If you wander out looking for a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am today, a few attributes will help a candidate tick all of the right boxes. The first would be to find one that is original and unmolested. If the original owner ordered it with a manual transmission, that would help, while a Special Edition would seem to be the icing on the cake. However, spotting one with a four-digit reading on its odometer would be like winning the lottery. Our feature car scores on all of those points, and it is one that you could park in your driveway today. Located in The Colony, Texas, you will find the Trans Am listed for sale here on eBay. The owner has set the BIN at $89,000, although he will consider offers.
When considering Trans Ams of this era, there is probably no paint color more iconic than Starlight Black. That is what the first owner chose for this car. It seems that it is largely original, with only some minor touch-ups on the hood noted by the seller. There are a few small chips on the paint, but that is hardly surprising since we’re talking about an unrestored classic with forty-four years under its belt. The panels are laser straight, and for potential buyers, it is nothing but good news that the vehicle is completely rust-free. The gold graphics, including the Screaming Chicken, look sharp. There is no evidence of shrinkage or lifting, while the beautiful snowflake wheels look flawless. As an integral part of the Y82 Special Edition package, this Trans Am is equipped with a glass T-Top. The panels are in excellent condition, and the owner has recently replaced the seals to eliminate the chance of water leakage.
The interior condition is all that you might expect from an original survivor with a low odometer reading. It is upholstered in deluxe black vinyl, and I’m struggling to spot any signs of damage or wear. The seats and other upholstered surfaces look perfect, while the same is true of the dash and pad. The machine-turned gauge cluster hasn’t suffered the wear or deterioration that can plague this feature, and there’s no wear on the wheel. The only aftermarket addition is a radio mounted in the glovebox. The owner has never used this as he hasn’t got the code for it. Besides, the factory radio works perfectly. In addition to the Y82 package, the owner chose to equip this Trans Am with some desirable options. These include power windows, a tilt wheel, and an eight-track player. One surprising omission is air conditioning, but if you can remove the T-Top panels on a warm day, who needs it?
The most surprising aspect of this listing is the lack of engine photos. This is as close as we get, which is pretty disappointing. What we are told is that the car features the 400ci V8 that punches out 200hp. Bolted to the V8 is a four-speed close-ratio manual transmission, while power steering and power front disc brakes were standard features on the ’77 Trans Am. Since this car rolled off the line at the height of The Malaise Era, performance figures weren’t close to what buyers expected at the start of the decade. However, a 16-second pass down the ¼ mile made this the fastest four-seat American V8 that you could buy at that time by a fairly wide margin. The owner uses the term “restored” when describing the engine, so I’m not sure whether it has been a cosmetic refresh or whether he has treated that 400 to a rebuild. He does say that he has just fitted new tires and that the car runs well, with the V8 feeling strong. It is currently unregistered, but it recently passed its safety inspection if the buyer wants to hit the road for some classic motoring fun.
At $89,000, this 1977 Pontiac Trans Am is a long way from being a cheap classic. However, that price isn’t unprecedented. Both NADA and Hagerty quote lower figures for a pristine example, but several within the past six months have sold for around the price of this one. They are more significant because none of them has featured an odometer reading as low as we find on our feature car. Values have been climbing slowly in recent times, but that may not be a bad thing. History shows that many classics that experience rapid increases can also be prone to dropping at the same rate. That means that if this car is treated with care and respect, it could be a winner on two fronts. The first is that it could represent a sound long-term investment for its next owner. The second is that it would offer a pleasurable classic motoring experience while that value increases. I can’t see a negative to that equation. Can you?
“Eastbound down, loaded up and truckin’; We gonna do what they say can’t be done…We got a long way to go, and a short time to get there…I’m east bound and just watch Ol’ Bandit run!” Just couldn’t resist, this beauty is a flashback to a different time! GLWTA!! :-)
$89,000 for 200 HP seems a tad pricey.
At current market prices, this is actually a good deal. Won’t last long.
Help me understand what could possibly make this worth $89,000.
Supply and demand… and lots of dreamy nostalgia. These things were hot-rodded and ragged out by every teen who had one back in the day (including me). Even though Pontiac sold tons of them, few survived due to all the Burt Reynolds wannabees. There is a very strong following of these on various Facebook groups keeping the dream alive. True un-abused low-mileage survivors are fairly rare (unlike anniversary Vettes, Grand Nationals, etc.).
“Dreamy nostalgia ” is a dangerous thing. it leads to things like ABBA releasing a record in 2018.
LOL Frank, surely none of us want that!
I have to agree the price seems high. It’s a nice car but over priced. I had a 1977 also and it was anything but fast and not a quality built car.
Same here! Seems high to me too! Car doesn’t have any distinguished provenance. But we all know the saying “Sucker born every minute”.
Frank, you got something against ABBA? I am an old cooter, but I love them. Saw them live at their one and only North American tour in 1979, it was a hoot! Wish music was still that good today. Crap today isn’t even good enough to be called music substitute. Music pretty much died with Ronald Reagan becoming prez in 1980. (That man killed off a lot of things, but don’t get me started on him. Lets just let him slowly roast for all eternity and find comfort in that)
$89K is a lot for a malaise era built car that was built poorly from the factory. Runs in the paint, sagging doors and leaking T-tops were common. And with only 200 HP on tap and good for 16’s in the ¼, most soccer mom minivans could outrun it. Even still, it’s a beautiful car albeit it’s many shortcomings.
It’s like the black and gold ’77 Trans Am in The Goods. Only here, the economy has gone insane enough so price is not a joke.
No A/C :(
Interesting car. No air cond. but has ac dash and zero freight on sticker. Never seen that.
The dash bezel should also be gold…there’s a story there somewhere as to why it was changed out. Ahhhh ok imported from Canada – that’s why he changed it. Hopefully he kept the original kilo dash and gold SE bezel
Also I really have to question 6k miles for a few reasons… one of many being car has u.s. dash and was built for Canada. Probably dash change which could be why has air cond dash on non air cond car. Other parts too worn for 6 k. I don’t usually say anyth8ng about mileage claims but 6k miles in 44 years needs a story as to why and stuff shouldnt
be worn.
Agreed. Also, an AM/FM radio which isn’t listed on the window sticker. If it was driven 5,000 miles (give or take) in British Columbia that might help explain why it looks like it does underneath. Proof (service records) would be nice for the mileage claim.
It also has the factory 8-track down below the radio. I bought one of these new in 77. It also has either PDL or a heated rear window going by the toggle in the middle of the dash, mine had both.
One of the best looking cars of all time. My opinion.
89k is the dream number for this car. Time will tell us what people are willing to pay for it.
I was thinking this was way overpriced then I did a search on Auto Tempest and while a few deals are out there, this is pretty much what there going for. Good luck with the sale.
Maybe it’s a cult. $89,000 would put a silver C8 Corvette in my garage.
Rear frame rails sure look good, but they could even with 206k miles – if the car was never driven in bad weather.
Taller ’78 shaker may have been substituted.
Pontiac V8’s can easily go over 200k miles & still not smoke – all u need is a timing chain replacement. Not sure what is meant here that the “engine has been restored” – at such low mileage?
Odd that repro winow sticker does not show the model YEAR of the car.
Should there not be a steel curved pipe from the valve cover to the air cleaner?
The big bellows attached to the snorkle may not be original(should it be the “horsehairs” type, like on ’74s?) & is certainly not secured properly – at either end.
If the exhaust was converted to true duals, would that hurt the value of the car?
The non a/c heater/defroster controls look correct, but there should NOT be
a/c vents in the center of the dash – best to shine a flashlite thru them to see what’s behind them.
Either the factory installed the wrong gage cover or the original gold non a/c one was damaged somehow – unlikely, unless kept out in the sun a lot, but that would have done a number on the original paint & hood bird.
Hard to tell from the pics, but make sure there are 2 pull knobs on each kickpanel for ventilation – only on non a/c birds.
I don’t think i ever seen an SE with the STD interior & STD thinner, taller, tuck & roll style seats.
Just noticed that this movie car is missing a front wheel flare
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TMUDl3L08bs/X62-vbgS0zI/AAAAAAAAAlM/3XWo46QtsPst0ItskJ_l7BeUv2aUIqUPgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1023/smokey-and-the-bandit-1896.jpg
Not original dash. Original would have been metric 8n Canada. Also has a/c dash in non a/c car. Very poor job of trying to make it look like 6k mile car.
Hopefully the original cluster didn’t get wrapped around someone’s head in an accident in the past.
A 9,000 mile version in better shape bid to $65,000 yesterday at Mecum. No sale. $89,000 is Barrett Jackson dreaming.
Hey, rich dude that wants to re-live a life he never lived, your T/A awaits…..
Or boy band….
https://youtu.be/EHV7qIhON64
The chrome valve covers are wrong if this the 200hp engine. The T/A 6.6 had the cheap looking chrome covers.
thats an A/C dash non A/C didnt have center vents
Who’s selling it? Gas Monkey Garage? Comical pricing. That’s SD455 money. “Fluffed” engine compartment doesn’t do it any favors. $50/55K car at most.
As others have noted, a few things here don’t add up. The 4 hole dash on a car w/o A/C, the kick panels with vent pulls were only on non-A/C cars, clearly the dash fascia has been changed and to an incorrect color as well, the SE cars received a gold-hued engine turned dash. Window sticker shows AM Radio, the pic is an AM/FM. Hard to tell by the engine pics if that’s a W72 engine or a standard 400, but I believe the 4-speed was only available with the W72 so it’s likely correct. 89k is all the money for a perfect car and frankly the ’78 & ’79 version with WS6 suspension, the larger Fisher body T-tops and 20 Hp stronger W72/L78 engines were better cars for that kind of money. I’d never begrudge someone living out the Burt Reynolds fantasy but 90k is a bunch to pay for a ’77 T/A.
Wow, thanks for the astute observations.
I’m not in the market for one of these, but this one looked great initially.
If it prevents someone from getting duped into thinking they are buying something they aren’t, that will be great.
As I mentioned somewhere above, if that’s the standard engine they’ve added those valve covers. Mine had the W72 which was the T/A 6.6. Only visual difference was the W72 had the cheapest looking set of chrome covers I’d ever seen and the T/A 6.6 decal on the shaker. Mine came with an automatic. Buccaneer Red(even the Rallye II wheels) with a solid white interior, and everything you could put on it except T-tops and the SE option. Wish I had it back.
“Honey Hush” I had to say it, lots of excellent info and comments,need a good back up info for that milage tho.