About

(Since this is a model car, I will only accept challenges to it with models, toys, and other "Non-Car" cars!)

As a teenager, my favorite TV show was "The Rockford Files". When my favorite car model magazine, SCALE AUTO ENTHUSIAST, announced a model contest with a movie and TV-car theme, I thought that nobody else would think to build Jim Rockford's trusty, and much-abused, Firebird... and I was right!

Specs

AMT 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am 1:25 scale model kit

Factory Options

Everything for a no-nonsense, high performance Trans Am available in 1977: The model had a 4-speed manual transmission and no A/C. However, it did have T-tops...

Mods

I had to perform a full conversion from a T-Top equipped Trans Am to a solid-roof Esprit. I filled the T-Tops and the shaker scoop hole in the hood and smoothed and filled the fender scoops. Since the spats and spoilers thankfully were add-on parts I didn't have a hassle deleting them. The wheels and tires were all wrong, of course: Rockford's Esprit had Rally II wheels and whitewall tires. I took those from another model I hadn't started yet, but had plans for different rolling stock for anyhow. I carefully cut the 4-speed transmission from the engine block and exchanged it for a TH-350 from the AMT 1970 Nova kit. Under the hood, I added an A/C compressor and a power steering pump and all their plumbing, as well as all the other wiring and hoses that AMT left off of it - Heater hoses, spark plug wires, heater hoses, battery cables, etc. I cut the seat backs from the cushions and hinged them. I then added sun visors, seat belts and shoulder harnesses, a turn signal stalk and full flocked carpeting. Of course I did away with the clutch pedal and converted the shifter from a stick to an automatic. The model's license plates match the California blue plates the car wore on the show. For more pictures, see my "Non-Chevy Models" album.

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