Rex M sent us this clean-looking 1980 Pontiac Turbo Trans Am which was one of 5,700 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car Editions. The Trans Am is listed here on Craigslist for an asking price of $24,000. These pictures are not great but the car appears clean and is said to be original. It is being sold by the original owner and has always been garaged. The odometer read 55,549 miles and the car is located in Phoenix, Arizona.
All Indianapolis 500 Pace Car Edition Trans Ams were upholstered with a special oyster grey deluxe interior. I owned one of these cars with about 55,000 miles on it. It was TTA #2 modified by TTA Performance in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The car ran great with water/alcohol injection, a 2.5″ downpipe and the boost turned up to 14 psi. Due to detonation, don’t turn up the boost unless you have water injection to keep the heat generated by the turbo limited or you will blow your engine. Based on the previous Indianapolis 500 Pace Cars we have examined, it seems like they all came loaded with every option including air conditioning, T-tops, cruise control, rear window defroster, heavy-duty 70 amp alternator, power windows and power locks.
The paint job was unique on these cars with the grey extending from behind the hood bird up on to the roof. All Turbo Trans Ams in 1980 and 1981 came with a GM Turbo 350 automatic transmission and 3.08 geared rear axle ratio. Pontiac always seemed to be ahead of its competition in terms of performance and styling. Pontiac introduced a turbocharged V8 engine (designated LU8) in the 1980-1981 Firebird Trans Am and Formula. The turbo 301 cubic inch V8 engine (4.9 liter) was rated at 210 horsepower and 345 lb-ft of torque. The LU8 was equipped with a Garrett TB305 turbo and a Rochester Quadrajet 4-barrel carburetor.
In 1979, the top engine option in the Trans Am and Formula was the 220 hp W72 400 available. Without an intercooler and with the blow through turbo, performance was not as impressive as the year before. Early road tests indicated a 1/4 mile time of 16.3 seconds which was almost 2 seconds slower than the W72 equipped Trans Am. These cars are still beautiful and handle well even though they don’t have the low end torque that Pontiac engines are famous. This car comes with the original paperwork and is said to have clean title and has always been garaged.
TTA Performance just got his to run a 12.85 in the 1/4 using E85. https://youtu.be/zVhyYnr2XSQ?t=198
That’s staggering for one of these. I’d love to see what this setup would do with a built 200r4 and a bit more gear.
The ’78-’81 F-bodies are one of the General’s best proportioned designs and the 10th Anniversary & Pace Car TAs are two of my favorites. I know they’re not reputed to have much power or the best build quality but my bucket list includes one with a built PMD 455 and coil spring handling package.
I agree with jwzg – more gear, and more motor.
I would imagine back in the day such light colored carpet & cloth seats were an absolute bear to keep looking clean if the car was used regularly, especially in bad weather on occasion.
A/C + turbo under the hood is not something to look forward to when tinkering, replacing valve cover gaskets, or even just doing simple maintenance there, compared to the astounding absolute emptiness under the hood of these even with a 455 but with no a/c or air pump.
I street raced one of these Turbo cars, when they came out. I didn’t know much about turbos at the time, so when the flagger dropped his arms and I saw all those little lights on the back of the hood scoop flash on I just about crapped my pants.
But he must have been in reverse or something, because I never saw anything disappear in my rearview mirror faster than that TransAm.
Good one 👍 Melton. I sure would leave this beauty as stock looking as possible and dial up that e85 guy. That thing is a mover w 3.08 gear in the 1/4…..so it must annihilate things on the hwy w that 3spd autobox