Close your eyes (not now, of course – finish reading this article first!) and try to imagine the car you see here, circa 1984: Raised 4 inches to clear side pipes, lime green velour interior with paint to match, and a 2-inch green stripe outline on every body panel. State of the art for a show car of the era, perhaps, but like many things from that decade, not exactly a timeless classic.

Bob Bertelsen rescued this 1972 Pontiac Firebird from aesthetic purgatory, buying it through eBay and beginning the long process to turn it into what you see today. Total disassembly, followed by literally thousands of hours of sheetmetal fabrication work (mostly performed by Bertelsen himself) resulted in a list of body modifications that fills two pages of text. He estimates that there are at least 100 hours of labor in the hood alone. With the body work done, the car was shot in Viper red in Bertelsen’s garage and the work on the hardware began.

Every time we turn around here at SEMA, we find another car powered by a LS built by Mast Motorsports. In this case, it’s an L99 making 575 horsepower at 6,300 RPM and 540 pound-feet at 4,600. It’s backed by a Bowler Transmission 4L80E and a Chassisworks Fab9 rearend with a Moser aluminum third member, Motive 3.75 gears, and a True-Trac. A DSE front sub-frame replaced the stock suspension, and a DSE Quadralink is a big improvement over the stock leaf springs. 19 by 10 inch wheels in front are wrapped by Nitto Invo 275/35-19’s, and in back the 19 by 12’s wear 345/30’s.

Engine Specs:

• Type: GM L99 small-block
• Block: Factory block bored to 4.070 inches
• Oiling: Melling oil pump, factory GM pan
• Rotating assembly: Callies 4.000-inch forged crank and 6.125-inch steel rods, Mahle 11.2:1 pistons
• Cylinder heads: Factory L99/LS3 aluminum castings with Mast 1.290-inch beehive valvesprings
• Camshaft: Mast 230/237-at-.050 hydraulic roller, .588/.607-inch lift, 111-degree LSA
• Valvetrain: Mast cam phaser restrictors, stock lifters and rockers
• Induction: GM L99/LS3 intake manifold and throttle body
• Ignition: Stock coils, MSD spark plug wires
• Fuel system: Custom tank, Aeromotive pump and regulator
• Exhaust: Sanderson 1.75-inch primary headers, custom 2.5-inch H-pipe, dual Flowmaster mufflers
• Cooling: Stock water pump, custom shroud Flex-A-Lite radiator and dual electric fans

Despite the Firebird’s clear show car credentials, Bertelsen isn’t afraid to give it the whip – as a matter of fact, right after this year’s SEMA show, the car is going to Pahrump, 45 miles or so outside of Las Vegas, for the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational, which is composed of an open road rally, autocross, acceleration/braking test, road course, and a judged performance/design competition. It’s a real test of all facets of performance as well as a car’s design and build quality, so we’re sure that Bertelsen and Code Red will be up to the challenge.