What possible quandary could you have about this near mint 1983 Trans Am, Jamie? It looks perfect, right? So if you like this type of car, what question could you have? The current seller is looking for funds to return to college and therefore wants someone to take the car from it’s Topeka, Kansas home, and you can do that if you are the high bidder in the auction here on eBay. Bidding is only at $2,175 but as you might expect, there’s a reserve higher than that.
The seller is very open with the imperfections on this car, including this black mark on the front bumper. The Trans Am is the WS7 version, which is basically the top of the line WS6 performance oriented package without the rear disc brakes–should be attractive to most folks, right? So with only 23,500 miles and with the seller having a legitimate reason to sell and with the history of the car so clear and with the seller having done the right things to recommission the car since it hadn’t been on the road since 1988, what could possibly be holding me back?
Here’s part of my quandary. How do you deal with this rust that’s under the lip at the front of the hood? And, by the way, major props to the seller for showing this area in detail. I don’t know how to keep the original paint as well as controlling this rust? You know if you clean this area up and use some rust converter/encapsulator on it, it will eventually break back through. The rust will be within the folded over seam. If you do a proper job, fold back the seam and eradicate the rust completely, there’s no way that I can think of that you’ll be able to save the original paint. Repainting the hood is an option, but not only do you lose originality at that point, but you also won’t be able to match the paint perfectly–it will always show, at least a little.
Here’s the other part of my quandary. This car looks really racy, but only carries a 305 V8 under the hood. Promises of speed and power go right out the window! Not only that, but it doesn’t even look that great, with black plastic everywhere. I’m left with thinking “I don’t want it, but it would be great for someone else.” If you’ve ever been involved with market research, that’s the kiss of death for a customer solution you are testing. So what I’m wondering now is could this be someone’s dream car–i.e. not a quandary for them? Please share your thoughts, and especially let us know if this Trans Am would be your choice!
That’s an interesting thing about an auction, with 35 bids, it is ” … good for someone else!”. Nice car, but I’d really want a standard trans.
I was in the auto wholesale business when these came out. They were a big deal at the time compared to what else was available. I see a couple of issues with this car that the seller doesn’t mention. I would like to see a closer look at the wheels. I believe these wheels should have a black disc type of hubcap that covers the center of the wheel. Even back in the day these would go missing. I imagine they would be pretty tough to find if this car originally came with them. The other potential issue might be with the rear hatch locking mechanism. I remember these having a motor that would pull them down snug once latched. Looking at the one photo of the hatch it doesn’t seem to be pulled down tight. All that said, what a cool car for a trip down memory lane. I’m sure this will put a smile on the right buyer’s face for some time to come.
Those are the correct wheel centers for these wheels..I remember the wheel centers you’re referring to…were they on ’82s?
Thanks for the clarification. With a clear shot of the wheels it’s easy to tell. I couldn’t tell for sure by looking at these photos.
My brought bought, and still owns, a 1987 Camaro IROC-Z. It, too, has a power-pull-down for the rear hatch. When he complained that the hatch wasn’t aligned properly, the service advisor asked him if it leaked. I did not, so the service advisor suggested that he leave it alone.
Cool for what it is. Millions built but with that wheezer 305 it’s a dog and just a nice cruiser.
Nice click bait ….Far from near mint and the bids show it .
Lots of GM’s of the 80’s had the pull down on the trunk, easy to find replacements
As for the pull down rear hatch. That didn’t start till 1987. I have an 85 trans am bought new and only 27,000 orig miles. As for the rested hood replace it end of story.
GM added those pull-down motors on those glass hatchbacks because people were shattering the glass by slamming the hatch shut.
I would agree that years ago it was near impossible to match old paint but not today. I don’t know how they do it but I’ve seen local body shops match old paint where I couldn’t even tell the difference. I think they mix and match the paint using computers.
Even if you could fix the visible rust on the under side of the hood, there is rust under the lip and it will wrk it way through to the outside. Replace the hood, a good body shop can computer match the paint. Given the choice though I would prefer the Z28, and a stick would be a must.
I match stain by tinting a bit at a time ( for wood), not to difficult, just takes time.
That has been painted already. Notice the overspray all over the safety latch on the hood? It’s basically half white already. Surprised nobody else has pointed that out yet.
I had one of these (traded my 79 for it DOH!) black, T-tops, “bowling ball” wheel covers. What a pile of crap. Lost drag races to mopeds. I hated that car, but drove it for a couple of years then traded it for an 87, which was a much better running, handling T/A.
Cross Fire Injection!! ((( SHUDDER)))
I have a nearly identical one only mine has t-tops. Not a speedster but fun to cruise with. It has only 67,000 miles. Won’t give it up. It was my son’ s first car. Always wishing I had my first car (53 Chev BelAir 2 Dr hardtop). I bought this from my boy when he wanted a different car. Now he wishes he had it back. He really does have it back but just doesn’t realize it yet. Those are the correct wheels and no, it does not have the power locking mechanism and. virtually no rust. Most of them of this vintage you can almost look thru them.
those rims are correct, this what they look like w/o the bowling ball hubcaps.
the auto-pull down feature became optional on the 1985 models.
between 2 buddies & myself, we own 3 ’84 t/a’s, an ’85 t/a & an ’88 Camaro. the t/a’s still sport their original 305’s.
we originally got into these because what we wanted could not be reasonably be put together. ie: too much money for the car, time to work on it, kids. basically priced of market for us.
these are sporty, relatively easy to work on, j/y shopping is hit or miss depending on where you live. still has aftermarket support. were on the lower end of the price scale unless it was a: 15th anniversary edt (84), turbo t/a (89), firehawks, 1le, recaro, formula 350 models + a few others.
forget it if has bowling ball style rims/hubcaps, pmd seats or 82-84 tan interior. people automatically jack the price up & think that making a KITT clone. meanwhile i’m just trying to freshen/mild restore my ’84 back to factory.
we have noticed over the last few years, the prices for these cars starting to rise. every time a new mag article is published highlighting the possibility of being a collectible, the price goes up a little.
Looks like a nice early 3rd generation Firebird. It still looks untouched. Under the hood I see that it still has its factory hose clamps. The fact that it still has the correct and hard to find wheel center caps, with the Pontiac lettering, is a must. They were replaced in 1984 by the the bird logo for their new High Tech Turbo wheels and became standard for the Firebird and Trans Am. One great feature, to me, is the factory optional 305 Cross-Fire Injection engine. It’s not as terrible as people made it look like. Most of them had their flaws but instead of swapping them with a 350 carb, one should just replace the poor parts with better ones and upgrade to a larger exhaust manifold system and exhaust system, which GM prooved possible, in mid 1983 with their L69 High-Output engines. They simply abondonned the Cross-fire, since they had many complains by unhappy customers, and failed to make the engines run and breath, like they supposed to. Then came the Tuned Port Injection for 1985 and fuel injection became more reliable. I’m from Europe and I know a few people who own Z28’s and Trans Am’s with Cross-Fire Injection engines and they’re very satisfied with them. These car are not horsepower monsters, nor are they fast or slow, but they handle well on the road and are fun to drive. I own one, since 2012, and I’m very happy with it.
I wish I would have seen this when it was published. I would love to have gotten this car. It’s my childhood dream car. I Pray I find this car someday.