73 Trans Am – Pontiac's Screaming Chicken and Its
Shaker Scoop
By C. Michael Knight
The screaming chicken got its name from the bird that is on the
hood of the Trans Ams. Each color of car had a special black bird
with flames that matched: Cameo White cars had a bird with blue
flames, Brewster Green had green flames and the Buccaneer Red
cars had a red/orange flames.
The weird thing about the "screaming chicken" is that it's not a
chicken at all, but rather it's a "firebird!" It does look like
it's screaming (you would be too if you were going up in flames)
though.
The Famous Trans Am Shaker Scoop
The "shaker scoop" was the name given to the 'reverse bug
catcher' that stuck out of the middle of the hood. The reason it
is a "shaker" scoop is because it shakes with the engine. Every
time you goose the engine, she rocks left to right like it's
going to tear the engine mounts right off.
If you had a real Super Duty engine, the shaker scoop had the
SD-455 emblems.
In some of the early birds, the shaker scoop was a functional air
intake source. It was vacuum operated with a solenoid that would
open the rear flap under hard acceleration to allow more air in.
73 marked the first year the solenoid was removed and the flap
was screwed on. Let's face, it just looked cool but didn't add
any real performance.
What Color Is Your Bird?
If you wanted a 73 TA, you could have it in any color as long as
it was Cameo White, Brewster Green or Buccaneer Red. For me,
green was a bit dull and the red had too much orange in it.
The Cameo White car, Blue Firebird on the hood and Black interior
was by far the best color combination for 1973.
C. Michael Knight invites you to jump in your 73 Trans Am, stand
on it and burn a posi-traction strip over to his website:
http://1973TransAm.com/
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