By Christopher Tracy
Ford in the 1960s was not the only American car company to challenge Ferrari. General Motors created this beauty in the mid-80s to pull sales away from the prancing horse. Pontiac did not see the same success as Ford.
There were approximately 150 Pontiac Tojans built from 1985 to 1991. The cars were commissioned by GM and were built in Omaha, Nebraska.
This one is for sale on Craigslist in Wisconsin. The asking price is probably around $9,000, but the seller is looking for the best offer. There is only one picture in the ad, but I wish there were more. This seems like it could be a very good entry in an upcoming Radwood show. Cursory search results look like it doesn’t get a sweet digital dash cluster. *sad face*
I found one that sold in the 2017 Kansas City Mecum auction for $13,500 and it’s a Knightmare. That’s not a typo, it’s the Knightmare edition and it’s magical! Click for more photos.
No Replacement for Displacement & Turbos
I couldn’t track down exact engine specifications. The CL ad has a 406 Chevy small block which is probably tuned for around 500 horsepower. There is also a Carfection video where their subject Tojan has a twin turbo V8 powerplant making 800 horsepower.
American Tradition
American sports cars of the mid-80s are known for their sloppy steering and underwhelming handling. The Tojan continues this tradition and is paired with way too much horsepower.
As much as the outside looks like it’s designed to be a world-beating supercar, the interior is very much a Pontiac. The versions with the rear wing are the best. There are some Pantera overtures with the rear wing installed. The one from the ad has the rear wing installed too.
I have never heard of the Tojan until today. The even weirder part is that the Carfection video is from March and I still had no idea that the Tojan existed.
I wonder what other insane American cars existed that I still know nothing about? What car have you recently discovered?
Jeff Glucker
TOE-han? toe-HAHN? TOE-jan? TOY-ann?
I was sure it was just a typo in the headline.
My job back then had me delivering a few things to the dealership, which was a small storefront in a nondescript strip center located next to an office building full of unrelated other tenants. The showroom had room for maybe three cars. Local staff pronounced it TOE-juhn, though I have no idea if that’s how HQ also pronounced it.
I had no idea this existed, and this would have been highly relevant to my interests in those years. (But, I was in grade school when these were made.)
FWIW MotorWeek liked the handling of the regular series production 1991 Trans Am GTA… cars (& standards) have moved on, of course, but were the 3rd-gen F-bodies really that bad in the overall scheme of things? I remember them being fairly desirable amongst gearheads like me who graduated high school in the midwest ~20 years ago.
Cocaine is the only explanation here.
What else have we missed? Hmmmm.
How about the 1989 ASC Pontiac McLaren Turbo? Not as rare and cool as the Tojan but pretty cool none-the-less…
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/article/1989-1990-pontiac-turbo-grand-prix/
Oh man, that Knightmare edition…popup lights, black over gold, Countach-ish wing, dished 3-piece wheels, “it’s a what?” rarity, and just that name…. forget “very good contender”, I think that wins Radwood.
I’m admittedly not a fan of the 3rd-gen F-body, but this conversion didn’t help the looks, in my opinion.
If you want to go down that rabbit hole again, the Camaro version is called Carralo.