Banks Pontiac Trans Am
A street-legal Pontiac Trans Am with 700-hp and a Banks turbo breaks the 200 mph barrier and becomes a cover story for Car & Driver magazine.
The first 200-mph street-worthy machine is Banks twin-turbo GT Trans Am, as tested and proven by Car and Driver magazine.
Banks’ American Turbocar Corp. started the Turbo Tuner craze. 700 bhp, 1 G lateral and 204 mph running the A/C…these things rocked the world. Car & Driver’s Csaba Csere proved the point on Mrs. Orcutt’s driveway.
“Speak Power. Well, Gale Banks and his engines do just that.” —Car and Driver
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American Turbocar Pioneering the Tuner Car
In 1983 the American Turbocar Corporation (a sub-brand of Banks) was born. The venture was a direct result of GM’s production of “F” bodies.
Read moreTop 5 Podcasts of 2022
As we wrap up 2022, we look back at the top 5 podcast episodes from Speed School. We’ve learned and laughed a lot.
Read moreBonneville Beauty Shots
In 1988 a book simply titled “Bonneville Salt Flats” was published. The book showcases some of the fastest vehicles. The Banks Bonneville Beauty aka the Pontiac Tran Am was on the cover. At the time of printing the Trans Am was the fastest passenger car at a speed of 268 mph. It had a stock ...
Read moreRick Young | Speed School Podcast EP 2
Gale Banks welcomes Rick Young, Banks’ 12th employee. Gale erupts in infectious laughter as Rick recalls hilarious antics during the company’s early years.
Read moreEp 1 – Speed School Podcast with Gale Banks
Gale Banks welcomes Csaba Csere, former technical director and editor-in-chief of Car and Driver. The two laugh about making history in a 700-hp, 200-mph street-legal Pontiac Trans Am. And, a hair-raising tale of a 170 mph test drive down a Southern California highway that almost cost their lives. Gale answers your questions.
Check out this episode!
Read moreGale Banks interview from the Salt Flats
https://youtu.be/szyPC-CiYnc
This week’s Time Machine finds a rare interview with Gale Banks recorded before his Twin-Turbo Pontiac Trans Am made its historic run in 1987. The 45-year-old Banks goes over the build of the car and has a timeless message of wisdom for all who are interested in automobiles. The Trans Am went on to beat ...
Read more1987 Banks’ Bonneville Trans Am displayed at GM Assembly Plant
The record-breaking Banks Trans Am GTA had made a few annual trips to the Bonneville Salt Flats, each time coming back to base victoriously with a new record and a higher speed than imagined. Fresh from salt, Banks took this awesome powerhouse of speed to GM’s Camaro and Firebird assembly in Van Nuys (California) so ...
Read more1986 Banks Trans-Am Smashes Record
Banks teams up with Pontiac and Popular Mechanics to build a Trans Am that would be powered by a Gale Banks 1,500 horsepower, inter-cooled twin-turbocharged 456 ci big block engine which used Banks developed reverse deflector turbo pistons, camshaft and turbo valves. The project, having been in development for three years, was conceived to challenge a record ...
Read moreWhen it Comes to Racers…We Roll Our Own!
A friend asked for a race car sponsorship recently, but we usually don’t do that. When it comes to race cars, trucks or boats…it’s more fun to build and race our own! And, that way, if we do it wrong, win a race or set a record, it’s our own doing.
When it comes to fuel, ...
Read moreGale Banks’ Favorite Car, Ever!
Some friends have asked me to pick my favorite car. This is easy, even though I’ve Hot Rodded everything I’ve ever touched, even the ones I shouldn’t have, my choice is my 87 Pontiac.
Banks Twin Turbo 283 mph street Trans Am on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1987. We managed to go fast even though the ...
Read moreBlack Line Fever: 283 mph with Gale Banks.
At the Bonneville Salt Flats, there’s a 5-mile-long black line that’s seen Pontiacs from Mickey Thompson’s four-engine Challenger 1 to the hand-down fastest Firebird of all: the Banks/Pontiac Twin Turbo GTA.
Specially modified to handle an intercooled, twin turbo 7.5L 2200 hp V8, the Banks/Pontiac GTA posted a two-way average of 268 mph, with a peak ...
Read moreWarrior In Repose
(From the Archives – 04.12.02)
We have told you about some of the exciting projects currently under construction in the Banks race shop, but we have some good skeletons in the closet here at Banks, too.
Read more“Banks Power – The first 50 years” Opens at Wally Parks NHRA Museum
50 years of automotive and marine engineering innovation was put on display at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum to honor Gale Banks and his achievements.
It’s called the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. Inside this 28,500-square-foot building are some of the most important pieces in drag racing as well as motorsports history. From early sllngshot ...
Read more“BANKS POWER – THE FIRST 50 YEARS” OPENS AT WALLY PARKS NHRA MUSEUM – POMONA, CA
Pomona, California – – On Wednesday, December 3, 2008, fifty years of automotive and marine engineering innovation was put on display at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, in Pomona, California.
Pomona, California – – On Wednesday, December 3, 2008, fifty years of automotive and marine engineering innovation was put on display at the Wally Parks ...
Read moreTwin-Turbo Revival: Part 1
The History and Evolution of the Gale Banks Engineering Twin-Turbo Chevrolet V-8s
Shown is one of Banks’ original blow-through-design twin-turbo small-block Chevrolet engines. These first-design “production” twin-turbos went into Banks’ GT Firebirds and Camaros. The engines made 500, 600 or 700 hp, depending on the depth of the customer’s pockets.
Unless you’ve been living in a cave ...
Read moreTwin-Turbo Revival: Part 2
Back to the Future: Fast-Forward Firebird
Now for the kicker. Gale Banks recently pulled one of his original twin-turbo Firebirds out of mothballs, and it’s about to receive a Banks Revival twin-turbo small-block Chevrolet engine, and all the modern goodies to go along with it. Now, this isn’t just any ol’ ’84 Firebird—this one shows 15,000 ...
Read moreGale Banks Engineering
Winning Systems for Trucks, SUVs & Motor Homes
Although Gale Banks Engineering is one of many companies making performance exhaust systems, it takes a “systems approach” to improving horsepower, torque and fuel mileage for a niche market that includes gasoline- and diesel-powered light trucks, sport/utility vehicles and motor homes. Banks offers a variety of upgrades that ...
Read more’94-97 PowerStroke
Product Review: Gale Banks Engineering’s PowerPack System For The ’94-’97 Ford 7.3L Power Stroke Diesel.
Recently I had the rare privilege of meeting a man that can only be defined as a true “Rocket Scientist.” Not one of those Coke bottle bottom be-spectacled types that lurks in the basements at NASA or Area 51, and builds ...
Read moreSuper Trans Am
The world’s fastest street car?
At nearly 300 feet per second, the world looks as if it’s being shot at you from a cannon. Looking far into the distance doesn’t help much: objects barely in sight one instant are behind you the next. The scenery blurs as it approaches the car, miraculously spreading and flowing around ...
Read more225 mph Banks Twin-Turbo GT
“225 MPH? From a gasoline-powered street legal automobile? That’s incredible!” Yes, but not impossible. Yet that’s what a lot of people say when they first learn about the fantastic F-bodied GM cars being custom-built by Gale Banks Engineering, a company renowned for their championship caliber turbocharged race boats, cars and engines. But it comes as ...
Read more200 mph Trans Am
A street-legal Pontiac Trans Am with 700-hp and a Banks turbo breaks the 200 mph barrier and becomes a cover story for Car & Driver magazine.
The first 200-mph street-worthy machine is Banks twin-turbo GT Trans Am, as tested and proven by Car and Driver magazine.
Banks’ American Turbocar Corp. started the Turbo Tuner craze. 700 bhp, ...
Read more