Last week we brought you a story of a pretty crazy looking 1977 Toyota Hilux with a twin-turbocharged V8. This week we’ve been sent a story of an even more radical, and possibly cooler, 1971 AWD supercharged Trans-Am. This could well be the first all-wheel-drive Trans Am in the world

Man in charge

When you are the chief mechanic for one of the most visible race teams in the world, you need to drive something pretty special yourself. Gregg Hamilton is the lead spanner man for Hoonigan Racing, the team set-up by and solely responsible for creating and servicing the cars driven by Ken Block, including the Hoonitruck and the Mustang Hoonicorn (as see in the Gymkhana Ten video).

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Hoonicorn inspired

After a brief drive in the mad Mustang, Hamilton decided that he had to have his own all-wheel-drive hot-rod. He also happens to be a Trans-Am fan. Pictured above (black and gold car) is an earlier model he customisedd. It took him several years to build the 1971 AWD supercharged Trans-Am you see here. The car was bought from sun-ravaged Arizona and the body was left pretty much as it was found.

He dropped in a Chevy V8 sourced from an SUV. The motor was tuned, with the help of a blower, to deliver 600+ bhp (450 kW). Having worked for famous rally teams in Europe, such a Toyota Team Europe and Prodrive, Hamilton is obsessed with moving mass between the two axle lines. The new motor was moved 18 inches rearwards 450 mm from the car’s standard engine position.

Click here to check out an all-electric AWD Mustang.

Drive is to a Nissan GT-R five-speed transmission. That drive is then sent to deliver to all four wheels via a centre diff. The suspension system is all custom fabricated and consists of racecar-style pushrods that act on bespoke coilovers. Multi-pot Corvette Z06 brakes are employed at each corner. The final link in the suspension is 295 mm wide rubber. Being an ace technician Hamilton custom fabricated almost everything you see on the mechanical side.

Listen to Hamilton explain the work required to build his 1971 AWD supercharged Trans-Am in the video below.