On this episode of Founders-Friday I’m hand delivering you a Heat Wave vehicle profile - The LSA / Sequential “HEATWAV” Pontiac GTA. For some reason I’ve always dug these 3rd. gen Firebirds. What I love most is the design wasn’t modern for the 80s - It was straight up forced futuristic and it would end up defining cars of this generation. This car in particular entered my life in 2017 as a bone-stock 1988 Pontiac Trans AM GTA. In 2018-19, it would undergo a full transformation in my garage at home. Every weekend I wasn’t on the road at a Heat Wave event, I was putting in 14-hour days cutting, grinding, welding, wrenching, and figuring things out piece by piece. Somewhere along the process, the project became more than just a car. I started integrating it into the brand, and it quickly became a foundational piece of Heat Wave’s identity. Over the years, the GTA has captured the attention of thousands of enthusiasts and made countless laps across the internet. It has made its presence known and heard at many events whether it was just looking pretty in our booth, or getting beat on at the race track. It’s influenced themes, product design, campaigns, and it’s features continue to serve as a constant source of inspiration for myself. Today, the GTA is exactly what it was meant to be. A raw, completely un-assisted, fireball-throwing monster that is capable far beyond what it was ever originally designed for. It’s fully tied to the Heat Wave journey. Some builds come and go, but GTA has become part of the brand legacy.