The Screaming Chicken Lives: How Trans Am Depot Keeps Pontiac’s Muscle Alive

I still remember the gut punch when Pontiac shut its doors in 2010. As a lifelong gearhead, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Despite the frantic calls from fans, GM pulled the plug on one of America’s most iconic muscle car brands. The G8 GXP was their fastest production car ever, and it went out in a blaze of glory, but that wasn’t enough to keep the badge alive. The very last Pontiac was a humble G6, and with that, decades of Firebirds, Trans Ams, and GTOs became nothing more than grainy memories on an old VHS tape. For years I figured the only way I’d ever see a new Trans Am was in my rearview mirror dreams. But fast forward to 2026, and I’m here to tell you—the Screaming Chicken is back with a vengeance, and it’s all thanks to a bunch of wizards in Florida called Trans Am Depot.

I first heard about them through the grapevine around 2015, but I didn’t pay much attention until I stumbled across a YouTube clip that nearly made me spill my coffee. There it was: a pitch-black Trans Am with gold pinstriping, Snowflake wheels, and cowboy boots walking past—the kind of scene straight out of Smokey and the Bandit. Then came the close-up of Burt Reynolds himself leaning into a T-top cabin. At first I thought it was some cleverly restored ’76 classic, but the body lines were too fresh, too precise. It hit me like a train: the Bandit was back, and dreams really do come true.

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