LS3-Powered 1969 Pontiac Firebird Convertible Restomod Hits the Market at $179K
A meticulously crafted 1969 Pontiac Firebird Convertible restomod has hit the market for $179,900, blending classic American muscle aesthetics with modern performance and amenities in a show-quality package.
The car is the product of L&S Customs of Prospect Hill, North Carolina—recognized as NSRA's Elite Builder of the Year. This fresh, zero-mile build is more than a tribute to Pontiac's golden era. It's a re-engineered performance machine clad in Electron Blue metallic, polished Schott wheels, and loaded with contemporary upgrades from nose to tail.
Under the hood, the convertible is powered by a 6.2-liter LS3 V8 crate engine, known for its robust 430+ horsepower. A Tru-Trac Front Runner accessory drive system, Be Cool aluminum radiator with dual electric fans, and smoothed firewall complete the show-ready engine bay. A Tremec six-speed manual transmission sends power to a Ford 9-inch rear axle, while the RideTech coilover suspension, four-link rear, and tubular front control arms ensure modern handling.
Stopping power is supplied by Wilwood brakes featuring six-piston calipers up front and four-piston units at the rear, paired with drilled and slotted rotors. Power steering and staggered Bridgestone performance tires—20-inch in the rear, 18-inch up front—round out the car's street manners.
Inside, the Firebird boasts a custom black leather interior with power windows, power convertible top, and Dakota Digital gauges integrated into a restored dash. A billet steering wheel, air conditioning, stereo system, and finished trunk area make it as luxurious as it is aggressive.
The car is currently offered by RK Motors in Charlotte, with worldwide shipping available. With just 10 test miles logged, this build is essentially brand new—offering collectors and enthusiasts a rare opportunity to own a classic convertible redefined for modern driving. See it here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Engadget
2 hours ago
- Engadget
Engadget Podcast: How real is Ford's $30,000 EV pickup truck?
Ford has big plans for 2027: This week, the American carmaker announced a new "Universal EV Platform" for future electric cars, spearheaded by a $30,000 mid-sized EV pickup. In this episode, we're joined by SAE International Editor Roberto Baldwin to break down all of Ford's claims, as well as where its $5 billion manufacturing investment is going. Can Ford really rebound after slow EV sales and last year's disappointing product delays? Topics Ford has a plan for a 'Universal EV Platform' and a $30,000 mid-size electric pickup, can they pull it off? – 0:49 OpenAI releases GPT-5, the reception so far is mixed – 24:45 NVIDIA and AMD may tithe 15% of their Chinese GPU sales to the U.S. government – 30:18 Goodbye: AOL will phase out dial-up at the end of September – 33:25 AI-powered 'Smarter Siri' likely won't hit iPhones until Spring 2026 – 36:42 Perplexity makes an unsolicited offer to buy Chrome for $34 billion, which is more than the company is worth – 41:03 Listener Mail: Gaming on a MacBook Air – 52:31 Pop culture picks – 59:13 Host: Devindra Hardawar Guest: Roberto Baldwin Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
Indianapolis Star
5 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
IndyCar 'committed' to Toronto for 2026, but race may land at new venue, time. What we know
When the checkered flag fell and Pato O'Ward, Zak Brown, Tony Kanaan and Co. celebrated in the Indy Toronto pit lane, IndyCar and Green Savoree Racing Promotions, which for years has served as the promoter for the series' annual trip north of the border, were yet again on the clock to strike a new deal with city officials for the renewal of a race weekend that in recent years has operated on a series of one-year contracts. As the paddock cleared that afternoon, several series sources noted that despite the uncertainty of the event's future contractually, combined with the novelty of the soccer stadium a stone's throw from pit lane hosting tens of thousands of rowdy soccer fans six times from June 12 to July 2, 2026 for the men's FIFA World Cup and Penske Entertainment putting a major refresh on IndyCar's calendar for next season, they felt a hunch the series would return. They just didn't know how or when. The viability of the race's future is no longer in question, with GSRP co-owners Kim Green and Kevin Savoree telling members of the paddock in recent weeks that plans for an IndyCar return in 2026 are a go. In a statement to IndyStar, a representative with GSRP said that 'IndyCar and Green Savoree Toronto are committed to the market.' But increasingly, the belief, according to multiple sources, is the race is likely to see a venue swap for 2026 from Exhibition Place, which has hosted 39 major American open-wheel races since its first in 1986. The most likely option to hold the race remains within Toronto's city limits, though. That spot? The now-defunct Downsview Airport, which decades ago served as an air base during World War II and which more recently was owned and operated by Bombardier Aerospace until it was sold in 2018 to a development company that a year ago closed the airport operations for the single-runway facility with plans to overhaul the facility and the surrounding area over the next 30 years into a self-sufficient residential community. Downsview is located nearly 10 miles north of Exhibition Place and can be accessed by a 20-to-30-minute trip on public transit from downtown Toronto's Union Station to Downsview Park Station connected by the "1 Line." It's existence within Toronto city limits would allow the city to continue to provide the funds and assistance necessary to put on the event in ways it has for nearly four decades — compared to running at another local out-of-use airstrip like Buttonville, which is 20 miles outside of downtown Toronto in Markham. Since the airport formally ceased operations a little more than a year ago, Northcrest Developments, the airport's new owner, has hosted community events on the airstrip, and the park area surrounding the airport has seen the creation of temporary concert venue, Rogers Stadium, which this summer has or will play host to Coldplay, Oasis, Chris Brown, Hozier and System of a Down from late June until mid September. The venue can host roughly 50,000 fans as Toronto's largest purpose-built music venue. The area around the airport has hosted massive events in the past, including the country's papal visits in 1984 and 2002, as well as a Rolling Stones benefit concert in 2003 — the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto. The area also includes the training grounds for Toronto FC, the Major League Soccer team whose home matches are played at BMO Field in downtown Toronto. IndyCar uncertainty for Mexico City: Penske 'very confident' to land new race, but negotiations complicated Complications around continuing to host the annual IndyCar race in downtown Toronto — beyond the city's insistence to strike rolling one-year deals of late — comes with BMO Field hosting five group stage men's FIFA World Cup matches next year, as well as an elimination round match July 2, as North America plays host to the tournament. In recent years, the race has been held the third weekend in July, and the process of building the temporary street circuit takes more than 30 days to complete, meaning the construction process would need to begin somewhere around the 1.786-mile circuit just as the run of World Cup matches began next summer, if Exhibition Place were to host a race in a similar timeframe. Last month, IndyStar learned of Fox and Penske Entertainment's aims for Laguna Seca to run the third weekend in July as a way for the IndyCar race that Sunday to use the World Cup championship match on Fox's airwaves as a lead-in event that could significantly help boost its audience. In December 2022, Fox's broadcast of the Argentina-France men's FIFA World Cup final averaged an audience of nearly 18 million viewers for a Sunday morning broadcast. Next year's World Cup final is reportedly scheduled to air at 3 p.m. July 19 on Fox, which could allow for a 6 p.m. broadcast start time for a West Coast IndyCar race. Insider: Loss of Iowa, negotiations around Mexico City preparing to transform 2026 IndyCar schedule At that time, plans were also for IndyCar's prospective return to Mexico City to immediately follow Laguna Seca on July 26, with an off weekend likely to follow, meaning the earliest the next race on the calendar could be held would be Aug. 9. That weekend, or those that would immediately follow, would seem to prove problematic for Exhibition Place to host tens of thousands of race fans, followed by track workers taking the better part of three weeks to deconstruct the temporary venue. Each August, Exhibition Place plays host to the Canadian National Exhibition, an annual end-of-summer tradition akin to a massive U.S. state fair that annually is visited by more than 1.5 million people over 18 days starting the third Friday in August. CNE's annual spot on the calendar would seem to mean an IndyCar race anywhere in the greater Toronto area would need to be held by Aug. 16, so as not to run into direct conflict with the massive fair downtown. Holding the race any time once the World Cup kicks off would seem untenable, too, highlighting those early August weekends and a locale outside of downtown Toronto as a likely (albeit potentially temporary) landing spot for IndyCar's next trip north of the border.
USA Today
a day ago
- USA Today
Will the 2026 tax season start late? IRS commissioner sparks speculation
Sure, we're in back-to-school season, but tax pros already are speculating about the potential for a delayed start for the 2026 tax season. The buzz began building after Billy Long, the new IRS commissioner, was quoted in a July 29 article in The Tax Adviser, a monthly publication of the American Institute of CPAs, as well as the Journal of Accountancy. Long said that the 2026 filing season should start around Presidents Day, which is on Monday, Feb. 16 next year. Gulp, are we talking about a potential three-week delay here? Which could mean many early filers would have to wait even longer for their tax refunds? Not so fast, says the IRS in a statement issued after Long made his comments during a Q&A session at the 2025 Tax Summit of the National Association of Enrolled Agents in Salt Lake City. We're being told that things might not be that dire after all. This year, Internal Revenue Service began accepting and processing individual federal income tax returns on Jan. 27. Kicking off the tax season on Feb. 16 would mean we're talking about a roughly three-week delay. According to the article in the Tax Adviser, Long said he pushed for an earlier date but said that IRS staff wanted more preparation time. Long claimed that he was told staff would "need every day in there. But they have this thing down." Not surprisingly, the IRS seemed to back off that claim, according to an IRS statement in an article that Politico posted online Aug. 4. Tax Notes, a publication for tax professionals, posted the same IRS statement in its story online Aug. 5 with the headline "IRS walks back commissioner's filing season prediction." What IRS says now about next year's tax season The IRS statement on the tax filing date, which I later received by email as well, didn't deny Long's comments but offered some hope if you read between the lines. 2025 tax rules: Trump's new tax deduction on auto loans has major limitations: What car buyers should know The statement, first issued July 30 according to the IRS, concluded: "The IRS looks forward to another successful tax filing season next year, and we will announce the timing of its opening in the regular course." According to the July 30 statement, "IRS Commissioner Billy Long is in his second week of a 'boots on the ground' tour of IRS facilities with visits last week in Georgia and this week in Utah." The IRS said: "Billy cares about two groups of people: his employee-partners and taxpayers. He is gathering information on what enhancements can be made to provide an exceptional taxpayer experience for the American people." No kickoff date is set in stone yet. Last year, the IRS issued a news release on Jan. 10 to state that the 2025 tax season would start on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. When will the IRS begin accepting tax returns? It's a popular question that readers search for online as the calendar year comes closer to an end. But remember, we likely have five months to go from now before the IRS announces when the agency will begin accepting and processing more than 140 million individual income returns for the 2025 tax year. My guess? The speculation has only just begun. Fingers crossed, and it will all work out. Don't bet too heavily against the possibility for at least a few glitches along the way. Some tax professionals remain cautiously optimistic Mark Luscombe, principal analyst for Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting in Riverwoods, Illinois, told me that the good news for the IRS is that the "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act" passed in early July instead of the end of December. "This would normally give the IRS time to prepare for the filing season," Luscombe said. Yet, there are potential glitches, he said. First, the IRS is dealing with significant staff reductions. Luscombe said it's hard to know whether staff reductions affected some key positions at the IRS. But he suggested that if IRS staff at one point told the IRS commissioner that the start of the filing season would probably need to be delayed well into February, then "that is an indication that the staff is concerned about being ready in time for the start of the tax season." On top of that, Luscombe said, Congress is talking about the possibility of another tax bill this year, which could potentially hit late in the year and also affect the start of tax filing season. "If the IRS staff says they need until Presidents Day in 2026, I would take them at their word, which would also mean delayed refunds compared to other more recent years," Luscombe said. No doubt, the IRS will do all it can within its power to avoid the uproar that would take place with any Presidents Day launch. "My interpretation of last week's comments is that the IRS is concerned but still trying to avoid a long delay," said Janet Holtzblatt, senior fellow for the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington, D.C. If the launch of the filing season is delayed, she said, it will more likely be due to the 25% reduction in IRS staff than to the tax law changes and new deductions in the one big bill. "The legislation was signed on July 4, which typically would give the IRS sufficient time to implement the new legislative provisions," she said. Typically, when the IRS has had to delay the kickoff date for the tax season, she said, it has been after Congress enacts tax legislation very late in the year. Often, some delays are limited to very specific complicated provisions associated with the new tax laws. For example, she said, the American Taxpayer Relief Act was enacted on Jan. 2, 2013, and had some retroactive provisions for 2012 returns. In that case, the filing season officially began on Jan. 30, 2013, but the IRS began accepting 2012 returns in various phases as it worked quickly to update forms and instructions to reflect the new law. The tax season essentially was delayed for some filers claiming particular tax breaks on 2012 returns. In 2013, for example, the IRS began accepting tax returns on Feb. 10 from people claiming depreciation deductions. Taxpayers claiming education credits had to wait until Feb. 14. "It wasn't until March 4 that everyone could file," Holtzblatt said. The IRS had to reprogram and test its systems for tax year 2012, including all updates required by the American Taxpayer Relief Act enacted by Congress in January 2013. In recent years, Holtzblatt said, the latest opening day for tax season occurred during the pandemic. The 2021 filing season did not begin until Feb. 12. "If the filing season is delayed, refunds will also be delayed," she said. "Perhaps, the IRS can still manage to avoid long delays, but the task will be challenging with a 25% reduction in staff and a remaining workforce that may well be demoralized." We're talking about more than one big change in tax rules that will impact 2025 tax returns — a new tax deduction of up to $6,000 for those age 65 and older who qualify; a tax deduction on overtime pay; a tax deduction on the interest paid on new car loans, and more. "The fact that there are changes in the law that impact this tax year means the IRS and Treasury must work diligently to both send out appropriate guidance to taxpayers and prepare for changes to filing to accommodate those changes next spring," said Garrett Watson, director of policy analysis at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. Once again, we don't actually know when the 2026 tax season will start. The IRS typically isn't announcing the start of filing season in the summer just days before school starts. But this summer, we all started talking about one big bill and tax breaks around the Fourth of July. So, I guess it's natural that some soon will be asking once again: When does the IRS begin accepting tax returns? Sort of like seeing artificial Christmas trees sprout up for sale in October. Contact personal finance columnist Susan Tompor: stompor@ Follow her on X @tompor.
