The 1987 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am GTA was a high–performance variant of the third generation Firebird. It was introduced in 1986 as a limited production model and was available only in the coupe body style. GTA stands for Gran Turismo Americano. This GTA is located in Garwood, New Jersey and list listed here on eBay with 3 days remaining in the auction. The auction has a reserve and the car is currently bid to $15,100. Due to the excellent condition of this car, the reserve price is set much higher than it is currently bid.
The black interior is stock and the pictures probably don’t do the car justice. The seller states that he or she has had the car for a year and it is garaged and used for shows. I am not sure why the pictures of the car show it on a trailer but the garage picture of the car show it sitting next to another Firebird.
The GTA was equipped with a 5.7-liter V8 engine, rated at 225 horsepower and 315 pound-feet of torque. The engine was mated to a four-speed automatic. This car is said to have 40k miles and been well cared for during its prior ownership. The seller describes the car as mint. Some enthusiast incorrectly describe the GTA 5.7 liter engine as being pulled from the C4 Corvette. While both engines had tuned port injection (TPI), the Corvette engine had aluminum heads while the GTA had cast iron heads.
The exterior of the GTA was distinguished by its exclusive “GTA“ decal package, hood–mounted air induction scoop, and painted side mirrors. The interior featured seating with good lateral support, power adjustable front seats, WS6 handling package and an optional Delco/Bose Gold Series stereo system with an equalizer and graphic equalizer. The GTA package lasted until 1992 on the Trans Am and was designated as the RPO code Y84.
Great looking car with one of the best wheel designs ever
Interesting that this ’87 has the later-design canister air filter.
I have an ’87 in Gunmetal Grey Metallic (for sale, too), and owned an ’88 from new in the same color combination as the subject car. To me, this is one of the most beautiful American cars ever built. While still clearly an 80’s design, it has a timeless quality, so it doesn’t look out of place today in the valet lot of a fine dining establishment. Indeed, the GTA has aged far better than its sister car, the IROC-Z (and I have one of those, too!).
Based on the condition and miles, my guess is that this one ends up selling in the $18-$20k range, maybe a little more if there’s a last minute frenzy.
This car is on Facebook marketplace for 17,500, and has been for a while.
How much are you asking for your TA
Email me: vanshmack@outlook.com
I owned 3rd generation Fs. This has about 40,000 miles on it. I would be willing to give maybe $12,000 if things checked out. That’s not really super low mileage for one of these and there are many GTAs left.
It’s a nice vehicle though. The L98 has great torque characteristics, even though it’s not the most powerful engine out there. I had a 1987 Formula 350 with that engine.
That 80’s guy, good eye. I saw that too.. must be a late 87 production. I had the 4th gta delivered in Michigan ! Mine had the square box restricted intake n filter. I would have never sold mine except the bank said they’d finance me a builders loan for my new home (NOT) ! I would gave been bidding on this a couple months ago ! What’s the one like you got for sale ? Shoebendr@yahoo.com
I did a double-take when I looked at the engine picture, and did a web search on 1987 Trans Am GTA engine to find other images to confirm. The runners on the tuned port intake are aftermarket, which begs the question, what else has been modified? It would be unusual to change the runners without changing the camshaft, or at least going to higher-lift rocker arms. There were two types of mods done to these: either bridge each pair on each side, or increase the tube diameter. The throttle bodies are actually adequate for more flow, although aftermarket ones were available.
Good call-out on the runners. I missed that, since there’s only that one picture of the engine compartment. As I recollect, the runners were one of the easier “major” modifications, since it didn’t require major surgery like a camshaft, so it wasn’t an uncommon sight to see a TPI car with runner, TB airfoil, and catback.
The GTA was also available as a convertible and this task was outsourced by GM to ASC. They are out there but I haven’t seen too many (probably because of the cost on top of the fully optioned GTA price tag was another $4000), and they look much better with the top down that the top up. 1987 was the first year GTA, but last year for the GTA to have the steering wheel without the additional radio controls. The 305 V8 was available with a manual transmission but the 350 V8 was available only with an automatic (a few 350’s with a manual may have been produced but weren’t supposed to).
Lots of rumors on 350/manual combinations, but the only ones built were test mules that failed validation because they couldn’t handle the L98’s torque, and they were never offered to the public. There always has been similar scuttlebutt about a few ’86 F-Bodies getting the 350, but no one has ever been able to produce one with hard evidence that they came from the factory with one.
True, as a 25 yr tenure at GM Pontiac dealer in Woodland Hills CA Body n Frame tech never a factory stick rolled thru the shop or the sales lot!
If so then Tony Curtis a Trans AM collector n friend would have brought it by for a drive test up the 101
@Greg, you worked at Livingston? That’s where we bought my original ’88 GTA in November of 1987.
Small world!
That one year only steering wheel is a work of art. The later steering wheels were lame
Also, the 350 V8 cars were not available with the T-tops. This car has a digital dash which was another option over the analog gauges and I haven’t seen many cars with the digital dash. In 1988, the GTA price jumped up another $6k from 1987 new. How do I know these things? I have a black 1987 GTA 350 V8 coupe with Black interior, gold trim and wheels, and a digital dash. I considered buying a gray convertible back in the 90’s, but too much money for me at the time.
I had an ’87 red GTA just like this one (5.7, digital dash) except mine had the camel interior. Mine also had T-tops, subwoofer and rear cargo shade. 3 options that were not available together with the 5.7 on the 1987 order sheet. The theory behind restricting these options was to reduce weight and not lower the MPG to the point it would get slapped with the gas guzzler tax.
Mine was a Canadian market car so it appears they weren’t under the same ordering restrictions.
I believe the Canadian-market GTA’s with 350 could be optioned with T-tops but the US-market cars could not.
White car in the background is a 1989 Anniversary Edition with the Turbo 6 cylinder. Identifiable by the emblem on the sail panel.
Nope, its just a white one with the 350… he is also selling it on ebay. Red one shows two accidents in the VHR, front and drivers side impacts.
I love the thirdgens, and this is a rare beauty. I’ve heard the stories as well, but I’ve never seen a factory 350/t-5 build. Besides, a 305 is more than enough motor to break the manual t-5 trans (or rear end) anyway. One powershift on sticky tires is about all it takes.
After the worthless throttle body airfoil, aftermarket runners was one of the first mods the TPI folks would do in their costly and futile quest for TPI power. The set on this motor are from Edelbrock, which siamesed the first couple of inches of each pair of runners to quasi-effectively increase the plenum volume. This raised the powerband 200-300 rpm maybe. Expensive for the 10 or so hp you got from them. I see nothing in the pics to indicate that this is a corvette motor, and it wouldn’t make a lot of difference if it was, actually, unless it was an LS.
I broke the wimpy rear in my 84 Z28 on the highway in -40 degree weather. Lots of fun walking through a field to call my then girlfriend only to fall through the ice of the bog I was walking on. Ah the memories…
Way back in 1989, I bought a ‘87 Firebird Formula 350. Stolen recovery, minus wheels and interior. Installed subframe connectors and a shock tower brace. Loved that car, always seemed faster than what it was.
I’m am currently rebuilding my 91 Formula that I’ve had since 2002. These cars are rare and it’s nice to see some that have been preserved and well taken care of. I’ve loved all the 3rd gen F bodies and prefer working on these since they bridged the gap between older muscle cars and the newer fuel injected sports cars.
I went and saw this car in person the other night. It is listed on Facebook for $17,500. I went with cash in hand to buy, but I went home severely disappointed. While the car is beautiful on the outside, it is anything but beautiful mechanically or under the hood. The car has tarnished tall valve covers stamped with “Chevrolet” on them, an orange painted water pump on it, and the undercarriage had some scaly surface rust painted over with what looked like black spray paint. In the pictures, the digital dash is shown as fully functional, but when the car was running, neither the temp, nor amp, nor oil pressure gauge were working. My buddy also said it had some pretty loud valvetrain noise. The SPID decal was MIA. It had what looked (and sounded) like cheap headers on it. If this car had 40k on it, it was definitely a rough 40k. Unfortunately, it was a hard pass and reinforces why folks need to see a car in person, rather than buying sight unseen.
You certainly could get T-tops with the 350 motor. I had an 87′ IROC with that combo.
I sold my ’87 GTA five years ago in excellent condition with 56k miles on it. Best I could get just that short time ago was $5600… ugh. Guy flew in from Nebraska and drove it home.
Everything’s gone up exponentially in the last three years…your car would, likely, bring $12-15K now.
Yep. I’m sure it would.
Just wanted to add, Looking at the ebay ad, unless there is proof that the odometer is 40k, I’ma bit skeptical because of the missing light bars… could easily be 90k… and that is a generic description that I have seen on countless ebay ads, word for word.
Just wanted to add, Looking at the ebay ad, unless there is proof that the odometer is 40k, I’ma bit skeptical because of the missing light bars… could easily be 90k… and that is a generic description that I have seen on countless ebay ads, word for word.
Weren’t the T-Top 5.7 Liter cars only available in ’87? I seem to recall the ’88 not being available with the 350 due to the possibility of the body flexing too much (which is semi-ridiculous being these cars were pretty anemic, regardless). The GTA Anniversary with the Buick Turbo V6 was the one to have…and would smoke any other iteration of these cars. The second-best was the Formula, or IROC, with the 305 TPI and the 5-speed…1LE I believe in Chevy terms.
Sadly it’s a Camaro in a Tuxedo, for us Pontiac guys Pontiac was gone already
Had an 87 GTA in Gray. Traded in an 86 IROC Z for it. I hated that IROC. What a piece of crap. Amazing though how the same body (basically) and frame from the same manufacturer can have such a quality difference. When you shut the door on the IROC it sounded like a tin can hitting the concrete. When you shut the door on the GTA it was a thud, solid sound. The GTA road better, handled better, and was quicker. Just ask the low life that stole it from me, stripped it, and left it behind the Budweiser plant in Newark NJ. I guess his tastes were more toward the GTA than the ‘ROC….
That 80’s guy, good eye. I saw that too.. must be a late 87 production. I had the 4th gta delivered in Michigan ! Mine had the square box restricted intake n filter. I would have never sold mine except the bank said they’d finance me a builders loan for my new home (NOT) ! I would gave been bidding on this a couple months ago ! What’s the one like you got for sale ? Shoebendr@yahoo.com
Email sent
So i has the 4th one in Michigan. I ordered mine and at the time only customer orders were produced. The dealer gave me a big break to let it sit in his shoes room for a month. Boy, that was hard ! Mine was ordered with the digital dash and without steering wheel radio buttons. Mine ran consistently 14.66 in the quarter mile. I put a 75 hp nitrous pack on it and got 13.66 and 104mph at the track. One guy from grand Rapids was running 14’s with a Paxton sc on his. Mine was flame red and had red interior. The books were saying the would to out at 138 but I know mine topped much faster then that. Loved that car and would take another in a heart beat. Highway mpg was 24 city was 19. And i paid 18k old for mine
I never understood why GM used the lame excuse of “the T5 can’t handle the torque” of the 350 for not giving gearheads the car they really wanted. Just put stronger gears in the transmission and a stronger clutch, it could not have been that expensive for a behemoth like GM. The Corvette was always going to be faster than the Camaro/Firebird no matter what transmission it had.
The 305 was never considered a true high performance engine, and the 350 was the engine everybody wanted with a stick. Anyone know the true answer?
I came of age in the 80’s, and would love to have the definitive 80’s high performance four car collection- Corvette with a stick, 5.0 liter Mustang with a stick and the Camaro and Firebird with the 350 AND A STICK. Maybe someday soon I’ll find a GTA for sale with a swapped in manual transmission for the right price, one can dream.
In 87 no ttops in states but in Canada your could order them 350 and auto L98 tuned port only but a credit was applied if you ordered the 305 with auto or manual transmission. Was a corvette motor but iron heads and different tuning WS6 suspension 4 wheel discs 215 hp in 87 special mirrors for the export cars the emission rules for the time said only 350 auto cafe standards i have sourced this exautively through different sources and previous owners of mine and different other owners the tpi runners may also be from slp ( street legal performance) you could either order through gm or straight from SLP
Ended at 16K, Reserve Not Met.