Bear Witness To The Ultimate 1981 Twin-Turbo Trans Am

By Elizabeth Puckett Feb 04, 2020

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By Elizabeth Puckett Feb 04, 2020

Built by Schwartz Performance, this fully sorted magazine car has a twin-turbo restomod that screams of perfection.

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 both 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 - which is while we'll safely call it a perfect restomod, despite the various other names its gone by.

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

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The chassis, the engine, and the transmission are said to have cost $90,000, and 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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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.

We've been searching around to see what happened to it after a recent eBay had it listed for sale - there's no information if the car sold, or if the listing was withdrawn. 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.