Projx Auto's Z/TA Firebird Appearance Package helps you get the 5th Gen Firebird that never was.

Pontiac may be dead and gone, but the Trans Am’s legacy lives on through the many custom shops that are offering Firebird conversions for the 5th Gen Camaro. At SEMA 2011 we talked with the guys from Projx Auto, who are taking a different approach – offering the first reasonably priced, do-it-yourself Trans Am conversion for the new Camaro.

Projx Auto had this slick black convertible, and a white coupe on display at SEMA to show off the Z/TA package.

Projx Auto’s Conversion kit is called the “Z/TA Appearance Package” – which is a play off of both “Z/28” and the “Zeta” platform that the 5th Gen Camaro rides on. The Z/TA package is meant for the average 5th Gen owner who could pay a local shop to paint and install all of the components, or even do it themselves. The appearance package features injection molded front and rear bumper assemblies that bolt in place of your stock bumpers – they even reuse all of the same hardware and mounting points – and injection molded upper and lower front grilles.

The Z/TA package also comes with a lightweight stamped aluminum hood with the cut out for the functional shaker air box, and OE stamped front fenders with a Firebird styled louver neatly pressed in. To finish out all of the details, Projx Auto includes a color matched graphics package, embroidered custom headrest inserts, and embroidered floor mats.

Keen-eyed Trans Am fans will notice that there are a few subtle changes to the Z/TA's Screaming Chicken.

The Z/TA is all about keeping things simple for the end user. All of the body parts are meant to bolt directly in place of your stock parts after they have been painted to match your car. To keep the cost reasonable, the Z/TA package doesn’t come with wheels or any performance modifications besides the functional shaker hood. The guys from Projx told us they did this on purpose, so that people could have more options to customize the car themselves. The conversion could be done on a stock V6 Camaro and left alone, or someone could go all out with their 2SS – the choice is up to the owner as to how far they want to take their Z/TA.

Staying with the "Keep it simple" philosophy, changes to the interior are limited to these embroidered headrest covers, and a few other emblem changes.

The price for the basic Z/TA Appearance Package is listed at $8,500. Not cheap, but definitely more in reach for the average 5th Gen Camaro owner than purchasing a completed Trans Am conversion car with all the bells and whistles for almost ten times that price. And we will say this much, all the Z/TA parts seem to be very high quality, fit like OEM, and looked right at home on their two SEMA display cars.

If you’re a die-hard Trans Am fan, and are looking to bring the “excitement” back, check out Projx Auto’s website for more info on the Z/TA Appearance Package for your 5th Gen Camaro.

Although there arent any performance parts included with the kit, the Z/TA's Shaker Hood is fully functional.

The Z/TA's rear fascia deletes the Camaro's quad tail lights, and replaces them with a style much more fitting of a Firebird.

Projx Auto takes real 5th Gen fenders, and stamps in this Pontiac style louver for an authentic look.

At that price point, expect to start seeing a lot more Z/TA converted Camaros on the road. Sure beats paying $85,000 to buy a complete car that's been converted to a Trans Am...