The year was 1976 and your options for a muscle car were waning. Ford was now building Mustangs with 4 cylinders and Chevrolet had canceled the Z28 option. However, you could walk into a Pontiac dealership and still order a Trans Am with a 455 cubic inch V8 and 4-speed transmission. Here is an example of one of those cars that needs someone to do a complete restoration. The car is listed here on eBay with 1 day left in the auction. The Trans Am is listed at a Buy It Now Price of $12,800 and it is located in Wylie, Texas near Dallas. The seller also has a Make Offer button.
This car retains its matching numbers 455 cubic inch V8 engine. Buyers had the choice of either a 400 cubic inch V8 engine or a 455 cubic inch V8 engine in the 1976 Trans Am. There were 7,528 Trans Ams built in 1976 with the L75 455 cubic inch V8 engine. This engine was rated at 200 horsepower and 330 lb-ft of torque and was only available with a 4-speed transmission in 1976 and a 3:23 rear gear ratio. While those power numbers don’t look impressive, it was very easy to modify the 455 to generate 400 horsepower and 500 ft lbs of torque using early Pontiac heads and exhaust manifolds. The base engine for the Trans Am in 1976 was the L78 400 cubic inch V8 engine that was rated at 180 horsepower.
This car looks pretty good with its patina but pictures under the hood and of the undercarriage indicate that rust has taken its toll on a number of areas. The car is said to have its original paint except for the passenger door which has been replaced. The car has been parked since 1991 and the seller has not tried to get it running.
The dash is cracked and all the soft vinyl parts of the interior are damaged, sun-baked, or split. The car appears to have power windows, 8-track stereo, air conditioning, power door locks, and rear defog. The seller has done an excellent job of posting multiple pictures of the car including the undercarriage while the car is being held up by a forklift. It would be nice to see this magnificent car back on the road.
This T/A was one of several vehicles purchased from a hoard of cars out in the middle of nowhere by Dennis Colins and featured on a Coffee Walk episode.
Rust everywhere, no thanks
$12,800?!?! For this?! Car on a forklift usually means the next step is the crusher.
the specs are right, the year is right, the only issue is the amount of work for the ask…….Im guessing whoever did pull this out of nowhere didn’t pay nearly that $12,800.
Oh well, that’s how it goes….and goes on by…..
A good illustration of the size & perhaps too generous # of raised white letters/numbers put on tires even by Cooper! – in the ’80s i believe.
https://cf-img.autorevo.com/1976-pontiac-trans-am-wylie-tx-7092384/640×640/2689016-27-revo.jpg
Today, less & smaller white digits on tires will cost you big time!
With $5 a gallon REGULAR gas, I wonder how MPG & octane requirements would be affected by switching to early Pontiac heads and exhaust manifolds.
I remember a road test where this stock low compression big 455 got almost 15 mpg with a light foot!
I hope Dennis Collins is giving you guys a finder’s fee for listing his junk.
someone with some deep pockets rebuilds this pontiac 455 4 speed would be nice it is a rare car. but the average car guy dont have the pockets
$4.99 is to much to spend for a gallon of gas. Deep pockets will only last so long.
I would think going to true duals in place of the restrictive ’70s pellet cat single exhaust, a distributor tune, & pontiac 350 heads to raise compression would be low cost.
& a fiberglass front bumper for “free horsepower”.
I had a 76 Gran Prix, 400 4bbl, was a young man of 21, working at an auto parts store while going to school, had big plans to do just that, I did install one of those distributor kits, it seemed to wake it up a bit.
but a kid stole his dads s-10 and ran my girlfriend off the road, totaling it before i could do any more…