Pontiac built 5,700 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car Turbo Trans Am replicas in 1980 with special paint and decals and the oyster hobnail interior.This listing was found by Chuck Foster and is said to be one of those Pace Car replicas sold by Pontiac dealers in 1980. The car is listed here on Facebook Marketplace for only $10,000. There is limited information on the car and no pictures of the interior or the engine compartment. The car is located in Newport News, Virginia and was just listed yesterday.
The car is painted white and has one Indy 500 Pace Car decal on the front fender. The wheels are incorrect for the Pace Car but are aluminum Pontiac snowflake wheels. The car sports aftermarket window louvers and the front bumper is painted black instead of grey. In 1980, Pontiac introduced a turbocharged 301 cubic inch V8 engine for the top of the line performance. While the car looked great, sales of the Trans Am dropped. Pontiac still produced one of the best handling cars on the market. The turbocharged V8 engine was designated LU8 and was available only in the 1980-1981 Firebird Trans Am and Formula. The turbo 301 cubic inch V8 engine (4.9 liter) was rated at 210 horsepower in 1980 and 200 horsepower in 1981. The LU8 was equipped with a Garrett TB305 turbo and a Rochester Quadrajet 4-barrel carburetor.
The ad states that the car needs fine tuning and interior work. There is one picture of this blue 1973-1977 deluxe seat in the trunk. A new interior for this car would probably run about $2,000 even if the dash and console was good and that does not include labor. The engine is said to have been replaced with a Pontiac 400 cubic inch V8 engine. All turbo 301 cubic inch V8 engines were backed by a GM Turbo 350 automatic transmission and a 3.08 rear gear, so this car probably has the original transmission and 3.08 rear gear ratio.
The body looks to be in good shape. All Pace Cars were equipped with the WS6 Performance Handling Package which included 4 wheel disc brakes, bigger sway bars, 15×8 wheels and improved power steering turning ratios. There is not much else to go on for this car until a prospective buyer pays a visit to inspect the car for rust and mileage. Maybe it looks as good in person as it does in the pictures?
The Firebird lost its looks when it went to rectangular headlights, and while this car looks in pretty decent condition, since it doesn’t have some of the pace car trimmings, it’s just another square-headlighted Trans Am.
Sure is different without the tu-tone paint.
Although not a pace car, or Special Edition, I had a 1981 Trans Am. Even in the 1990’s when I had mine, parts were hard to find, especially for the 1981 model. The 79 to 81 models were the last years of the second generation TAs. As others have said, it will not be cheap to restore this one back to original.
And that’s where the price is right. Your getting the latest Trans Am handling package with the much better Pontiac 400 which with a head & cam swapping & headers would make a sweet classic ready for tire smoking! Breaker 19