It’s amazing how many times GM has gotten within a few inches of building a truly world-beating supercar only to trip over its own feet at the finish line. The Pontiac Tojan is a terrific example of this, as it was engineered to be a world-beating supercar with the prototype model packing a ridiculous 800 b.h.p. powerplant. Clearly, this couldn’t become a totally production-ready example, but the final version that was greenlighted for production fell so far from the concept that it truly seemed like a swing and a miss considering the premium price tag and less-than-supercar-like performance. Still, the styling is quite striking and you rarely see them today. Find this yellow convertible model here on craigslist for $22,000.
Thanks to Barn Finds reader Pat L. for the find. The Tojan was no doubt stunning from the outside: wildly flared / boxed fenders, custom taillights, a cleanly hidden softtop, custom front and rear aprons, and a wheel set that complimented the ridiculous fenders. The nose was something to see, seemingly extending well beyond the point of reason, but it certainly looked like it cut down anything in its path (if you find such a feature useful – pedestrians can be so annoying.) There was no question that the aftermarket builder, Knudsen Automotive, swung for the fences with the exterior redesign of what was essentially a Pontiac Firebird underneath.
However, things fell apart – as they often do, with GM – in the interior. The standard Firebird interior was barely touched, leaving buyers with a $100,000 exterior and a $10,000 cockpit. Let’s face it, even the most devoted GM enthusiast among us can admit their 1980s interiors were awful. To go through the effort of fashioning a supercar-like exterior and then leave the cheap plastics and mouse-fuzz fabric inside really seems like a miss, similar to the 250 b.h.p. 5.7L V8 that resided under the hood. And on top of this, the price tag was already quite high by 1980s dollars, clocking in at a heady $22,000 at the time, which is obviously quite high when you measure it in today’s dollars.
The wood trim was about the only major departure from the standard-issue cabin materials, and it was likely fake at that. The Tojan shown here has been seen before, I believe, as a yellow convertible with the Tojan package is pretty hard to miss. The seller notes his car has a “slight hesitation” in the transmission and that the air conditioning no longer works. It also comes with a salvage title, so it has a few things working against it. But if you’re a Firebird fan and have never owned a Tojan, you don’t have many choices if you hope to snag one off of craigslist. The asking price seems high for what it is, and I suspect the seller will have to discount it significantly to move it on to a new home.
This…this is why Radwood exists!
If the late 70’s had disco, 8-tracks and the Macho T/A, then, not to be outdone, the late 80’s had new wave, cassette maxi-singles and the….Trojan.
This could have been Maverick’s other ride….
It’s a “Tojan”, Trojan is a brand of condoms!
Yes! Apparently auto correct has no idea what a Tojan is!
No matter – still wouldn’t want it.
A Tojan by any other name…is still weird!
Ribbed. For her pleasure.
For anyone driving this it was a good thing they left the “R” out as you’d never have the need for a condom
trojan is also a uk built version of the heinkel microcar
It was first a horse full of surprises.
So Trojan, Tojan, toe jam… if the name stuck, it would probably stick in the wrong places.
Cross between toe jam and trojan? NFW.
I’ve never seen one of these and wish I hadn’t seen this . I like the tail lights and that’s about it .
Look like the Cavalier 80’s tails or shortened Formula lenses.
This has been here before and it hasn’t gotten any better looking.
March 25, 2021.
And also was $25K now $22K. If you wait long enough (@ $3K drops in price) it might become attractive at $1K. lol
“it might become attractive at $1K”
I’d need to wait longer.
Is the reservoir tip in the console???
Toe Jam..looks like what it is..a tarted up Firebird….what a shame..no thanks.
It looks like a kit car, and after reading the Craigslist ad, it has a rebuilt title ! Nope.
This was a kit kar konversion, never authorized or considered by GM
No accounting for what happens at GM. Particularly when it comes to ANYTHING that will compete with Chevrolet. Camaros can’t be faster than a Corvette. So,there is no way GM is going to give Pontiac a green light for a Firebird to be faster than a Camaro OR a Corvette. In order to somehow use some of the effort and expense dumped in to this project. You get one of these. Chevy dealers continued to complain about competing GMC commercial dealers to the point of GMC dealers are almost to the point of no commercial dealerships. GMC got cut out of the the CURRENT ISUZU deal AND the new medium duty trucks. When and if,GM keeps giving away the van market and comes out with a “Euro Spec/Style” van GMC dealers will not get that either. GMC dealers had to be aggressive in the commercial side because they did not have Impalas, Corvettes, or any other “cars” so they created a niche market for themselves on the commercial side. (Remember the ’50s and ’60s where GMC had their own engines and options?) Some of the strongest GM commercial dealers where GMC and Chevrolet dealers just could not stand it! So yes, many times “specialty” vehicles did not travel the path to where us gear heads would like to have seen them with really special vehicles. But, more often than not the original concept gets axed at the top from/because of Chevrolet. That’s why what John Z pulled off in 1964 with the GTO has such huge significance. By the time the orders were in and the the magazines had touted the new option/car. It was too late to kill an already hit!
I dunno. There’s nothing good you can say about the interior (or most GM 80’s interiors) except that it’s clean. But… I like the styling, not a lot, but it’s GM show car in soul and spirit. Unusual comes with it’s own cache. And, at its heart, it’s a small block. Properly prepared, there’ll be plenty of horses available. If I had no cars, I would consider making an offer. You will definitely not see yourself in the parking lot of the next show and shine, cars and coffee, people with nothing better to do on a Saturday morning. (“Oh, that is such a rare color for your 1968 GTO coupe, and… that right-side mirror was such a rare option.) Gag me.
“Gag me.”
Not a bad idea.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
LMAO! No, its not a Super car! The name is correct you just need protection. I suppose someone will chime in saying a sports car has 4 doors.
Looks like a bad firebird kit car conversion
Tojan, Tojam, (tomaydoe,tamahtoe), however, “Trojan” seems most apropos as this perfect example of the Corporate Big House prophylacticly neutering something that had plenty of potential. It is certainly a prime candidate for the “Coulda been a Contender!” Museum along with the XJ220, the MC412, and a plethora of others you can add in the comments if you wish.
What a bloody waste!
And I thought the Aztec was ugly . .
22k and a salvage title are negatives
Topless and yellow are positives
The interior should have been left alone
The wood is awful and the steering wheel is worse
The complete body kit is not bad to my eyes
This car looks like it could have been KITT’s girlfriend on Knight Rider.
I don’t think it looks so bad but not good enough to spend $22K on.
“Factory” super car? Does it have a GM issued RPO ? I doubt t if anyone on the Firebird marketing team would have even considered this as a legitimate program. Fan boy Journalism.