Let’s face it. Most cars produced in 1980 were slugs compared to 10 years earlier. However, Pontiac still produced a great looking car that handled great. All it needed was more power. The Pontiac engineers tried turbocharging the 301 cubic inch V8 engine which helped but the car needed more boost and intercooling which did not come around for another 6 or 7 years later when the Turbo Regal hit the streets. This 1980 Pontiac Trans Am is located in Athens, Alabama and is listed for sale here on eBay. This car is bid to a whopping $33,100 and has a Buy It Now Price of $48,000. The reserve has not been met but it might get there before the auction ends in another 20 hours.
The interior looks very nice and has a large cup holder cut into the console behind the 6-speed manual shifter. The car has a lot of options including tilt steering, air conditioning, power windows, rear defrost, and an aftermarket radio. The black dash is uncracked but does have some waviness across the center of the top of the dash. The black hobnail cloth seats look nice which came with the deluxe interior in 1980.
Under the hood is a 5.3 liter GM V8 engine backed by a TR6060 6-speed manual transmission. The seller states that the car can achieve 18 mpg in town and 21 mpg on the highway. The car was originally not a WS6 car so the seller upgraded the rear brakes to disc units. The car sits on Nitto NR555 P275/45/14 tires. The exhaust is handled by stainless steel long tube headers and is said to sound great. The air conditioning has been upgraded to a modern Vintage Air system. I have this on my car and they work great.
Overall, the car has been transformed into a pro-touring vehicle with a modern reliable engine. The rear gears at a 3.42 ratio and the wheels have been upgraded to aftermarket 17-inch snowflakes. This car looks pretty nice and should demand top dollar.
Strange indentation at the bottom of the steering wheel.
I see no benefit of a serpentine belt. Added tensioners can go bad.
Not sure if there’s a way to clean up the top of an LS by converting to 1 or 2 hidden ignition coils.
Goodbye cold air induction.
Is there no heater core/heater on this car?!
I remember reading a test where a 2nd gen bird with drums on the back stopped shorter than a 4 wheel disc brake car!!, but that may have been a vette
with the mid ’60s type 4wd brakes.
These cars & any performance car back to ’68 IMO look lot better with RWL or OWRL tires.
Not sure if here u have the torque off the line/front end goes up like with even a low compress 455 pont with its 4.21″ stroke, or even a 400.
Is there anything you do like about it? It looks like they did a pretty nice job to me
I take it you have one better than this one ! Show us please.
Can you have 17 inch rims with 14 inch tires?
I was wondering that too. I have mounted thousands upon thousands of tires, but I never was able to get a 14″ tire on a 17″ rim…
Why go to all the trouble of an engine swap and use a 5.3?
They are very reliable and easy to make good power with maybe?? Just a blind guess.
Nicely done. Might be hard to shift when a 64 oz Big Gulp is occupying the cup holder.
@Chester- Thank you brother. I haven’t read the comment, but I will guess you have a pretty good idea what my reply would be. Nobody got where they are by themselves. We all had some kind of help and somebody laid the groundwork for us. If anybody thinks the gains working people made back in the day would have happened without the Unions they are dumber than I could have imagined.
Hmmm 301 cubic Inch motor , what a shame
The dual toggle switches on the dash have me scratching my head. Early 70’s models had the defroster and power door lock switches placed there, but mid 70’s, they moved the door lock switch to the door panel.
Also, 1980 Trans Ams speedometers did not go to 160. They maxed at 90.
For me it’s over, cause it’s a Chevy motor, in a Pontiac, Camaros are great too, the conversions are nice, it’s a beautiful car, curious to see where it goes
Ended with Reserve Not Met at $43,150!?
Best of luck to the seller when they try again.