Prologue, 
I have since sold my 1983 Trans Am Pace Car (still regretting that) but a local Camaro shop gave me a pretty good offer, and I was moving back to Tokyo and I had to let it go. I've left this page and the photos so other 3rd gen F-body fans can still enjoy them. Not a day goes by that I don't miss my Trans Am... Maybe one day we'll meet up again.

What is an '83 Daytona Pace car Edition,
For 1983 Pontiac's Trans Am was chosen to pace the Daytona 500, so Pontiac celebrated by releasing a limited edition pace car replica. They featured the two-tone white/charcoal gray paint scheme, ground effects package (which increases the cars aerodynamic efficiency to .32 CD) they had a quick ratio steering box, WS6 suspension package, 4-wheel disc brakes, a limited slip differential, red backlit rally gauges, Recaro bucket seats, and exterior badging, decals & floormats denoting how special this car was. They came in two distinct powertrain flavors, the base LG4 5.0 liter 305 cubic inch V8 4-barrel carbureted engine with 5-speed Borg-Warner (an upgrade from the '82s 4-speed) transmission, or the more powerful LU5 5.0 liter 305 cubic inch V8 with "Cross-Fire" fuel injection and 4-speed 700R4 automatic transmission. These were top of the line GT machines, that could outrun almost any other GT car of the day. It also happens to be the fastest American car of 1983 (since the Corvette was not produced that year). Production of 2,500 automatic LU5, and 500 5-speed LG4

Hideki's (now sold) Pace Car,
I purchased my pace car because I was in the market for an affordable '80s GT machine (I was looking at the Supra, RX7, and Z) and this car caught my eye. Upon examining the car I was amazed by all the performance goodies this car packed. Mine was the rarer LG4 equipped model and only had 110,000 miles under its belt. These are seriously fun machines that I would suggest to anyone in the market for a similar automobile. It's a dated car with it's two-toned paint, old skool Recaro seats, and such, but an amazing machine that's easy to tune for power.

Under the Hood,
When we bought the car the original 305 engine was on its last legs. We picked up a rebuilt 350 cubic inch short block and started swapping! While we were at it we added a Lunati solid lifter bumpstick, and ported the 305's heads. We then installed a Weiand dual plane aluminum manifold, and rebuilt the Rochester Q-Jet 4-bbl carburetor (which has mechanical secondaries and flows 600cfm, so it was ideal for my engine) topped off with a K&N filter (the stock air cleaner gets fresh air from the hood scoop) It all exhales through a set of Hooker headers and 3" Flowmaster exhaust system. I'd estimate the new setup gave the car almost 300 horsepower. I loved driving this car, it felt like driving around an old muscle car, but it could turn and stop if you wanted to.

Making it Stick,
The stock WS6 performance dampers & springs, anti-roll bars, 3.73 ratio Posi-Trac rear end, and quick ratio steering box made this car incredibly fun to run through the twisties. The only modifications I made were a set of Goodyear Eagle tires, new brake pads/rotors, new bushings, and a lightweight aluminum driveshaft from a later 1LE Camaro. Simple but effective.