On Nov. 4, 1968, this car started life as a Lordstown, OH, Palladium Silver Firebird 400. Selected by John DeLorean, the folks at Pontiac Engineering transformed this car into the preproduction Trans Am. PHS shows it was invoiced to Royal Pontiac in Hollywood, CA, with a handwritten memo from George Stevens, car distributor for Pontiac Motor Division, who organized the first press testing of this vehicle at Riverside Raceway in December 1968 that featured the new GTO Judge and Firebird Trans Am. This silver prototype was featured in multiple magazines (Hot Rod March 1969, Motor Trend June 1969, Car Life April 1969, and Car Craft March 1969) before the production release in March 1969.
It was purchased from Royal Pontiac by racing legend Jerry Titus and used as a daily driver and test mule for TG Racing, making appearances at El Mirage dry lakes and Stardust Raceway for aero testing downforce and lift. Sold by the Titus family in 1970, it spent the next 30 years in California. The well-known restorer Scott Tiemann of Supercar Specialties has carefully restored the car. Once completed, the car has only accumulated test miles to make sure that everything works correctly. The car was completely disassembled and stripped to bare metal. Once the body was prepared, it was given a fresh coat of the correct Palladium Silver, and all chassis components were replaced and refinished in the correct original factory finishes.
The restoration on this Trans Am prototype is correct down to the T-3 headlamps and original style Firestone tires. The correct XN code Ram Air IV engine was carefully rebuilt and dyno-tuned by engine master Dan Jensen. The correct PQ Code heavy-duty Turbo Hydramatic 400 transmission has been rebuilt and detailed by Brian Stefina. Everything about this amazing piece of Pontiac history has been reviewed by PHS founder Jim Mattison and confirmed for accuracy.
Source: Première année : Pontiac Trans Am - Forumactif.com. https://tribuneauto.forumactif.com/t38629-premiere-annee-pontiac-trans-am
Images: oldconceptcars
