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Stupid lines you have heard at a car show/cruise/track

PhillyTurboSix

PhillyTurboSix

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After seeing Tony's post about the guy who had a TTA with a digital dash... :eam: I figured let's start a thread of the most outrageous things you have heard while out in your TTA. This thread should come up with some good ones! :teehee:


One thing that happend to me last summer... a guy walked up and said to me "That's one clean GTA! I use to work for Pontiac these were great cars." Thinking that he meant to say TTA I said it's a turbo trans am not a GTA. He looked at me like I was nuts. Walked around the car and asked me who put the turbo six in it it was a clean install! :shock: When I told him the factory put it in there he was really lost! He walked away talking to himself! :)
 
Took mine to a Car show here in Germany. A newspaper writer read the display cards I had written, and misquoted in the Paper "The rare turbo trans am of which there's only 20 left in the World!". I had written on the cards that 1555 were produced and that there are approx. 20 of them in Europe.
Guess he read it really quickly!
 
I put my car in a show back in the spring of 95 or 96. So in my class was only 2 entries me and a guy with an 88 Iroc. It had louvers a braw and some Hot pink stickers on the windows, and I think some tuned intake runners that were polished (wow, big horsepower adder). It was dark red, so the hot pink and turquoise "Hot Ride" or whatever NAPA sticker on the window clashed. So umm my car looks today like it did then (check my web-site) it was actually closer to stock back then. So guess who won? Yes, the dime-o-dozen 350 tpi Iroc Z!. So Me being in shock, as I understood what the car was even then, I started tripping out, well only a bit. So I waited for the dude to pull out of the parking lot, and got lined up a stop light with him. Killed him, like 6 car lengths in about 1/8 mile. He got the trophy, I got the kill. The show was put on by the local chevy club. There is no local pontiac club. Also, no local Buick club. Oh yeah, there was also no " I have a F'n clue" club either.:dirol:
 
Ratfink, don't feel bad. I have never won a trophy with my TTA but did receive a trophy for a 92 camaro RS that I was using for a winter beater back in 1996. I was driving through a small town and just pulled into the show for a close parking spot - I had a real nice trans am that was my show car.

Anyways, in the spirit of the tread I had somebody last year counting plug wires. 1-2-3-4-5-6...what the he**. This thing only has a 6 cylinder?!? I also had somebody say he could take me with a 99 mercury cougar 4 cylinder. He told me my car had 250 factory rated horsepower, his cougar had 220 plus a K&n filter plus a fart can. He claimed those mods added 50 horsepower putting his car 20hp more than mine with less weight. We never raced.
 
I don't feel bad. I still have the TTA and that dude probably lost track of that camaro back in the late 90s. :dirol:
 
Many times I hear at a show about some friend who has a turbo trans am just like mine.... and it's a White Pace Car etc.... until they tell you about the bird on the hood or his was a turbo V8. (1980). I had one for a few years , not fast but lotsa fun to drive and the 3 boost indicator light bars on the hood scoop, how adorable. LOL.
 
tonypalese said:
not fast but lotsa fun to drive and the 3 boost indicator light bars on the hood scoop, how adorable. LOL.
Click to expand...

i loved those lights, always made me feel good to light them all up, even if i was being passed by a kid on a tricycle at the same time.

i havent really had anyone say anything stupid at shows but i did have a performance shop refer to it as a GTA. that isnt THAT stupid really, but there was the guy who was convinced he could beat it driving a mostly stock beretta... needless to say, he lost by dozens of car lengths. :burnrubber:

the look on his friends face in the passenger seat when they finally caught back up was priceless. :hooray:
 
I was at a car cruise and there was a beautiful 80 turbo V8 bird. The cruise was over I was leaving in the TTA and happened to get next to him at a light right in front of the cruise. The people that were still there hanging out started to point over and saying "lets see if these guys run!" The guy with the V8 turbo looked at me and said.. please don't embarrass me when the light changes! lol I had to laugh. I took off slow and so did he. The next light he said "thank you, you would have took off and it would have looked like I was in park!" I love the V8 turbo's but man what were they thinking. Must have been a hippie stoned at Pontiac when they came up with those 3 lights for the turbo! lol why even bother!
 
i was driving to a meet when i had my 81 bandit along with my dad in his 87 GN and a friend in a new GTO. we all ended up in the front of all 3 lanes at a red light. when it turned green, we all punched it and of course they all sped off into the distance... i can empathize with that guy in the 80 turbo :/
 
One thing that happend to me last summer... a guy walked up and said to me "That's one clean GTA! I use to work for Pontiac these were great cars." Thinking that he meant to say TTA I said it's a turbo trans am not a GTA. He looked at me like I was nuts. Walked around the car and asked me who put the turbo six in it it was a clean install! :shock: When I told him the factory put it in there he was really lost! He walked away talking to himself! :)[/quote]

I have had a few people at cruise nights that very confused as well. They would want to know who did the engine work, or how I came up with the idea. Some even think its a GTA with a turbo 8.
I do have to admit that until I was ready to buy a 2nd trans-am I did not know anything about this car. I spent about 6 months reading about all the diffrent trans-ams. When I came across the 20th the more I read the more I liked and wanted one.
 
Having both an 81 and 89 Turbo Pace Cars, they're obviously not even in the same ballpark as far as acceleration or braking is concerned.

But the 81 was (sadly) one of the best performing and handling cars for 1981.

It's kinda like saying that 1975 Camaros are slow...uhmmm...yeah...they are...that was the mentality in 75.

But I can tell you for a fact that while the 89 turns heads, the 81 attracts a crowd.

And Jalopnik gave us some love at Woodward on Saturday...lol...in a twisted sort of way.

http://jalopnik.com/5037917/pontiac-turbo-trans-am-daytona-500-pace-car-feel-your-mullet-flow

But to get back on topic, I actually had a Napa manager earlier this spring ask me who did the install on the 89...:cry:...needless to say, I don't get parts from them anymore...
 
I've had people ask me why I'd swap a V6 into a GTA.

Why I put Trans Am badges and ground effects on a V6 Firebird.

Parts guys insisting GM never made a V6 Trans Am. or, "Why would they do that?"

"Great engine, too bad the rest of the car sucks."

"I had a buddy with the exact same car." (except it always ends up being a 87-90 TPI Trans Am/GTA, a different color, an IROC, etc.)

"Yeah, those cars (thirdgen fbodies) have Corvette engines, but Corvettes were slow back then."

"Why don't you have a mullet?"
 
About 2 years ago, was at my local Wegmans (a supermarket for all you non New Yorkers) waiting for my girl to come out, a silver eclipse pulls up alongside with two punks in it. The passanger was looking over my car prety hard (anny harder and Mr. Glock would have had to make an apperance:yes:) Anyway the passanger finaly asks "what makes it a turbo?" I said "Well that would be a turbo charger bolted to my engine!":bash: They both gave me a puzzled look and drove off.
 
michael_showalter-confused.jpg


"a whut bolted to yer whut now?"

theres ignorance, and then theres sheer stupidity.
 
I had the TTA at a local meet a few weeks ago, parked next to a very clean GN. There was no shortage of disbelievers that GM put the GN Turbo V6 in a Trans Am and even more people asking general questions. I do not have the decals on the doors and a kid with a turbo eclipse or something asked me what it runs at the track. I told him it has already been there, did 150+ at Indy in '89. He did not understand.

Back when I was selling a Z28 I had a guy that said he worked for a Pontiac dealership for 20+ years had never seen a TTA in person. The engine was out of the car at the time but he had tons of questions.

The best story! When I used to drive the TTA as a daily I was filling up with gas and this Jeep pulls up next to me to fill up. This kid jumps out, walks to my car and asks me "Mr, is that a real Turbo Trans Am Pace Car?" I said, "why yes it is, how do you know that?" The kid said, "I have been researching them since my neighbor used to have one, he had a TTA and a Syclone, they are awesome cars" Any TTA owner would be smiling at this point but I was still in shock... the kid was 10 YEARS OLD! His Dad got done filling up the Jeep and apologized if his son was bothering me. I said not at all. At this point the hood was up so he could see the engine and I let him sit in the driver seat, the kid was loving it. The kid and his Dad thanked me for my time. It was really cool.
 
Hardway said:
The best story! When I used to drive the TTA as a daily I was filling up with gas and this Jeep pulls up next to me to fill up. This kid jumps out, walks to my car and asks me "Mr, is that a real Turbo Trans Am Pace Car?" I said, "why yes it is, how do you know that?" The kid said, "I have been researching them since my neighbor used to have one, he had a TTA and a Syclone, they are awesome cars" Any TTA owner would be smiling at this point but I was still in shock... the kid was 10 YEARS OLD! His Dad got done filling up the Jeep and apologized if his son was bothering me. I said not at all. At this point the hood was up so he could see the engine and I let him sit in the driver seat, the kid was loving it. The kid and his Dad thanked me for my time. It was really cool.
Click to expand...

Now THAT is a good story!
 
I was at the gas station earlier this spring and I had a guy come out and say turbo huh???? I said yes it is and he went on to tell me about a GTA that he owned. Still had that puzzled look on his face the look you get when you put on one of those fake turbo badges. Then just before he left I saw his face light up and said ohhh I remember those cars now, they came out with some decent horsepower numbers??
 
Just got a new one...today!
At a show I've got my hood up, 3-4 guys looking, then one of them says, "Hey this is basically the same Engine as the GN isn't it?" My eyes lit up thinking "Hey this guy may have some knowledge!"
Then he screwed it all up by saying " So where's the Turbo located?" He was dead serious!!:wall:
 
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