This particular car was chosen from amongst the other Parisiennes on the lot because it had the 305 cu.in. Chevy V8 in it instead of the 4.3l Buick V6 that was standard on those cars. Sitting on top of this 5.0l V8 (option code LG4, base engine in the Trans Am of that year) was the Rochester 4bbl carburetor. There was no ECM of any kind on this car, probably because it was a Canadian model. Sad to say, it probably ran better in spite of this. The engine initially ran okay until late 1987 when it suddenly WOKE UP and began producing oodles of power (well, relative oodles in any case...).
This little small block was supposed to produce anywhere from 150hp to 165hp depending on who you asked or what you read. Judging by the mid 9-second stopwatch-timed 0-60 runs after the engine woke up in late 1987, I would be inclined to believe the higher number, although many other Parisiennes had trouble getting numbers under 11 seconds. Whatever the case, it turned out to be a solid hunk of iron, still running smoothly to the very last day it saw service in our household. The only glitch we had to put up with, besides the carb's appetite for vacuum break diaphragms, was the classic leaking rear main seal problem, a bug familiar to small block owners.
The car had the performance suspension option (F41/Y99) which gave it a set of beefy sway bars front and back (not sure about the front, definitely the rear!). Also thrown in were Goodyear Polysteel Custom 225/70R-15 tires which were pretty wide at the time, considering the Trans Am came with 215-wide tires. In the 10 bolt rear was a set of 2.93 gears, unfortunately no posi had been ordered for the car.
