The year is 1973 and in the automotive world the times they were a-changin’, with the demand quickly shifting from horsepower and muscle to fuel efficiency and economy. But at any given time in history, whenever there’s a culture there’s always been a counter-culture, which brings us to the 1973 Pontiac Trans Am SD455. Looking back to the car norms of nearly 50 years ago, it’s almost hard to believe that a beast like this even existed, and even though Pontiac only built 252 of the Super Duty 455 equipped Trans Am cars for ’73, the fact that it saw the light of day at all was a pretty bold statement for the time. If the thought of owning one of these rare birds has you chomping at the bit, you’re in luck, as this 1973 Pontiac Trans Am SD455 is looking for a new home. Located in Hollywood, Florida, it can be found here on eBay with a buy-it-now price of $89,500.
The seller says that the vehicle is a true “X” Code, confirmed by the VIN and build sheet, with correct date-coded casting number 1973 490132 XD 455 Super Duty Engine. It’s also a factory 4-Speed, of which only 72 of the 252 produced were equipped with from the factory. The car is also claimed to have only 59,400 actual documented miles.
Interestingly, this Super Duty T/A was originally an export car and was sold new in England. It’s also a highly-optioned example, featuring power windows, tilt wheel, AM/8-Track, air conditioning, and more. The car also came with a rear defogger, but that’s now missing. There’s also power steering and power brakes as well.
The car was restored in England in 1995 prior to its return to the U.S. and retained its original Buccaneer Red color. The seller points out that the paint is now old and could use a repaint on the front nose and some clear-coat crazing on the passenger side quarter panel. It still looks really good overall, and I’d be tempted to just leave things like they are and enjoy the heck out of driving it or driving the heck out of it.
Things are looking really good inside as well, and it’s hard to find fault inside the cockpit. The owner says the car starts easily, runs perfectly, is a pleasure to drive, and has no mechanical issues that he knows of. What are your thoughts on this 1973 Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty 455?
Clear coat paints didn’t show up on GM vehicles until the mid 80’s. The restorers should have stuck to a single stage paint.
That is great information
Thanks
You could delete the seat belts? Am I reading that invoice right?
I think it’s a shoulder belt delete, the lap belts are still installed.
It also has shoulder belts, but they’re the old school kind that clipped above the doors (and which no one ever used). I think “delete” here probably meant the automatically retracting seat/lap belt assembly.
Seat belts became mandatory in 1968. My 1972 Dodge Charger would buzz until you fastened your lap belt. My 1974 Buick had the seat belt interock where you couldn’t even start the car if your seat belt wasn’t fastened. Of course, most people disabled that device, which lasted all of 1 model year.
Fed. govt. mandated seatbelts in 1964.
Federal requirement was January 1, 1968. Unfortunately it’s not letting me post any links here but many sources on the Internet will confirm that. Some states required them before that however.
I would surmise that because it was an export car, seat belts may not have been required in the country (England) of destination.
Love it
You realize that a Bruce Johnson already wrote this car up two weeks ago on this website?
My best friend had a red ’74 455SD in high school. We went everywhere in it. Fastest car I had ever been in. It made me buy a ’76 400 4-speed. I’m amazed at the appreciation (both for its quality and the price!).
If i was going to spend 90,000.00 dollars I can think of serval other cars i would buy instead.
This is one of the only decent “real deal” performance cars made in the 70’s. Did not realize they made so few of them. Great car.
The state of Wisconsin mandated front seat belts be installed in any car sold beginning in 1962. There are a lot of articles available as to seat belt laws. My 1965 GTO was ordered without seatbelts, listed as a seat belt deletion with a credit of $11 back to the purchaser. There were no factory provisions for the rears at all. This Firebird has been here before as mentioned, it stirred up a ton of comments. I was’t aware of the rear window defogger mentioned by Mike in the article. I believe there were two styles, the conventional motor driven fan on the back deck, and the relatively new grid “printed” on the glass itself. I had a Buccaneer Red 73 T/A with this option, I would imagine that glass would be extremely difficult to source if you needed one
I don’t think they put air conditioning in any super duty four-speed Trans Ams
seat belts? only way to drive this car is wide open so who needs belts.
i had one and at speed it goes belts do no good. just drive good.
If I had the money, I’d pay 70,000 for this car, cause it’s gonna need a paint job, and you gotta wonder what else, since it’s an original 58,000 mile car, that was done 20 some odd years ago, but she is a dream come true
My brother had one of the 72 4pd cars in white. He use to race it on Woodward Ave. It was the only car he owned back then that was faster than my Camaro and would pass me at about 80 mph at that point it was cubes taking over.
I was 11 years old when this bad ass was born…….probably i could afford the 1973 dollars but sheesh, that’s more than i paid for my first house lol
but dang 455 SD/4speed is what dreams are made of …..
NO SEATBELTS, NO AIRBAGS, We Die Like Real Men
When I sold cars in the early 70s, there would be a loud buzzer until you fastened the seat belts. Buyers would be adamant about not wanting to be forced to wear seat belts. Naturally we would ask “if I could silence that annoying buzzer, would you buy the car?”If they said YES, we would then go under the front seat and unplug the wires and VOILA…no more seat belt buzzer. Aah freedom…gotta love it.