4 Facts About The Pontiac Tojan: The 1980s Supercar You Probably Haven't Heard Of
The Pontiac Tojan was a third-generation Firebird-based performance car made from 1985-1991 that was intended as a budget-priced Ferrari-beater. Because there were so few Tojans made (between 133 and 150, plus the prototype), most enthusiasts have never seen one in the wild. Here are some facts about the Pontiac Tojan, the 1980s supercar you probably haven't heard of.
Fact 1: The Pontiac Tojan was styled by the original Hot Wheels designer Harry Bradley, a former GM designer who later conceived most of the original Hot Wheels vehicles for Mattel. Based on the Firebird's steel structure and door panels, the Tojan added fiberglass fenders, hood, tailgate, and bumpers for a completely different look. The Tojan vehicles were produced by Knudsen Automotive in Nebraska, a company that had previously produced a neoclassic car called the Baroque that rode on a GM chassis and drivetrain.
Fact 2: The Tojan prototype was the first production car to exceed 200 mph. The creators of the Tojan knew that they had to launch the car with a big splash, so Knudsen brought in famed engine-builder Gale Banks to make a monster motor for the prototype. Banks took his 900-horsepower, twin-turbo, small-block V8 designed for marine use and slightly detuned it to produce 800 horsepower in the land-bound Tojan. A very unofficial and extremely illegal run on a straight Nebraska road provided a reading of more than 206 mph on the Tojan's speedometer. This was in 1984, three years before the Ferrari F40 came along and exceeded 200 mph.
[Featured image by Pandino4x4 via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY 2.0]
The 200 mph version of the Pontiac Tojan never made it to production
Fact 3: While the 800-horsepower engine remained on the Tojan option list, no one ever ordered it. Tojan coupes and convertibles were equipped with one of the Firebird's standard engines, usually either a reliable 5.0-Liter or 5.7-Liter GM-sourced V8. One was built with a Banks-built Paxton supercharger setup on its 5.7-Liter V8. It appeared in the movie "Collision Course" with Jay Leno and Pat Morita and was auctioned by Barrett-Jackson in 2010. Other unique Tojan options were leather-upholstered Recaro seats, digital dash, Gotti wheels, and a huge rear wing that looked just like the Lamborghini Countach's.
Fact 4: Pontiac Tojans are hard to find, but not very expensive. Due to extremely low production numbers, it is rare to find a Tojan available for sale. A 1987 Tojan Coupe with only 41,000 miles recently sold on Bring a Trailer for a very reasonable $20,000. It is the only one to appear on the site since at least mid-2016, when its third-gen Firebird records begin. Another Tojan was sold for $13,500 in 2017 by Mecum.
The Tojan was one of Pontiac's many attempts to live up to its tagline of "We build excitement!" With its restyled body and crazy powerful prototype engine, the Tojan created an image of an American Ferrari-killer. For those who chose to spend between $36,000 and $62,000 (when the standard Firebird started at $22,000), the Tojan was a way to approach that $400,000 Ferrari F40 cachet at a much lower price.