Not just one, but two of Pontiac’s iconic sports coupes are for sale in this auction listed here on eBay. They are located in Hackensack, New Jersey and as I write they still have not received their opening bid of $4,500 for the pair. There’s no reserve on the auction, so if one of you were to place a bid they may be yours!
What I’m not quite sure of is the current state of both of these cars. They appear “together” in some of these pictures, but “apart” in others. I’d probably assume they are partially gone through, but as the seller says, “THESE CARS ARE IN NEED OF TOTAL RESTORATION, THEY DO NOT RUN, DRIVE, STOP OR GO, SO PLEASE DO NOT ASK IF YOU CAN DRIVE THEM HOME. THEY ARE SOLD IN “AS IS” CONDITION.” Okay, we’re clear on that point!
The seller has concentrated most of their efforts on the 1981 car, which is said to be rust free after installation of a quarter panel and a T-top section from another car.
You can see some of the work done to the car in this shot.
I think this is a later shot of the same car based on the colors and the styled steel wheel in the lower right of this shot belonging to the other Trans Am.
I’m guessing this is the engine bay of the older car. The seller says this is a Pontiac 400 cubic inch engine that ran well 13 years ago. No work has been done on the cars since 2007. The other car has a Chevrolet (oh, the horror!) 400 cubic inch V8 available that saw service in a Blazer used for snow plowing.
This must be the floor of the earlier car. The seller does state it’s rusty. I’d say they are correct.
Presumably this is the Chevrolet V8. What do you think about these projects? I’d be tempted to finish off the later car and sell the earlier one. Let us know what you would do if these Trans Ams were in your garage?
Sure there’s value here, but without proper time line or documentation of what’s been done your pretty much at the sellers mercy unless your willing to do an autopsy on everything. You don’t know the true state of what’s beneath or the workmanship done at this point. It could all be great or…
Finding out could be as painstaking as starting from scratch with un started project.
If they were all together and complete.. Take my money, great cars. And a 400 isn’t a bad hot rod motor, not original but atleast it’s not a 307.. Uggh.
MING! Two Trans Ams in Jersey? Tony, we gotta go get these!
Can’t drive them like you stole’em unless you got a real fast long flat bed!
well id say let them go to someone else do to there not the year model (77) that everyone wants and there not complete as we can see on the blue one and as for the white one if thats the floor pan then im thinking it is a lot worse then that if the rear floor is rotted that bad then the whole things really got to be bad shoot they replaced the top on the other one probably cause of rust too. not only that it doesn’t have the OEM motor and well who did the work and is it done right would be he next thing ? so for me it has got to many un answered questions and to many IFS in my book. so id pass on that deal. sorry!!
Although the ’77 is the holy grail of 2nd gen TAs, the 78’s are only a notch below because of their nearly identical body style, although the “block lettering” decal pkg took a turn for the worse. Def wouldn’t put any cash into the 81, they have no demand, even restored. But have to agree these 2 birds are pretty far gone and wouldn’t be profitable for a flipper unless they do all the work themselves and can find a super cheap parts source or donor car(s). Pass.
Nothing worse than getting into a half done project. Not for me!!!
The only thing worse…..is getting into a half done Mustang II project
a car that has no value when completed!
Most ppl do prefer the 77s, but most ppl don’t know they have 20 less hp than the 78/79 Poncho 400s.
Exactly. The holy grail is actually a 78 SE w TA 220hp engine. 40 years later, everyone still wants the “movie” car. Unless you know the other minor differences up close, you can’t tell the difference, except in your wallet!
I disagree that the 77 is the holy grail of 2nd generation T/As. I would think the 73 and 74 Super Duty T/As rank well above anything made in 77. The 70 to 72 T/As are also far more desirable than the 77s.
Good point Andy, especially from a power standpoint. The 73-74 SD-455’s in particular. I probably should have clarified that the 78 above was the holy grail of the 75-81 models. However, based on internet groups (FB & others), I think the later 2nd gens are probably still more “popular”, once again due to the SATB movie factor. Prices for 74 SDs are premium, the earlier ones a bit less even though they are much harder to find than the latter years when they made tons. Prices for 77’s are ridiculous and unwarranted for sure. The standard Y82 engines (180hp) were weak and slow. I know, I had one at the time and regularly got beat by early 70’s muscle cars.