By 1966, the muscle car era was well under way and the Sports Car Club of America started the Trans-American Sedan Championships, or Trans-Am series for short. The races soon became the arena where the major car manufacturers duked it out for muscle car supremacy. Many companies wanted to license the Trans Am name but Pontiac got there first.

Pontiac took the name to place it on a special series of Firebirds that became known as the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Eventually everyone just referred to it as the Trans Am. Trans Ams were never the best sellers but they achieved great cultural success with the 'Smokey and the Bandit' movies and the TV series 'Knight Rider.'

Even Non-Car-Lovers Know the Trans Am
The Firebird Trans Am outlasted all of the other muscle cars from the 1960s. The 1970s brought about increased emissions, safety, and fuel economy regulations that sounded the death knell for the muscle cars. The Firebirds eventually succumbed as well and started using smaller engines but not until 1977.

For awhile it seemed like regulations were going to kill the road performance category, but consumer demand, manufacturer innovation, and computer advances saved it. Advanced electronics allowed the car manufacturers to pull more power from the smaller engines and performance cars came back strong. This meant, though, that after 1980, these cars were more complex than earlier models.