What is a good starting price point for a clone. This is a 1972 Pontiac Firebird that has been cloned with a new hood, fenders and spoilers to look like a Trans Am. The car is listed here on eBay with 4 days remaining in the auction. The car is said to be rust free but is obviously a project. It is located in Valley Village, California and is currently bid to $6,211. The car was relisted because the prior winner of the auction failed to contact the owner or pay for the car.
From 1970 through 1972, the Trans Am was available in Cameo White with a blue stripe or Lucerne Blue with a white stripe. This car appears to be Cameo White with a blue interior. The interior is in bad shape and has a menagerie of seats. The two front seats are different buckets and the rear seat is cloth. Regardless, they are all in bad shape and will need complete restoration or replacement. There were only 1,286 Trans Ams built in 1972, due to a labor strike, making 1972 the lowest production number for Trans Ams second only to 1969 (697 Trans Ams).
This car has a 455 cubic inch V8 engine that will need to be rebuilt. Likely this is a Y code 455 cubic inch V8 which was rated at 250 horsepower from the factory. The 1971-1972 Pontiac Trans Am came with the top of the line HO455 engine. This was the last of the round port head engines built by Pontiac. It was rated at 300 net horsepower and 335 gross horsepower. The HO455 engine was also available in the Pontiac GTO and they are expensive to build with the correct parts.
Also in the ad, the seller mentions that he has a 1974 Pontiac Firebird parts car. It does not have an engine but it does have an interior but some of the parts on the interior of a 1974 Firebird would likely be incorrect for a 1972 Trans Am. The car does have a transmission but the seller states that the project car would need to be purchased in addition to the 1972 Firebird. Where I see a lot of work, others see a solid start to a project. Good luck!
The 1973-74 SD 455 also had round port heads, so the last one was in 1974
It may not be the best Trans Am clone, but they certainly cloned a junker.
Another ebay sale flop
Will ebay ever improve their car bidding site ?
Been there done that , an easy fix is to charge the bidder 5 bucks to be able to place his first bid
That ´s all
If you cant pay $5 to buy a car well you cant bid
It will be way more than $5 if you have to keep bidding. It would ruin the spirit of the auction.
$5 for bidding , not for every bid
Only your first one ,it confirms credit card info and personal info
That way , the kids in the basement are automatically excluded and that would solve a lot , probably not all but some
With all the new go fast goodies available now
If you can start with a rust free car
You can get a new improved suspension
Sway bars and all
Superior brakes than factory
Custom interior
Choice of engines
The pocketbook is the limit
Put a few bucks aside for the mask a clone driver should wear. A paper bag might be a better idea.
This isn’t a rust-free car, you can see rust on the car in the pictures.
Clones are for clowns.
There isn’t a thing wrong with a clone as long as you know it is one. If you wanted to LS one and throw all the modern go fast goodies at it why ruin a numbers matching car? I hate those shows where they cut up a really nice car to customize it. This car, if rust free, is the perfect candidate for a nice restomod.
Agreed. I’m a pontiac purest. But for something that wasn’t a real car to begin with and is missing a drive train, I see the benefit to doing exactly that. My sons friend has a beautiful 71 TA clone. White with blue stripe. Started life as an esprit. Looks and sounds amazing. Pop the hood and he’s got a 5.3 Chevy truck engine with a cam and headers. Car screams, does 75 on the highway at low rpm, and gets great gas mileage. Even has the Faker hood. And he’s in it total less than 10k
This could be fixed, you would be upside down, guaranteed money pit- someone might want it, there arent many around after 50 years
I would sell the hood, find a formula hood [i love the twin scoops] get a 4speed, try to build it as a 455SD and tell everybody its just a firebird …..
@Bruce, not trying to be petty, but in 1970 Pontiac used Polar white. 1971 they changed to Cameo white…
There is a difference
Resto mod with a trans am blue stripe does not make it a clone
And even if someone chooses to clone it ,
We all know how rare they are and we never get to see a real one
Drive it like you stole it
May as well enjoy the look and try not to make things too complicated …
Yolo