ADMIN Note: Finally… one of the most requested sections of The Source Page is back after an absence of far, far too long. For that I apologize; as the website cycled thru various web hosts over the years lacking my direct input, the Road Test section was inadvertently dropped off the active roster of website sections. Here at The Source Page, we are hoping to correct that mistake with this newly expanded section.
Since the GTA has been out of production for so many years now, original road tests and magazine articles are harder to come by. I mean… how many of you looked at every single magazine in your un intended collections and said, “oh, wait a minute I might need that in THIRTY years… I better save that one.”. I know I sure didn’t, although this section would not have been so long in originally coming to fruition had I done so, I guess.
I’m sure that a small minority of you all out there were able to answer YES to that last hoarding question, but this Source Page section is for those of you who could not. The Source Page has been in the process of finding, obtaining, and compiling these tests for over 35 years now. The articles will feature the original color photography where applicable, but some posts may be comprised of black/white images. If you see a black & white picture fronting a road test or article, that means most likely that the original article used black/white photos throughout. Either way, you will see the original images that accompanied the article, regardless.
The Source Page has compiled at present over 100 vintage articles relating to the Trans Am GTA dating from 1986 up thru 2018 that illustrate how surprisingly well our cars performed aside their peers in the day, and/or how they were perceived by the automotive community among the contemporary performance offerings as a whole. So going through all the various years included here, you will be able to go back in time and see just how the GTAs were judged in their respective eras… performance-wise, the reviewers’ opinions, the technical data, everything… and see for yourself just how these cars were rated. In most circles, you’ll find they fared better than you might have expected today.
New articles continue to be uncovered through ongoing research; any information that is discovered will be processed and added to this section as time allows.
A bit of info about this section before everyone gets started…
1) The vintage reviews have been arranged by the individual model years 1987 thru 1992, and then other articles that relate to the cars have been divided into a separate section called “The Specialty File”. Included among those are ones published in High Performance Pontiac magazine; HPP ran many articles over the years that pertained directly to the GTAs, and other interesting Firebirds as well.
2) The photos of GTAs used by the magazines in the articles may not match the model year they are reviewing, and you will see articles that feature photos of different years within the same review. The 1987 articles are the most numerous, obviously, because the GTA was new to the market and everyone wanted to see and experience the newest Trans Am model. However, you will see photos of 1987 cars used in reviews of the 1988 model GTAs: that’s just a part of publication limitations, widespread usage of “stock” photos, and magazine lead times.
3) This section is different in that instead of typing out each review or test as was done previously, it was decided to just present each article as they appeared in the magazine at the time. Apologies for some of the conditions you’ll see… spots, fading, etc… on some of these articles, but such is the way it is when old magazine stock is used; it survives if stored, but not always in the greatest shape.
4) Every attempt has been made to present these reviews in their complete forms, including companion bits and pieces as they appeared in the subject publication at the time. Any inadvertent omissions will be taken care of as time allows.
5) When available, the cover for each magazine has also been included for those out there who might be interested in collecting the articles that relate to your car(s) and/or that interest you. You will find some articles that do not have a cover image, but be assured the search for each one is constant and ongoing. When these cover images are obtained, they will be added to the appropriate review article.
Questions and/or comments are always welcome… Enjoy!
