I am astounded that the original paint looks this good on this 1977 Pontiac Trans Am survivor! I suppose after only 11,703 miles it should look this good, but I’ve been so disappointed by “survivor” cars in the past and just love this one! It’s for sale here on eBay. Now something this nice doesn’t come without a price, and the buy it now is a steep $43,900 (although the seller is inviting offers. The car is located in Wakefield, Massachusetts.
Seriously, they don’t come much nicer than this. Just look at the gloss! The seller tells us that they are the third owner and have only put 22 miles on the car. I’m not sure I could resist that kind of temptation. There is an area that has been touched up or repaired at the rear bumper.
The car actually comes with the set of snowflake aluminum wheels in the first two pictures, but the original wheels are shown here and the seller has mounted the BFG TAs onto them now. According to the seller three of the original tires still hold air; I assume they are included as well but the seller doesn’t say.
Back when interiors were distinctive colors, this one was called Firethorn Red. It’s all-original as well. The CB was mounted with velcro tape, so you can remove it if you choose to do so. And yes, that is a four-speed manual shifter poking its way up through the center console.
The engine is an all original (and never touched, according to the seller) Z-code W-72 400 V8. Note the air conditioning compressor as well for those of us in warm states. Honestly, I can’t find a lot to fault in this beautiful car — but do you think it’s worth the price? Take a look at all the pictures in the auction and let us know in the comments!
Of course it has the CB radio :D
Nice car, but a bit too rich for me.
Did these cars from the factory actually have a CB radio option?
Not on 77 for the T/A, but if you were alive then, you would know that cb units were extremely popular, but the fad peaked quickly.
CB didn’t last long, hopefully we’ll laugh at how much everyone wanted one just like the latest Fads nowadays, a Microbiotic Diet U say we all tried that too (just as an example) & we’ll look back as being silly following that kind of thing!
Someone might be passionate about this car but for me, it’s simply way too far out of my budget to even consider. We sold so many Trans-Ams in ’77/’78 that our car sales actually competed with truck sales. Anyone who thinks that a movie doesn’t sell cars isn’t paying attention. I wouldn’t be surprised if cowboy hat sales didn’t spike. Maybe wedding dresses too….
Great pictures, too bad it doesn’t have the cloth interior. Didn’t see pics of original window sticker ? No hood decal
Great looking car, but I think there is a price point where you have to determine what else you could get for that type of money. Emotion will sell this car. (I guess emotion sells all cars, huh?)
Gorgeous car, just too rich for my blood
If there ever was a time to do a Kickstarter and beg the public for money, THIS IS IT! LOL
Optional firebird hood graphic delete- that was always my preference- and no pesky T-tops either.
Low mileage but high enough to drive and enjoy occasionally.
Love the dash/gages! I think it’s really cool to see the redline on the Tach at the top of the gage (vice right hand side).
I think w/out the flaming chicken on the hood, the “normal” (non-snowflake) wheels look better.
Beautiful car from a once glorious marque. Even with the low mileage, $43,900 is a bit of a stretch. As Frank opined .. at that price point you have to think long & hard about this one, given what else is out there for that money, or less.
As someone who bought and drove a 77 model in 1977, I can say that the original equipment and trim (standard T/A w rally II wheels) pictured was by far the most common of that era. The vast majority of them today are “restored” with snowflake wheels and the SE decal pack to live on as a SE clone. I watch the pricing on these, even with the low mileage this one is 10-15K overpriced for the market. Nice car though.
Love the Firethorn Red interior… The 77′ Pontiac Can-Am I had had the Firethorn interior in it. Beautiful..
I had a ’78 model here in the UK sometime ago. With the “pesky” T-roofs and the Firebird decal, but minus every piece of emission control – exhausts were literally straight through pipes back to cherry bombs just behind the rear bumper and a balance pipe just behind the bell housing (IIRC). Also a 4 speed manual.
Output was such that if you touched the gas pedal on pull away it would sit spinning the wheel. You had to just bring the clutch up gently and let it start to move – then the fun began.
Must be real fun putting the windows up and down with that CB radio mounted on top of the window switches.
Most likely originally a warm weather car, due to the lack of a rear window defroster.
try to restore one for $43,000
Thank you. Well said. Robbie above who said the car is over priced by 10-15 K is well, in my opinion, wrong. I am not a fan of these cars per say but finally someone put away something other than GREEN !! And with a 4 speed !!! Finally !!!!
As a master detailer I hate black cars. But most people think muscle cars should be black and as cars of this era go, black, red interior, 4 speed, super low miles..= a great combination with nice/cool options Go find another one. As RGB Jr hit it on the head, try to restore one to this level for 50K. Not going to happen. Also, original low miles….what is that worth?? The $44K buy it now is probably right. If the car is on an auction, I think it would bring more than asking.
No offense taken. We all have our own opinions. Yours may be correct. I do follow the price market for this era T/A’s because of my personal history and interest (not from watching Mecum or B-J). Some people like T-Tops, others dislike for various reasons. Non-T-top cars bring considerably less, like them or not. Yes, cars are truly original only once. However, if one were to drive this one more than a hundred or two miles per year will quickly depreciate that low-mileage originality, which would also put a serious dent in the top-end price tag/value. The optional W72 engine and 4-speed are definitely what separates this car from the pack. I hope that they can get top-dollar for it.
Robbie, thanks for the follow up…..and I did not mean to offend. I will comment that the nice thing about the 11K miles on the car makes a car you CAN put some miles on and really not ruin its value or its condition. I believe this car would bring similar money at 11K miles and 19K miles. If it were one of these under 1K mile low mile cars that is a different story. I had a 67 Firebird 400 Convertible loaded that I bought in 1985 with 42K on it and unfortunately sold it during the recession to save my business with only 50K on it. Had a lot of enjoyment during those 30 years and 8K miles.
All good Tom. Good points noted. I’m following it on eBay too.
Ordered my 77 w/ W72, 4 sp, a/c, snowflake wheels, manual windows, no cb, in Goldenrod yellow with black vinyl seats, and hood bird decal delete. Not that the hood bird decal of any vintage wasn’t attractive, but to me, the T/A hood always looked cleaner and longer without the decal. It was a great car.
I could definitely restore one of these for $43,000.00, if you don’t farm out every piece of the work, or start with a total rust bucket that should have been scrapped in the first place!
What is your time worth? How nice is the car you start with and how much did you pay for it? With you doing all the work what is your parts and materials bill? Any sublet?
You will never be able to “restore” it to low actual original miles.
Cars that have been preserved this way with great care and low miles command a price uniquely to themselves.
Anything can be restored and that is great….but it is still restored and not original.
THEY ARE ONLY ORIGINAL ONCE – and there is a price for that.
It’s gorgeous, but I’m starting to wonder if there’s more of these that were put away than Pace Car Corvettes. Seems like another turns up every other day.
Well, a lot of the silver 79 10th anniversary cars were certainly put into storage as guture collect8bles (like 76 Eldorados – the “last” Cadillac conv), but most 70s Trans Ams were used and used hard back in the day.
King Al is correct. Quite a few of the TTAs have recently popped out of the woodwork from collectors. However, I would be surprised if there are many true “mint” regular TA survivors left. As I mentioned above, I lived this era. I purchased my 77 at the age of 18. I kept it only two years for 30,000 miles. My 2nd set of tires were bald when I traded it in. The transmission was slipping and the engine was about worn out. This was the norm back then. Older adults bought Corvettes and took care of them. Kids (like me) raced and ran the hell out of TAs. Most ended up wrecked, in junkyards, or crushed by the 90’s.
Robbie, back in 79, after I got my 79 T/A (story elsewhere in this blog) one quiet June Saturday morning, right after a local high school graduation, I saw a brand new silver 79 T/A, markedup with graduation celebration quotes, mashed nose-first into an expressway concrete barrier. Based on the amount of damage, the vehicle may well have been totaled.
My late older brother had a white 76 TA with the 400/4 spd. Black interior. He swapped in an earlier m21 with a hurst super shifter, after building the 400 with older heads to raise the compression, (from a 389, iirc) along with headers crane cam edelbrock intake and big ol 750 holley double pumper. I learned to drive a standard trans in that car when i was 12 or 13 yo. (1983/4). For some reason, ost of friends were the oldest in their families. They thought my brothers were the coolest, with dirt bikes musclecars and such. My other brother had a 63 impala ss for a while, then a black 69 el camino with flames and side pipes (his girlfriends dad was a preacher. Im sure he loved that!) and later a corvette. Those were the days!
There’s no such thing as a “bird delete” it was always an option after 1973 unless you ordered an SE. I had a 78 just like this. W72 is a great motor.
Archer is correct. Perceptions change with time, and truth often suffers. For example 65 Shelby Mustangs as standard had “LeMans stripes” (2 wide blue stripes painted over the front pan, hood, rood, and trunk and rear panel. By 67, they were not even an option. But many perceived LeMans stripes to be cool, so over the years, with repaints and restorations, LeMans stripes are now on probably the majority of 67 Shelbys. So much so, that an original 67 Shelby at a big auction was written up as being “ordered as a rare stripe-delete car”
Did the Trans Am actually come with the rally wheels stock?
I remember those from later years as the bottom of the line wheels offered.
Yes, Miguel. The big majority of TAs from the early and mid-70’s came stock with rally II wheels. The honeycombs (up through 76) and snowflakes (77-later) were pricey optional upgrades. As the supply of these cars dwindled down, those premium wheels were salvaged and used for restorations. As those original wheels have dwindled down, many restorers have gone to Year One re-makes of those wheels.
As mentioned above, I had ordered the 7″ snowflakes for my yellow w72/4sp 77. One had a porosity problem, and they did not respond well to salt used on winter toads in MI. After my 77 was t-boned by a gal in a mid 70s Monte Carlo, I next ordered a 79. But I missed the cutoff for the banked 6.6 Pontiac engine. At the dealer, I test drove a 79 T/A with the 301 and 4sp. It’s acceletation was gutless compared to the 77 W72. So, I ordered the Olds 6.6 w/auto, and the WS6 (with 4 wheel disc brakes and the 8″ snowflakes). That was itself a great car. Very torquey and smooth, and it way outhandled the 77. I always wondered what the 79, with the Pontiac 6.6, 4sp, and WS6 would have been like. A great package to be sure.
Window Sticker Attached in case anyone is interested, I also have the PHS docs and the buildsheet is still in the car – undisturbed. Thanks
Beautiful car Dave, are you able to document the mileage? Can you be more specific on areas where paintwork is not original?
I have a copy of the title that the state of Massachusetts took from me when I reg’d the car. A good friend of mine has known of the car since 1978. I bought from the widow of his buddy. I have many other pics (in the ebay listing) that can corroborate the mileage. The glass, exhaust, original tires (included), belts, and most of the hoses are still original. From what I’ve been told and can see it got into a minor accident where someone backed into the car causing the rear bumper and rear spoiler to have been repainted. The rest of the paint looks nice and is in good shape but if you look at it in person you can see the patina in spots and it has some fading (albeit minimal) showing but is not worth repairing. I clay bar’d the car, hand polished it, and waxed it last month. It still has the original rear shocks on the car. It runs and drives great – I have another car that I’d rather put miles on and only have a two car garage. I don’t need the money I need the room. Currently it’s being stored in a climate controlled building with other cars.
Dave, thanks for chiming in! Please feel free to tell us more!
I just got the new plates for it – “XTINKT”
If she doesn’t sell I’m going to start driving it to local cruise nights, no more than a couple hundred miles.
Breaker breaker one nine we got ourselves a winner. I would much rather have this than a new Vette or Camaro or a converted Camaro into a TA.
Not a icon classic car
Finally a bird without that trash heap 4.9L. I’m a Ford fan, but I really like Pontiac 400s. Too bad I’m not a rich man, Wakefield wouldn’t be too far of a haul for me.
Super easy to finance classic cars these days, that’s how I got started back when I got into the hobby. The interest paid on the loan is usually less than the increase in the car’s value over time – if you buy the car right. Feel free to come by and see it if you’d like – always like talking cars with other car guys!
I recently purchased a 67 Cougar, 40kmi on the clock, 289 4V with a 4spd stick. No rot, but needs paint and a wrinkled quarter straightened. $4000. I wonder how many were made dressed like that.
Contact Kevin Marti for a Marti report from the Ford data base to see how rare your Cougar is. I can say I never recall seeing an early Ciugar with a manual trans except for the Cougar Eliminators.
Thanks for the info.
Monday, 5/14/18, 11:30 AM…still for sale
This is a beauty Dave. It’s only original once. I hope you get your price which would bode well for my 78 Y88 SE!
Just got a close offer – we’ll see. I want the buyer to come out and see the car first. We should be standing in front of the car when discussing a reduced price. Over 150 people watching it on eBay (probably thanks to this article, LOL) but I had about 100 before. If it doesn’t sell I’m going to keep enjoying the car and try again later in the year.