The Foundation purchased this gold (inside and out!) Pontiac Firebird Trans AM with a large firebird on the hood on November 17, 2015. The 10 cylinder, two door coupe was previously owned by the Cheeseman family in Brampton.
The Trans AM was delivered to Danforth Collegiate and Technical Institute on Greenwood Avenue in Toronto. The car began its transformation under the leadership of Mr. Bill Speed the Auto body and Collision Repair teacher. During the year and half that the car was at DCTI, approximately 60 students worked on the car and learned their craft.
Following Mr. Speed’s retirement, we were able to find a new school to continue the restoration and in January of 2018 the vehicle was delivered to The Niagara Catholic District School Board, The Launch Centre, Notre Dame College School, located at the Seaway Mall in Welland, Ontario.
Mr. Aaron Vasas, the Transportation Technology Teacher at the Launch Centre who is working with the students on the restoration shared: “We are making progress on the Trans Am daily. Currently we have the underside of the car done. We repaired the frame, replaced the body mounts, replaced the worn out suspension bushings, steering linkage and brakes. We completely cleaned and sanded the underside of the car and painted it. The engine is ready to be put back together as soon as we have the camshaft bearings put in (we have a local machine shop that has agreed to do this for us for free). We are continuing to work on the exterior body of the car, this will take the most time it order to make it look as good as possible.” (February 2019 update)
We asked Mr. Vasas what his experience was on the restoration so far and he said, “It is a great project and the kids love it! Thanks again for allowing us to be involved in this project.”
