The owner of this beautiful Trans Am claims that it has only covered 37k miles since new and that the paint and interior are all original! Some work has been done to keep it on the road and the rims shown in the photos are not original. The original rims are included in the sale though. This car represents the last of the true muscle cars before the emissions requirements all but killed them off. They were a part of many people’s youth too and the current bidding here on eBay reflects that fact. Still, this does look like a good one if you are in the market for a screaming chicken!
The interior looks like new and I love the look of that three spoke steering wheel and engine turned dash insert. This car was well-optioned and came from the factory with air conditioning and an eight track player. The CB radio is the perfect addition for those late night runs!
With 400 cubic inches of American muscle under the hood, you shouldn’t have any problem cruising the highways at speed in this thing either. It may not have been as potent as earlier big blocks, but this was as good as it got in 1977.
It looks so good from this angle. The fender vents and rear spoiler just look stunning! This car will most likely get purchased by a collector who will tuck it safely away for a rainy day. Personally, I’d have a hard time not growing a mullet and using it as my daily transportation. Heck, if you’re going to have a midlife crisis, you might as well do it in style!
Never was of interest to me. Wonder if it would be popular if there were no bandit movies. I favored the 1970 trans AM in white with blue stripes.
Not complete without the T Top option. This car needs them.
They were good handling cars WITHOUT the t-tops, they were flexi flyers with them … Better car as pictured
Al8apex, this car was not about handling to most buyers at the time. A Bandit car is not complete without t tops. I had one without the t tops, although it was solid and tight, the car still stunk to me. I had another one with the t tops and while they leaked and rattled, the car looked so hot with the glass tops, on or off.
I’m with you on this one Al. My friend owned a stick shift with t-tops. It was cool to drive in straight line wth t-tops as they squeaked no matter what. In the Malibu canyons or on rough roads the noise drove you nearly insane. Fixed top for me.
Muscle car in 1977, from the factory??? Not even close.
When you grow up in the 70’s it’s really hard not to like these T/A’s, I love them! Would love to own one again, I had a 78 in 91, gold, tan interior, hurst T-tops and shifter wish I still had it!
Even though the Firebird was a classy car from its inception through to 1980 the ’77/’78 models were the best. For me everything came together then. Our dealership didn’t sell a lot of cars. Being in a western small town we sold far more trucks, so many that we got in trouble with the federal mandate of specified average gas consumption; the average mileage of the new vehicles you sold had to be something in the neighborhood of 27 mpg. When your sales consist of pickups to tandem trucks that’s rather difficult. However, when the ’77 Firebird came out, our car sales skyrocketed, which lessened the pressure we were getting from the General–and the government (we actually had to contact our representative(s) in an attempt to get some breathing room because they were restricting/strangling our new truck sales). We were selling Firebirds long before Smokey and the Bandit came out. That movie definitely helped increase our sales of Trans Ams but all Firebird sales were brisk–until Pontiac downsized it, then sales tanked.
I always thought CAFE regs applied to manufacturers, not dealers. How would a dealership be able to control average fuel economy across a product line?
Hi Grant. Back in the late 70s/early 80s they tried to pull that crap on the dealers. Their reason: ‘Try to discourage the consumer from buying a vehicle with high fuel consumption and EN-courage him to buy one that’s more economical.’ They tried to enforce it. We would have orders for 20 pickups, a mixture of half and 3/4 ton, 4x4s and 2wd’s and they would be held up pending: ‘we haven’t received your order of economy vehicles to offset the fuel consumption regulations.’ We’d sometimes get half the order held up and sometimes the entire order got stalled. Like, we sold more 3-TONS in a year than we did cars; pickups were our bread and butter. We had to contact our representative, who was able to get an exemption granted because we were in a ‘UNIQUE’ situation. But we really had to make them look stupid though. We just pointed out that a farmer couldn’t take his pigs to market in the trunk of a LeMans, and he sure as hell couldn’t haul grain in one either. We had to show the orders plus the purposes of the vehicles before we could get what we needed. There were some dealers in larger centers that had TRUCK ONLY contracts; even though their contract was supposed to allow them some breathing room, they went through pure hell. One dealer actually had to fly out to have a meeting with his reps. The situation eventually cooled and it went back to business as usual.
My 77 TA.
It was my dad’s car. At 450k miles he amwanted a “Big Block”, put in it. I tried talking him out of it, “too many miles on already, would probably tear it apart!” He insisted. I purchased, over haulded, and installed a Stage 1- 455 Buick (sedan) engine. “I was wrong!”
It didn’t tear it up.
As it came OEM- 3;23 butt gears. At 60mph, it was idling at 1900 RPM’s.
The only car that “ever” beat it then was a 57 Charger with nitrous.
At 140 mph, it just got tighter!
“What a ride!”
When I drove it to my new home (stolen from me by my good friend) LOL! The odometer read 637,000 miles.
Best car “I”, ever owned. Most dependable GM Car “ever built!” I miss it.
I drive a Suzuki X90, now.
I miss my T/A, “big time!
All the above is true!
WGB
With 400 cubic inches of American muscle under the hood, you shouldn’t have any problem cruising the highways at speed in this thing either.
Please, that’s reaching, at best. We all know in Our heart of hearts,
that they were cheap junk. It was the times. We all know the EPA story, and We all know that the market was reaching..If they were Detroit’s finest, then why aren’t there more of them around? Because they weren’t Detroit’s best, plain and simple, that’s why they are few and far between, not because they were limited, but because they weren’t worth much at the time and were sent to the crusher in short order. The 70’s and 80’s were GM’s Darkest Decades.
Why do we constantly have to have such negativity? Yes 70’s and 80’s cars for the most part were badly built, manufacturers had no idea how to work with smog regs, but let me tell you how cool it was to ride around in a T/A with the t-tops out on a summer night, have your buddy drop you off in his T/A at the high school football game. Alot of great memories, and alot of the people I knew with these never remained stock. My buddy that dropped me off at the football game had a 81 with the pathetic 301 but the girls didn’t know the difference or care lol.
Dave,
I couldn’t agree more with!!! If someone has anything that others don’t like, or make a mistake in the ad, or gosh forbid hype it up a bit, some people come apart at the seams!!! Used to we could have “spirited” conversation and educational conversation instead of all this sniping!!!! Really takes away from the enjoyment when you see some guy getting ripped up and all he did was list his vehicle for sale. It’s a “Buyer Beware” world! Has been for a long long time!!!
As for the TA, I like it!! But one of my bucket list cars is the C3 Corvette. Love the last ones before the disaster that followed.
(that should be good for some sniping)
I agree with your sentiment about the negativity of some posts. I enjoy reading about all cars, even if they are not what I would personally own.
I also agree with your feeling about the C3. I owned a 70 convertible for many years and sold it 2 summers ago. Before that, I owned Camaros, Mopars, etc. Now that I’m thinking about another fun car, I think that only a Vette will do. My first thought was a C4, but my mind keeps going back to the C3. The last models were the sharpest looking of the bunch, yeah they couldn’t get out of their own way, but would be a fun, cheap car to own.
Right on Dave! Yep I grew up in that era as well and while the factories sold some stinkers everyone knew the game and magazines at the time had all the articles on how to fix the shortcomings.
Not hard at all to rip off the emissions stuff, add headers, intake, spruce up the ignition, cams and have some serious power. Back in the day Holley carbs, Edelbrock and Weind intakes, Hooker headers and many other brands all were kings offering up the fixs to make these cars perform.
My Dad bought a tuna boat 70s Pontiac car, (terrible mileage). It was sitting back in Oregon while I was in the AF at that time in Idaho. My buddy had one of these T/As and blew up the motor. We went and got the tuna boat, swapped the 455 from it into the TA after stripping off the emissions crap. That was one FAST TA afterwards.
I was never sure these kinda cars would ever come back, but they have in a MAJOR way. Truth is, they were big and heavy,. Doors weighed a ton,. but the basic platform responds well to perf mods. But now, these cars are gold!. I sold some parts off a 79 Malibu 4 door to some 20 somethings Friday, They went nuts when they saw some of my vehicles. When I said I couldnt believe the interest on the 4 door, the kids said… “DUDE! These things are IN style!”
Handsome car.
I love the looks of the t-tops. How bad is the squeezing and leaking for around town periodic week day driving????
I had a 78 TA in chesterfield brown with a 4 speed Hurst shifter with tan cloth interior. I bought it used in 79. No t top on that one. I was 18 and thought I was king of the hill, great memories!!
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll171/gcsprayjr/Pontiacs%20in%20Pigeon%20Forge%202013/Picture2031_zpsdfc9c8f6.jpg
Old Pontiacs have a loyal following… A lot of people think they the cars are cool and deserve to be preserved.
A photo from a previous Pontiac’s in Pigeon Forge, TN annual car show to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
I love those cars. Had a black and gold 79 myself. That’s how I bagged my wife. Hehe.
My first was a ’78 – white, T-Tops, red interior. Terrible car objectively (big on the outside, small on the inside, underpowered but still didn’t have any traction) but it sure was a lot of fun for a high school kid.
As a “bonus” it also taught me a lot about how to work on cars, rebuild engines, etc :)
403 Olds in this one. betcha
Love the splattered chicken and all of it. Such an over the top car. Sally F., Burt R., Jerry R., and Jackie Gleason. Those movies were just plain hilarious fun. You just have to smile when you see one of these. It’s a time machine.
The writer of this ad is pathetically ignorant on the subject. Hoods with the “6.6 Litre” decal were Oldsmobile 403’s. Hoods with the “TA 6.6” were the Pontiac 400 engine. You could get a T/A with either engine, depending on what plant it was built in, an whether California emissions was fitted. All Cali cars were the Olds motor, as it had lower emissions.
As I sorta stated above. I knew this was 403
You sure about that Ken? The fifth character in the VIN should tell us which engine is actually in the car. The 403 would have a K, but the invoice shows a Z. That confirms that the car does indeed have a 400 under the hood. Next time you may want to go off more than the stickers before calling someone “pathetically ignorant”.
Here’s my source: https://www.78ta.com/vin1979.htm
Had a 1977 6.0 Trans Am with T Tops and an automatic trans stolen from me the night before Halloween! I live in south Jersey and the car was never seen again. Still miss it! Oh, it was Brown!