Heath "Heeter" Thomas
Heath "Heeter" Thomas, a man's man! He's living the American dream, doing what most men only dream of doing, living where most people would love to live, working at a job he loves to do! When you first meet Heeter, you feel like you've known him all your life. His deep booming voice is reminiscent of every radio announcer you've ever heard, and his demeanor puts you right at ease! People who achieve Heath's level of happiness are usually surrounded with gold, and Heath is no exception! Heath's gold comes in the form of an outstanding 1978 Gold Trans Am SE, and the family that got it for him! Below is his story that was published first in April 2005 when his T/A was voted Pontiac of the month at his local car club, (San Diego Pontiac - Oakland Club), and again in December of 2005 when he made the cover of POCI's Smoke Signal Magazine! Way to go Heath!
American Muscle….Birds of Prey
1978 Gold Special Edition Firebird Trans Am
By: Heath Thomas
I’m not sure what it was that made me a Pontiac
enthusiast but at age 15 I bought my first car, which later also became my
third car (but that’s a story for another day). It was a 1971 Pontiac Lemans
Sport. The Lemans wasn’t my dream car in 1982 (that would have been any of
the 1st or 2nd generation Firebird Formulas or Trans Am’s that were popular
at the time) but I had limited funds to spend on a car I wouldn’t be able to
“legally” drive for another year. (I still have the Lemans 25 years later
but I’ve not done her justice letting her sit uncovered for the last 15
years. I’ll get back to her one day). When I left Bangor, Pennsylvania in
1985 it was in a Pontiac that I began to explore our country and the world.
My life as a United States Marine was just beginning. North Carolina, South
Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Washington DC, Georgia, Florida,
Alabama, Virginia and West Virginia were all explored in that Lemans Sport.
Many a race was won and many good memories made.
Then another Pontiac, a 1986 Sunbird GT took flight to carry me even further
and provide “fairly” reliable transportation the next 13 years and 300,000
miles. With this car I would explore new places like Tennessee, Kentucky,
New York, Ohio, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah,
Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and California while
revisiting SC, NC, MD, PA, VA, WV, GA, AL, FL, DE, NJ and NY. My travels
around the world with the Marine Corps were just as exciting and memorable.
In what seemed to be a blink of the eye 18 years had passed and I had gone
from being a Marine jet mechanic to a Navy pilot who just happened to be
visiting that small Pennsylvania hometown for a holiday vacation. My wife,
her mother and I had gone out to a favorite pub in the area and I noticed an
advertisement of a car for sale as we walked in the door. I looked at the
info a little closer and immediately told (well maybe asked nicely) my wife
that the car of my dreams was for sale and I just had to have it. The car
was of course my 1978 Gold Special Edition Trans Am. I spent the rest of the
evening trying to convince my wife this car would make a fantastic Christmas
present, but even after the extra beer or two I bought her she was resolute
in her opinion that it was too much money to spend for a car that we would
just have to drag all around the country with us. By the time we left, she
had me convinced she was right and it was just too much to deal with
(multiple cars and military life).
I was stationed in Maryland at the time and little did I know that upon our
return the Sneak (my wife) had called her mother and brother to have them
check out the car with instructions to let her know if it was in good shape.
My brother-in-law checked it out and gave it a solid, double thumbs up
regarding its condition. The seller was the original owner and had most of
the original paperwork. He was asking $10,000 but my mother-in-law talked
him down to $9,000. The deal was done and the surprise Christmas present was
driven home to wait the special day. My brother-in-law said he was sure he
saw a tear in the owner’s eye as he drove off.
A few weeks later the surprise was unveiled and my brother-in-law said he
was sure he saw a tear in my eye when they opened the garage door (it was
dust in my eye of course). The 1978 Firebird Trans Am MSRP was $5,799. The
Y88 Special Edition Package added another $1259 and the WS6 Special
Performance Package another $151. Total sticker price for the car with other
options was $8, 755 (and I paid $9,000 for it twenty two years later – I
wish all cars would hold their value like that). For the motor heads out
there, the WS6 package included the 15X8 gold-colored-snowflake-aluminum
wheels, upgraded Goodyear polysteel radial 225/70 R15 tires, a constant
ratio - high effort steering box, an upsized rear sway bar and smaller
bushings all around to improve responsiveness. Production numbers for the
car were 8,666 total built. 6,519 were automatic transmission with some
variant of the Pontiac 400ci engine. 1,267 were made with the manual
transmission and powered by the Pontiac L78/W72, 220 HP, 400ci engine, while
880 were made for California or higher altitudes and had the Oldsmobile
403ci engine. My Gold Bird of Prey has the automatic transmission with the
L78/W72, X7, 220 HP, Pontiac 400ci engine.
I’ve enjoyed my Gold Bird and its unique characteristics. I’ve worked hard
to restore it to its original form. It’s been great going to car shows and
having the only Gold Trans Am. Even the Trans Am Nationals in Dayton only
draw out 4 or 5 of the Special Edition Gold Birds. The biggest project so
far was the R-n-R of aftermarket wheel fairings the former owner had
installed to reduce road chips on the paint. Like I’m sure many of you have
experienced, my small project ended up to be something more. It turned out
to be a little body work, a complete new paint job and 3 years later I’m
still waiting for Ralph at Stencils and Stripes to produce the stripe and
decal package I need to complete the job. It’s a great culture to step into!
I’ve met lots of great people from around the world and cannot begin to say
how much members of the Bandit Trans Am club and members of the SDPOCI
chapter have helped me along the way.
American Muscle…Birds of Prey, what the hell does that mean you ask? Well,
I’ve been a Navy SH-60B Seahawk helicopter pilot for the last eleven years
and I’ve watched the Seahawk develop into a lethal Bird of Prey. It is the
premiere helicopter of the U.S. Navy and it can pretty much do anything
needed from shooting missiles at a ship or tank to sinking a submarine to
controlling a section of jet fighters for a strike mission. This Bird of
Prey can also be used to rescue the poor jet jock that got shot down or pick
up the unlucky mariner stuck on a sinking ship and most recently American
Muscle was used to deliver food and relief supplies to millions of Tsunami
refugees when no one else could. Now you may ask, how do I classify my T/A
6.6 Special Edition Gold Bird as a Bird of Prey? Well let me tell ya, in
1978, Road Test Magazine matched the WS6/W72 T/A against a Z28, and a
Corvette in a down and dirty street fight. The T/A was chosen the victor,
running the quarter in 15.2 seconds at 93.4 MPH. 0 to 60 in 7.2 seconds with
a top speed of 123 MPH. Other cars like the Ford Mustang, 302ci V8 powered
King Cobra ran a slow 17.09-second quarter at 80.69 MPH and the Chevy Monza
Spyder with the 305ci V8 made the quarter in 17.16 seconds at 82.04 MPH.
Special Edition Trans Am’s rock and still prey on the weary.
Ensuring I foster the driving excitement, I convinced my wife (a known
driver of Fords and Camaros – please don’t hold that against her, she really
is a good woman) to purchase a new Trans Am back in 2002. We were looking
for a new car and I told her GM was not going to make the Firebird or Camaro
anymore. It only took one test flight and she was hooked. Now we have two
Birds of Prey to stalk the highways
Heeter Thomas
