Adding a Pontiac to the Guide?

[Bruce Noland]

Originally Posted by Dwight Southerland

There was an unwritten policy that for a combination to have a separate line in the class guide, there must be a separate model identified by the manufacturer or the shipping weight with the options for the combination must be 50 lbs or more than the shipping weight of the model it started was added to. All that information was based on specifications submitted to the NHRA by the manufacturer to the AMA (Automobile Manufacturers Association) or the MVMA (Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association) in later years. Since the 1969 AMA specs for a Firebird does not even list a Trans Am as an option over the Firebird 400 or the Ram Air IV or any added equipment specified for a Trans Am, that is likely why the Trans Am has not been a line item for all these years. The info in the class guide is likely just made up to please somebody.

1969 Firebird AMA Specs

In the case of the 1983 Z28, it was not considered a separate model by Chevrolet but merely an option for existing models. And, when you add up all the extra weights of the components for the Z28 package, spoiler (4.4 lbs), mirrors (2.6 lbs) and Z28 Special Performance Package (19.8 lbs), the total is less than 50 lbs to be added to a Berlinetta. So it would not have be considered a separate line item. Again, the line item was added ot the class guide because some people pitched a fit about it.

1983 Camaro MVMA Specs

Thank you, you proved my point. The 1969 Trans Am is distinctly different than the Firebird.