[Lee]

In the mid 1980's, my dad picked up a '79 400/4spd Trans Am. Somewhat unique, being black with a blue interior. At some point prior to dad buying it, Hurst T-Tops were added. Dad had a killer Alpine stereo installed, and also a set of higher-end Recaro seats.

Dad REALLY wanted to have a set of Jongbloed wheels made for the car. I was with him when he called to inquire about a set, and it seems like it was nearly 2-grand for a set back then. One question they asked dad was whether the fenders were flared, so they could determine what widths were possible.

I was working at a Cadillac/Pontiac/GMC dealer at the time, and got to know the better body and paint guys. I got a couple of them interested in helping with the T/A, and the body guy offered to flare the fenders. He talked with my dad, and dad gave the go ahead.

The body guy used the factory urethane piece as a model, for the basic shape. He used stiff wire to make a skeleton for the flares, and then welded in strips of steel, forming them as he went. In the end, the rear flares were all-steel.

Dad's employer (USX, aka US Steel) shut down the facility he was working at around this time. It took much longer than expected for dad to get another job. As such, he sold the car before ever getting the wider wheels. I kept track of the car for a couple years, but eventually lost track of it, and have never heard of it appearing again.

Thought some of you might like seeing some photos of it, though.

[Torquewar]

Neat pics and looks like quality work ..not easy. There was a guy around 1988 with a 77 with front and rear metal flares....looked great .
He had the road race look before anyone even thought about it...IMSA look.

[Lee]

The body guy worked on the car on weekends. Since we all worked at the dealership, they allowed us to use the shop (and shop materials). We spend nearly every weekend of the summer of '85 working on it.

It was really cool watching how he developed the flares, making the framework, hand shaping each piece of steel, massaging the surfaces.... It looking amazing in person. People would first think we just molded-in the stock parts, then they'd realize it was all metal.

GREAT body guy, but turned out to be a not so-great human.

[Greg Reid]

That was a lot of work. He did a really good job seamlessly blending those in. I can't tell but it does not look like the fronts were done?

[Lee]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

That was a lot of work. He did a really good job seamlessly blending those in. I can't tell but it does not look like the fronts were done?

No, the fronts were left stock. I watched probably 1/3 of the work he did, and I was amazed. I wish I had more pictures of the process, it was very cool to witness.