Well, this car is certainly unique. It is allegedly 1 of 30 Pontiac Trans Ams that were exported to Canada in 1971. In addition, an owner along the way has added Hurst Hatch T-Tops making this probably the only Canadian 1971 Pontiac Trans Am with T-Tops. The car looks solid and the undercarriage is fairly clean. The car is listed by a dealer here on eBay. There are seven days remaining in the listing. The seller has the car advertised for a Buy It Now Price of $48,890. The car is currently located in Canton, Georgia. The car is said to be unrestored except for new paint and has the original, numbers matching 455 cubic inch V8 engine.
From 1970-1972, a Trans Am was available in two paint schemes. One was Cameo White with a blue stripe and decals and the other was Lucerne Blue with a white stripe and decals. Most of the Trans Ams in this era had blue interiors. This car is Lucerne Blue with a black interior. This is a somewhat rare color combination. The car is equipped with a factory radio and automatic transmission. Enthusiasts pay much more if a car is a Lucerne Blue 4 speed car. The dealer states that the car is unrestored and has traveled 64k miles. It was shipped to Canada in September of 1970 so it was an early car for production. However, the earliest 1971 Trans Ams had chrome surrounds around the gauges. This car has black surrounds.
All 1971 and 1972 Trans Ams came with Pontiac’s top performing engine which was the HO455. With 455 cubic inch displacement, round port heads, header style exhaust manifolds and an aluminum intake manifold, the car was rated at 335 horsepower from the factory. This is a gross horsepower rating. In 1972, the same engine was rated at 300 net horsepower. I have owned my 1971 Trans Am for over 10 years and love the low end torque and impressive handling of the car.
The factory honeycomb wheels have been replaced with aftermarket 17″ aluminum honeycomb wheels which I think look great. The car has reportedly had one repaint and runs smooth and strong under acceleration. While I am not able to verify the number of Trans Ams sent to Canada, I would think it was more than just 30. Maybe there was only 30 Trans Ams painted Lucerne blue that were exported to Canada. The T-Top issue might be a problem for some enthusiast since the first production T-Top Trans Am was not built by the factory until 1976. If this is your cup of tea, you might be able to agree on a reasonable price for this car.
the t-top is a bummer as is the non-stock color-blocking around the stripes.
but it’s still dang sharp and would be a joy to cruise and enjoy.
these early 2nd gen T/A’s (through 73) are the best performing and looking.
i would love to have one
poseur, spot on about the striping. I believe cutting the roof to put those T-tops in may cause some unwanted body flex when driving with the tops removed. The antenna looks out of place.
According to Pontiac period brochures, the net horsepower was 305@4400 rpm and torque of 410 ft-lbs.@3200 rpm. These ratings were at a lower RPM than the gross ratings…fyi.
Yep–ruining the structural integrity of the hardtop for a polarizing, leak-inducing aftermarket accessory was a ridiculous decision.
That blocking was the way the stripes were in 1971.
Correct! Catalog illustrates a blue stripe over white T/A…
http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/pontiac/71fire/bilder/1.jpg
wow, likely because i’ve never seen one up close in person, i didn’t realize the black surrounding the white was legit.
it looks overdone to my eye, but authentic is what it is.
repair the t-top holes & give it a manual & it’s about perfect as a fun driver.
I believe it is the way the paint is blended into the striping (the wide one) that is incorrect.
A car is NOT unrestored if it has been repainted! The T-tops and wheels kill the value of this year Trans Am.
It would take ALOT of money to return it to ORIGINAL. If this was a tribute car it would be nice to have and drive.
Not bashing, just my humble opinion.
Lucerne Blue, what a great color for these early Trans Ams. Oh yea, the 455 HO sure helps out too. It’s the color I would go with if I owned a TA from back then.
They didn’t build a lot of TA’s until later in the decade so it’s a rarish car to begin with. Rarish, boy I need more coffee!
Can you get a 71 Trans Am for $49,000 that hasn’t been sliced open like a can of tuna?
By cutting the roof of a `71 Trans Am for T-Tops, there went the value of ONE particular T/A anyway……very poor move.
Cutting T-tops into this year TA is like cutting the rear metal strip out of a 63 corvette rear window..it just kills the value. Everyone will assume it’s a later model TA with a 71 nose..not that I care what other people think. By the way 71-72 Lucerne Blue 4 speed is my dream car but $50k seems to be the minimum entry fee and a little too rich for my blood.
Man, whose idea was it to hack up the roof on a ‘71 TA?? In doing so they also cut the value a lot
I could be mistaken as to the years but in the early 70’s t-tops were a dealer installed option at Pontiac/Buick dealerships. In my hometown the Formula 400 model was most popular and several left the lot with t-tops installed by our body shop.
T/As we’re very hard to come by till about the 74 models.
You can return this car back to it’s original form by cutting off the roof in the same places the factory welded the thing on. So it’s fixable but it does take some work and a donor Firebird with a good roof (I’ve done it). Diving it around the way it is would just be too embarrassing for me having to explain what someone did to every poncho enthusiast out there and then watch the horror on their faces. It’s like driving around in a ’70 Mustang convertible with Boss striping all over it and an automatic. You just look silly…..
I owned this car, sold it to someone who recently ran it through Mecum…. Here is the Story, it is well documented to be delivered to Canada, and yes, it was one of 60…. The Blue cars were only 10% of the total production, or about 180 cars or less…. the T-Tops were added in 1975, and well documented…. actually a Pontiac Dealership added them…. anyway, it is what it is, pretty solid old NUMBERS matching 1971 Lucerne Blue Pontiac T/A … it is worth taking the roof off and restoring, I just had too many projects to tackle it. The original wheels were RALLY II wheels, which I still have 2 of the 4, the other 2 were long gone. this was never a Honeycomb wheel car.
Ken i now own this car. Not a perfect car but a solid survivor. It is my plan to remove the t-top to replace some of the diminished value. The car lives inside so leaking is a non issue. How long did you own it? Any nuances about the car you could share. Is there any body work under that second repaint? Possibly any rust repairs you could point out. The car now lives in North Carolina and i am pleased to have in next to my Plymouth Barracuda.
T-tops were often a dealer installed package in Canada in the 70’s.
Indeed. Hell, F-bodies have a certain amount of body flex even without cutting off 3/4 of the roof.
I’d really have to see this car up close. The “restoration” is not good. Please take a close look at the right rear quarter angle behind the whee las opposed to the left. The angle is way off and who knows what else is “off” that’s not seen.
Peter, thanks for pointing it out. I didn’t see it at first, but there’s something wrong with the gap behind the driver’s door.
I agree with you JoeBob. I studied the right rear angle up shot and you can surf off that right rear quarter. Its really a Birdturd, not a Firebird.
Looks terrible w/o rwl tires & these things ride rough enough with
60 series 15’s bias plies or even later 225 70 15 radials.
& i seen people try to glue custom white letters on low profile tires(looks even worse than w/o them) & some of them fell off. lol
It’s time somebody put 75(or better yet 78) series 14 or even 13 wheels & tires on a MODERN car in protest to this nonsense.
My bet is he didn’t cut the roof. He just got a roof off a newer Trans Am and grafted it to the 71.
I like it! I’m doing a trans am clone out of a 70 base firebird. And yes, it will have a Hurst t-top on it. I have the same t-top on my ’77 SE. And I like it way better than the Fisher I have on my 79 Trans Am. Who cares whether you like it or not, not me!! My car, my money. I do what I want, when I want.