Indy Pace Car: 1980 Pontiac Turbo Trans Am

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It’s a pretty big honor for an auto manufacturer to have one of their offerings pace the Indy 500, but for that model to also serve those duties during the same year for the Daytona 500 race was unheard of, that is until 1980 when the new Pontiac Turbo Trans Am was born.  To celebrate the Indianapolis occasion, Pontiac built 5,700 special F-Bodies in 1980 known as the Y85, or the Turbo Trans Am Pace Car, such as this one here on eBay.  It’s a low-mileage example located in Lincoln, Nebraska, with the current high bid of $8,100 not enough yet to make that pesky reserve not met message go away.

Compared to the car’s earlier days, the T/A was starting to struggle in the performance department by this time.  The larger displacement engines from the previous year were gone, as was manual transmission availability, so all Firebird models built for 1980 came with automatics.  The 301 engine with the fresh turbocharger was the best that could be had under the hood now, and the seller confirms his car retains the original numbers-matching drivetrain.  The small engine made just 140 horsepower in base form, but adding the turbo raised that number to a more respectable 210.  With a mere 47,000 miles of travel, the seller tells us this Pontiac still runs and drives excellently.

Although this Trans Am is said to show well, the finish actually consists of a combination of original paint along with some areas that have been touched up and resprayed.  The body appears to remain nice and straight, and I’m not spotting anything outside that would make me want to take any action other than just enjoy this one.  The silver tinted T-Tops were also standard equipment on the Y85 cars as were the white aluminum wheels, which are wearing a set of new BF Goodrich white letter tires.

The seller’s assessment of the interior being in good shape for its age sounds reasonable, with the headliner listed as one recently replaced item.  These cars were loaded with accessories from the factory, with this one featuring several additional extra-cost options such as a tilt steering column, a rear window defroster, intermittent wipers, and power door locks.  The Turbo Trans Am Pace Car was king of the king of the castle in the 1980 Firebird lineup, and I’m guessing the price will continue to climb before the hammer drops here.   What are your thoughts on this one?

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Comments

  1. Jon Rukavina

    Looks like it has a built-in CB radio into the factory stereo. Breaker, breaker, 10-4. Not a bad looking car, pretty loaded up except for a power seat, which may or may not have been available. Wonder if you can find the parts for that turbo 44-45 years later.

    Like 2
  2. MoparDoug

    While going to college I worked part-time at a GM dealer in the parts department. I remember the mechanics having to replace the turbos on these 301s all the time. So much so that I actually had the part number memorized after awhile. I believe they were always warrantied out.

    Like 2
    • PRA4SNW PRA4SNWMember

      I wonder if turbo failure came because a lot of these early turbos needed to be cooled down after spirited driving by idling for awhile before turning off the ignition.

      I’m not sure if that is the case for these T/As.

      Like 1
      • Bayne

        We bought a new 81 turbo TA in 82. I found out the hard way
        that it was a ” MUST COOL DOWN ” as replaced the turbo twice.

        Like 1
  3. Claudio

    This beauty is 44 years old and in pretty good condition .well optioned and quite the looker, their only drawback was lack of power , the aftermarket has solved pretty much every issue on popular cars , engine upgrades are regularly done so, quit whinning on the lack of power and do something about it , the brakes and steering are good enough to take it !
    I wonder if an overdrive transmission would fit and improve the take off and driveability?
    YOLO

    Like 0
    • BAYNE

      The 301 with the turbo has a 4 bolt main. The word
      from a few hot rodders is it could take more hp from
      a inter- cooled turbo. A shop out of Michigan has offered
      this for years.

      Like 0

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