1980 PONTIAC TRANS-AM
Rare BIRD
Brad Reikkoff’s Pro Touring Trans-Am is truly one-of-a-kind
In the pages of Drive, it’s not hard to find stories about lifelong relationships their passions as far as Brad Reikkoff of West Bend, Wisconsin. Reikkoff has taken a once broken-down 1980 Pontiac Trans-Am that he bought as a teenager and turned it into the ultimate road and track muscle machine— with the finesse of a sports car.
BY JEFF ZURSCHMEIDE
PHOTOS BY ROBERT McGAFFIN
“YOU NAME IT, WE DID IT—FROM THE CARBON-FIBER FENDERS AND DOORS TO THE MOTOR, DRIVETRAIN AND FRAME. WE DID EVERYTHING OURSELVES, AS A SHOP. THAT’S THE SHORT VERSION OF THE STORY.”
—Brad Reikkoff
WITH A BUILD AND POWER LIKE THIS, YOU MIGHT EXPECT A FANCY NAME FOR THIS RIDE, BUT REIKKOFF KEEPS IT REAL—THIS CAR IS JUST KNOWN AS “ THE BIRD .”
“I always was a Pontiac guy. My first car—even before this one—was a 1969 Firebird that I restored in my mom’s garage before I even had my license. I always built Pontiacs. The biggest reason I like this one is that it was a father-son project,” Reikkoff says.