about VSE Best known as a father of the Pontiac Trans-Am and the division's Super Duty V8, Herb Adams has a fondness for racing. While at Pontiac, he and his engineering team wanted to go racing, but knew their bosses would never stand for–or fund–an effort built around Pontiac's pony car. Undaunted, legend has it that they took Mrs. Adams' 80,000-mile 1964 Pontiac Tempest, de-stroked the 389 ci motor, and brought the car up to race spec. It was entered in the opening round of the Sports Car Club of America's 1971 Trans-Am championship to howls of laughter from better funded competitors with newer vehicles. Unable to qualify, the car was allowed to start from the back of the pack, whereupon it moved through the field, and was running second behind eventual winner Mark Donohue's factory-supported Penske Racing AMC Javelin when the engine quit. The publicity that followed the unfunded, after-hours racers was enormous, as were the repercussions. In short order, and reportedly with some "help" from Roger Penske, the project was shut down by Pontiac's chief engineer. This wasn't Adams' only defeat. His X-4-powered small car program – one of as many as 19 small car research programs coursing through GM in the late 1960s and early 1970s–fell afoul of Ed Cole's drive to make GM an all-Wankel car company. Both Adams and the program–GM's second X-4 engine design (Charles Kettering built the first in the 1930s)–were transferred to GM's Tech Center where it continued development as a two-stroke diesel before its eventual cancellation. Caught in the post John DeLorean backwash (Adams was seen as one of DeLorean's guys), he joined DeLorean's brother Jack to design vehicles for Grand Prix of America, a go-kart racing venture that quickly went bust. Besides being something of a mythic character to Pontiac Trans-Am owners, Herb Adams is now an engineer at American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM; Detroit, MI). There, he is deeply involved in the company's I-Ride program, designing and developing independent suspension systems that bolt in place of live axles on existing light trucks and SUVs. Yet his experience and attitude are trusted commodities in an industry that has seemingly put its collective faith in younger employees. "There is a definite benefit to having ‘gray hairs' in the organization," says Ron Schoenbach, director, Chassis Engineering at AAM. "They don't have all of the answers, but they can help guide some of the younger engineers in the right direction." It doesn't hurt, Schoenbach adds, when that mentor isn't someone who has been around so long that they think they have seen and done it all. "You need a visionary," he says, "a person with a ‘can-do' attitude." A person like Herb Adams. There was a series of eight matched cars commissioned by Pontiac for an International Race of Champions-style racing series that never got off the ground. This work, however, catapulted Adams into the automotive aftermarket with VSE, and set the stage for Adams and his son to begin building AC Cobra replicas in California. "Then my son decided he wanted a chance to run that business himself, and I got a job offer from AAM," says Adams. He may have been fortunate to not be asked to work on John DeLorean's failed sports car project, but that hasn't turned Adams off to automaking. The word on the street suggests he may produce a vehicle of his own design once his time is up at AAM. When asked about the prospect, all Adams did was smile as he covered up the stunning red car in the photo on his cubicle wall. In 1977, during his tenure as a contract engineer with Pontiac, Herb was tasked with building eight specialty Trans Ams that would prove how easily TAs could be converted into race cars for competition in the 1977 IROC series (see one of those TAs at right). Pontiac hoped the Trans Am would take the Camaro's place in the famous series. The eight TAs were built by modifying factory built cars. Adams' work on these special TAs fathered the WS6 suspension package that would be offered as an option on production '78 TAs. Shortly after completing the eight TAs Herb founded his own company called Herb Adams VSE (Very Special Equipment) in Pebble Beach, California. Through this company he offered the same performance pieces used to create the original eight TAs and dubbed the package Fire Am for Firebird American. This enabled the average buyer to take a production Trans Am and buy the pieces necessary to create a Fire Am. Herb sold the pieces in graduated levels allowing the buyer to choose the level of performance. Fast forwarding to the present day, Herb Adams is still working as an engineer at American Axle & Manufacturing, and in 1995 his son Matt Adams took over the VSE business building Cobras and Daytona Coupes at their facility in Carmel Valley, California. Matt worked with Herb during the development of the backbone frame and suspension that is the foundation of all VSE Cobras. Matt also displayed an affinity for driving and garnered many honors driving his VSE Cobra #C0001 that is now owned by Tiger Steel. Although Matt's car only had a 350 chevy, with 300 horsepower, the superior handling of the car, coupled with his driving ability, allowed him to embarrass cobra drivers wielding much more horsepower. See VSE at Run-n-Gun in the photo gallery for more info. Matt still lives in the Monterey area, with his wife Terrell and their daughter, Amanda.