'71 "Tirebird" Trans Am of John Motroni

[lawful12]

his is an excerpt from the articles appearing in the EAGLE

This issue’s featured car is the ‘71 “Tirebird” Trans Am of John
Motroni. Here is his story:
Back in 1971, BF Goodrich introduced their then new BFG Radial T/A
Tires. To promote their new tires BFG bought and modified six ‘71
Firebird Trans Ams, calling them BFG “Tirebirds”.
One was raced by Jerry Titus in the SCCA Trans Am series and five were
used to promote the tires around the nation at tire stores, car shows,
etc.

‘71 "Tirebird" Trans Am of John Motroni In 1972 BFG sold or demolished
all the promotional cars. The real race car which is owned by Mark and
Linda Mountanos of Utah is still campaigned on the vintage racing
circuit today.
In 1972, famed engine builder, Dry Lake Hall of Fame member, and
magazine columnist (Car Life, Popular HotRodding, etc.), Tom Senter
bought the ravaged Trans Am Tirebird promotional car that I own today.
The original 455 HO was trash as were the suspension, brakes, etc. Too
many tire store yahoos driving too hard and too fast.
‘71 "Tirebird" Trans Am of John Motroni For the next two years, Tom
rebuilt and restored the Tirebird’s interior, suspension, etc,. and
asked Pontiac for a 455SD to replace the HO. Pontiac said none were
available, so Tom called his friends at Michigan’s Berger Chevrolet,
famous for their COPO Camaros, Chevelles, and Novas, and asked if they
had a “grand rodent” for sale, the historic LS6 454, rated stock at
450hp/500lbs. of torque.
They did, and they sold it to Tom for $750.Tom wrote several car
magazine articles about the car and about it’s transformation from a
blue BFG Tirebird into a Ferrari Fly Yellow Trans Am that regularly
turned 11’s in the quarter mile.
‘71 "Tirebird" Trans Am of John Motroni After Tom died, the “Tirebird”
was briefly owned for a couple of years by Tom’s close friend before
it was sold to a Fresno real estate agent who took out the M21 and
installed a Turbo 400 so his daughter could drive it to high school.
After a year or so, he sold the car to Fresno area almond farmer Tom
Gejeian in 1983. Tom Gejeian put the Tirebird in his barn, only taking
it out once or twice a year around his large farm to keep it running.
In 2004, I bought the Tirebird from Tom Gejeian after seeing his ad in
the GoodGuys Gazette.
Since that time, I’ve rebuilt the suspension, brakes, cooling system,
electrical system, and replaced every rubber seal, hose, and clamp, as
well as rebuilt the engine, transmission, and differential. Re-
painting the Tirebird in Tom’s Ferrari Fly Yellow is my next project.