1990 1LE SCCA Pontiac Trans Am Sunoco Race Car

[The Boss]

1 of 4 1LE cars built by Pontiac for the 1990 model year, sold through GM's supplier/subsidiary system to it's first owner and delivered through dealer in Flint. Built by John Bennett for SCCA American Sedan class with the 91/92 Formula body panels and one of Pontiac's ultra rare aluminum hoods. It was raced by Jim Christ of the Toy Store in Florida in the early 90's including multiple poles, wins and track records at Road Atlanta, Sebring, Daytona and Homestead Miami. Currently being restored to original race appearance under Sunoco sponsorship but legal for vintage racing with full cage, current net & belts, spec motor, super t-10 4 speed and Ford 9 inch locker. Full fire system, Accusump, fuel cell, spares and SCCA log book.

With over 2 million Firebirds & Camaros built between 1982 and 1992 there were only 1532 1LE cars built. Chevrolet produced 1,360 of them with Pontiac only building 172. This car has never been titled but still retains it's original VIN tag. This is a unique opportunity to purchase a rare factory race car that has been purpose built for the task and has excellent substantiated history.

Offered at $35,000 - interesting trades considered.

contact via e-mail [email protected]

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[earntaz]

Wow!!

[firstgenaddict]

BAD ASS!!!

I have loved the 1LE's since they were in production.

I was studying advertising and graphic design at the time and thought that GM should have made an ad with the following tag line.

It's a simple as 1LE why GM is racing into the future.

[Terry24]

Where did you get the red Formula?

[The Boss]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Terry24</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Where did you get the red Formula? </div></div>

I bought it in the Baltimore area.

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/ubbthrea...ird-#Post659918 (http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/659918/1991-pontiac-formula-firebird-#Post659918)

[The Boss]

Decals have been completed!

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2016/06/full-5151-44689-img_1905.jpg
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Signature over the driver's door &amp; the autograph from Jim we used for it.

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2016/06/full-5151-44692-img_1889.jpg
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Jim Crist's text (the original owner/driver of the car) when I sent him the pictures...

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2016/06/full-5151-44694-img_1907.png

[The Boss]

We had a photo shoot today - quess where?

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2016/07/full-5151-46257-img_2289.jpg
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[markinnaples]

Wow, that's something special. And your professional pics are amazing. GLWS.

[The Boss]

Any interest at any price? I'm in the mood to sell them all today!

[The Boss]

Magazine car now...http://ponchoperfection.com/

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2016/08/full-5151-47935-centerfold.jpg

[DW31S]

What is the white Camaro?

[The Boss]

That's my 91 1LE Z28 ordered new by a female Delco executive with leather interior. 305/5spd 60k miles.

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2016/09/full-5151-48350-6.jpg

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[The Boss]

Magazine is out - car got the cover too.

Still available - very unique car &amp; opportunity to buy well before the market.

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2016/09/full-5151-48806-img_2648.jpg

[mockingbird812]

&quot;Wide open till you see God, then brake&quot;. Love it!!!! Congrats and good luck.

[The Boss]

Price Reduced for sale - $28,500

Thanks SYC

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2016/09/full-5151-49232-edited_fb_0051.jpg

[The Boss]

Excerpt from the article on the car:

<span style="font-style: italic">&quot;The Firebird 1LE performance package may have gone un-noticed to many people when it was introduced for the 1988 model year but it was a very significant moment for Pontiac - it was the first time that a factory race car had rolled out of the factory since Johnny Mauro's 1963 421 SD Catalina left Pontiac and headed to Pike's Peak. While cars had been built to satisfy various homologation requirements such as the 1969 Firebird Trans Am and the 1986 1/2 Grand Prix 2+2, the 1LE Firebirds were meant for track use.&quot;</span>

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics/usergals/2016/09/full-5151-49456-img_2981.jpg

[The Boss]

Aluminum Hood Images - these are <span style="font-weight: bold">FAR HARDER</span> to find than even a 69 Trans Am hood - unknown quantity made.

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[The Boss]

New Pricing:

1990 Trans Am 1LE SCCA Sunoco Race Car - $27,500

[The Boss]

New Pricing:

1990 Trans Am 1LE SCCA Sunoco Race Car - $26,500

[Fhakya]

That is a really cool car and great to read about. I didn't realize some of the info that you provided (alum. hood etc..) &amp; appreciate reading about it. Wish I was in the market! Good luck with the sale.

[The Boss]

Back in November I swapped e-mails with a guy who used to work with John Bennet at GM - here's one of them.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-style: italic">John Bennett was a draftman in the Chassis group at GM. He was very good and worked his way up to being a &quot;design leader - technical&quot; which meant he supervised and delegated work for draftsman in the chassis structure and suspension areas.

Outside GM, he built A-sedan cars and owned/managed an IMSA team which raced Firebirds. He mantra was: &quot;If you are not cheating, you are not winning&quot;. His cars were very trick, with many hidden body reinforcements. In IMSA, he built what he called &quot;50-50&quot; engines, where one bank of the engine was the bore for a 305ci and the other bank was the bore of a 350ci engine. He wanted more displacement and by overboring one side of the block, he had a &quot;50-50&quot; chance of being caught for cheating during tech inspection, as usually only 1 cylinder head was asked to be pulled. He was sponsored by Sunoco, but liked Mobil One oil, so he would pour Mobil One oil into Sunoco bottles to maintain his sponsorship. I think his cars were purchased new and immediately turned into race cars.

Honestly, I only worked around John for 1 year, so I don't know that much about him. He was quite a character: loud, light brown hair with a Fu Manchu, always wore cowboy boots. I bet he would not remember me if you asked him. My friend Brad Bromley knew John better than I, as he worked with him for probably 8 years. Brad owns a 1982 Firebird which was a street car until around 1990, then converted into an American Sedan race car. John Bennett built the cage for it. When Brad put it into the wall at Mid-Ohio, John referred Brad to a body shop in Pontiac, Michigan where John took his cars for frame straightening and body repair. When Brad took his car in, the owner of the shop said: &quot;if this car has John's frame rail reinforcements, I cannot straighten it!&quot; That is how we learned about John installing tubing inside the body rails of his race cars. Brad's car did not have this modification, so it was able to be repaired. When John got out of racing, he sold many of his leftover parts to Brad (aluminum hood, radios, etc.) which Brad used to update his A-sedan Firebird. I used to crew for Brad and we are still good friends to this day (now that his kids are older, I am trying to talk him into getting his Firebird out of storage and back on the track).

That is about all I know, to be honest. John retired from GM in the early 2000s. My friend Brad has not heard from him since. I hope he is well.

About your car, my guess is it was ordered by a GM executive on John's behalf. The executive would have driven it for the required 4 months, then turn it is. John could have worked with a fleet coordinator so he could &quot;tag&quot; the car through the employee purchase program. In the 1990s, there was a lot of shenanigans played by GM employees who raced by ordering special edition high performance cars as their company cars. John Heinricy (another former A-Sedan racer, and my former Director) ordered several ILE Camaro and Firebird cars over the years, drove them as his company car, purchased the car at a discount then converted them into a race car. The employee purchase price would have been 80% of the MSRP: meaning Bennett probably paid $14k for this car. As a side note, I almost bought a 1998 Firebird 1LE hardtop that Heinricy ordered but decided not to buy, as he started racing for Phoenix Motorsport (based in Pittsburgh). It was Hugger Orange with manual windows &amp; locks. I passed on it, as I was a recent college graduate and figured driving it as my only vehicle would be too much of a compromise. That car is probably 1 of 1. Just bad timing for me, as I started at GM in July 1998 and literally had a negative net worth (with college loans, etc.).

I hope this helps. Again, I don't know anything else about John Bennett. I'll ask my friend Brad if he would be willing to talk: he may have more information to share.

</span></div></div>

[The Boss]

Still available - will negotiate.

[The Boss]

Will trade for a 1997 F-350 Crew Cab Long Wheel Base 7.3 Diesel truck with less than 100k miles on it - prefer white but will consider other colors & less than 200k with cash.

[The Boss]

Price reduced again to $24,500. Amazingly rare car with incredible race history.

[The Boss]

Car got some more press today - also being widely circulated on Facebook - of which I do not belong.

http://www.gm-efi.com/news/1990-trans-1le-sunoco-scca/

[The Boss]

New Price $24,500 - 1 of only 4 built by Pontiac that year, EXCELLENT race history, full documentation.

[The Boss]

On e-bay now...http://www.ebay.com/itm/112469623897?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

[The Boss]

New Price - $20,000 or make offer!

[The Boss]

Re-listed, no reserve starting at $15,000. This is a truly rare, well documented restored/running race car with excellent ordering, build & race history. They do not come better or rarer than this very often.

Auction goes live at 10pm eastern tonight.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/112527772484?

[The Boss]

On Bring A Trailer and this is the last round. If it doesn't make reserve I may as well race it.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1990-pontiac-trans-am/

[The Boss]

Time to put a little closure on this story - the car is going back to Florida! Bill Warner, owner of The Amelia Island Concours D'Elegance has purchased the car and intends to race it! I could not be happier with this ending!

Great story, glad I got to be part of it.