an absolute monster, its V-8 fitted with a Gale Banks twin-turbocharging kit good for something on the order of 800 horsepower. In-period, it was tested to a top speed of 206 mph, which would sound unbelievable were it not for Banks' repeated record-setting on the Bonneville salt flats. However, Pontiac turned down the boost or switched it off entirely. Tojans, which were offered in both convertible or coupe form, mostly came with a standard 5.0-liter or 5.7-liter GM V-8, although supercharging and turbocharging reportedly were optional. This example has an L98 5.7-liter V-8 rated at 205 horsepower with a four-speed automatic transmission. It's also equipped with the WS6 performance suspension, a limited slip differential, and disc brakes at all four corners.

 

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a46288059/pontiac-firebird-tojan-bring-a-trailer-auction/