Yet in real world applications, the technology was still a few years away from large-scale adoption. In the GM test lab, turbocharging solved both the emissions and fuel efficiency issues. In this touched-up drawing, you can see the 301’s turbo (red) placed near the carburetor(!), atop the engine. As the 1970s rolled on, Pontiac engineers felt turbocharging was a solution, and outfitted the new 301 cubic inch version of the venerable Pontiac V8 with a turbo generating about 9 PSI of boost. Enter the 1970s: Gas Shortages & Emissions Controlsįast forward a few years and every auto manufacturer was soon tasked with making their cars run cleaner and more efficiently.

The Corvair? Well, it had its share of other, non turbo-related troubles.īesides, gas was cheap at the time and, much like Pontiac discovered with its Sprint 6, many folks simply just preferred the rumble and power of a big-cube V8. For instance, Oldsmobile’s water-methanol reservoir often ran dry from inattentive owners, hindering engine performance. (Image/GM Heritage Center)ĭue to a confluence of issues, neither of these engines lasted very long in production. The folks at Oldsmobile stuffed a turbocharged engine into the short-lived F-85 Jetfire too. of torque.Īcross the hall, Oldsmobile stuffed a turbocharged 215 cubic inch V8 into its 1962 Jetfire, calling it the “Turbo Rocket.” That engine was good for 215 horsepower and had a clever water-methanol injection system to mitigate spark knock and detonation issues stemming from the engine’s relatively high compression. Nope, Chevy developed a turbocharged version of the Corvair’s air-cooled six way back in 1962. Let’s be clear, the Turbo Trans Am wasn’t GM’s first foray into turbochargers and forced induction. (Image: Turbocharged engine in a 1962 Chevrolet Corvair by SFoskett | CC BY-SA 3.0) That particular engine would cross paths with the Trans Am later on as well, but we’ll get to that in a sec… GM’s Turbocharged History GM had developed a pair of turbocharged engines over a decade earlier. Oh, and it’s absolutely worth mentioning that around the same time that the Turbo Trans Am was being developed, the folks over at Buick were turbocharging the venerable 3.8L V6 that would eventually propel the legendary Buick Grand National.

In some ways, that turbo 301ci motor and its modest 210(ish) horsepower foreshadowed General Motors’ later forced induction engines that powered some tire-shredding performance cars like the 2009 Corvette ZR Cadillac Blackwings. We spotted this Turbo Trans Am at the 2021 Hot Rod Power Tour as it stopped in Dayton, Ohio.

Take Pontiac for instance, and its experimentation with a turbocharged V8 engine that was available in the 19 Trans Am and Firebird Formula. While gearheads often refer to the 1970s as the “malaise era” in vehicle performance, the decade did reveal some glimpses of where engine technology was heading in the future.

1981 pontiac firebird