The Pontiac - GMC Division of General Motors, like many automobile manufacturers, builds a number of show cars every year. What's not like most manufacturers, though, is they actually listen to us when we ask to drive one of their creations for an extended period of time! Yes, once again, Pontiac lent us a specially modified Trans Am for the Power Tour. This year's car, dubbed Gold Rush in honor of its eye-grabbing color, was unique in a number of ways.

To start with, it was the very first 1998 Firebird off the Ste. Therese assembly line. There's definitely something cool about seeing all those zeros in the serial number. Being number one is good, but having a bunch of horsepower is better, and thanks to the Westech Automotive-built LS1 stroker under the Ram Air hood, Gold Rush certainly wasn't deficient in the power category. Westech installed the Lunati-supplied stroker crank, bumping the displacement of the LS1 up to 382 cubic inches. Comp Cams supplied the hydraulic-roller camshaft, which opens and closes the valves in the Lingenfelter Performance Engineering-massaged cylinder heads. Fuel is supplied through Accel injectors, with Accel plugs and plug wires lighting the fire. The resulting power travels through a Centerforce clutch into a Hurst Billet Plus-shifted T56 six-speed tranny, and the driveline tortures the BF Goodrich G-Force radials to the tune of 452 rear-wheel horsepower.

The 295-35ZR-18 BFGs are mounted on American Racing Torq-Thrust aluminum wheels, and their rotation is stopped, quickly, by a monster brake kit from Baer Racing. Hotchkiss supplied a number of their beefy suspension parts to the project, and Eibach springs were used to get the "just right" stance. Those lucky enough to go for a ride in Gold Rush are protected by an Auto Power roll bar, and the car's name is the result of the beautiful metallic gold paint applied by Custom Designs Limited.

Gold Rush ran like gangbusters throughout the entire Power Tour. The seemingly unlimited grunt produced by the 382 made gear changing strictly an optional exercise, and while the ride was a bit more harsh than, say, one of Pontiac's Bonnevilles, the car stuck to the road like tree sap on fresh paint.

We can't thank all the participating manufacturers enough for contributing to the Gold Rush project, and we would especially like to thank the gullible, uh, good folks at Pontiac-GMC Division for allowing us to abuse, er, drive their hot rod on the Power Tour. The idea behind building cars such as this is to show what a world-class performance platform the current F-car is. The aftermarket likes to get in on the act, too, by showing off their technology in the form of parts for the project. The problem is that most cars of this type spend their lives sitting on display stands where they tease with the promise of great performance, but proof positive never seems to be at hand. (Would the world know of Secretariat if he never left the stable?) Pontiac understands this dilemma, which is why they allow their thoroughbreds to be exercised. We are proof of that, for two years in a row!