When we look back at some of the more notable muscle cars made in the last few decades, it’s hard to deny the impact of the vehicles powered by the turbocharged Buick V6. This engine turned the automotive world on its head when it showed the universe at large you didn’t need a V8 to put down ridiculous performance times. The Buick Grand National and GNX were the benchmarks of the halcyon days of the 1980s when turbocharging wasn’t just an answer to better MPGs but a legitimate strategy for extracting maximum performance. Find this rare 20th Anniversary Edition Pontiac Trans Am listed here on craigslist for $49,500.
Right out of the box, the turbocharged Trans Am had absolutely mesmerizing performance. 0-60 in well under 5 seconds and blitzing the quarter mile in 13.4 seconds at a tick over 100 miles per hour. The turbocharged Trans Am will reach 130 MPH in half a minute before storming on to an ungoverned top speed of 153. The turbocharged Regals couldn’t pull this off due to limitations of the chassis, but the Trans Am had no such issue owing to a more performance-oriented suspension. Thus, Pontiac pulled the limiter and let the turbocharged V6 run free, which likely spooked the Corvette faithful at headquarters when they saw how potent the Trans Am was.
The interior remained fairly standard in terms of cosmetic options, with no real change from the non-anniversary T/As. These fantastic bucket seats are clad in optional saddle leather, and cloth was the standard trim. The rear seats feature individual, high-back buckets, which always adds an air of exotica to a car that was intended to be a high-performance, low-production offering, The goofy steering wheel buttons are a hallmark of Pontiac’s design language from the 1980s, and while we may scoff at it now, numerous steering wheel controls that are now standard in vehicles across the U.S. can trace their lineage back to Pontiac,
Other standard features included a Delco AM/FM/cassette, air conditioning, and other typical comfort/convenience fare. When these cars were new, they were a mixed bag from the road test standpoint. While the straight line speed was mesmerizing, braking performance was lackluster, and structural rigidity was weak due to the T-top roof panels. In addition, ride quality was poor and complaints about the choice in shock absorbers were frequent. Still, on a smooth road with no one in front of you, a 20th Anniversary Turbo Trans Am was hard to beat – and still is. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Rocco B. for the tip.
Blisteringly speedy cars. The addition of the hair dryer ↩️ on that 3.8 mill sure payed off for GM and for drivers. These apparently may have more rattles and shakes than the solid Regal model. But they handle better and have that wild top end Lavery points out.🏁 Good eye again as usual Rocco. 👍
In a case like this….. Don’t you just love it when GM shared their components across the board???? I’m with Stan. The Buick was a little more solid. But the aerodynamics of this thing? Me personally, I wouldn’t want to go 150 MPH anymore. Nice find find here Rocco. This isn’t something you see very often. I enjoyed your write up Jeff!!! I remember these coming out just after I got out of High school. And pouring over the car magazines. And I’m sure more than one Vette got surprised. ( and I don’t mean Chevette either lol).
Very, very cool Trans Am, exactly the one I would go looking for, if a windfall dropped on me.
I’ve seen this car, or at least the first picture, recently… yeah, here on Barn Finds 2025.01.06. Same one, right?
Paint protection has advanced far beyond vinyl bras. Get that monstrosity off the nose before it causes paint damage.
A cigar smoker. That’s comforting. Not.
I’m constantly amazed by the small details astute BF readers notice in listing photos. We can only hope that’s a curious neighbor, rather than the seller!
It’s hard to say though if that’s actually the owner or just a friend, etc.?
lose the bra and the a/m gauges. collectors want these in factory condition
The bra indeed has to go, the pillar gauges would be less obnoxious if they were black faced to match the instrument panel gauges instead of white. The good news is they can easily be removed. This car also has a Scanmaster mounted up under the dash pad center, a common monitoring/tuning aid for these engines. I loved my 87 GN, with very minor mods it would run 11:90’s on drag radials. This would be a nice replacement…
I have had two of these first one I bought in 1991 and unfortunately it got wrecked whilst in for some mechanical work in 2000.
I bought a replacement in 2008 which has 10084 miles on it.
The acceleration on these cars is phenomenal and they will go way past 150 mph with very little work!