We’ve all heard the “little old lady drove it to church” story, and while sometimes it’s true, usually it isn’t. Though the ad doesn’t say anything about driving it to church, it is advertised as “elderly owned” and includes this photograph of an older woman. I can’t speak for her churchgoing habits, but if she is the one and only owner of this car then the 80,000 miles are probably accurate! Complete with the original paint, title, and booklets as well as plenty of factory options, this Trans Am is in immaculate condition. Find it here on craigslist in California with a reasonable asking price of $23,500. Thanks to reader Pat L. for submitting this sweet survivor!
Although this Trans Am isn’t quite in showroom condition, the interior is the nicest to be expected for 80,000 miles and 40 years! Not only is the interior cosmetically fantastic, this car has factory cruise control, tilt wheel, air conditioning, AM 8-track stereo, and a rear window defogger. This car was built to be both fast and functional. Form over function? Why not both? This true survivor looks like it would be one sweet weekend warrior.
Under the hood sits the original and unmodified Pontiac 400 cubic inch V8. Rated at 220 horsepower, this engine will get you where you need to go! The Shaker hood and scoop are one of the more iconic attributes of theses cars, and both items are intact and presentable on this car. I have seen a few Trans Ams that had the scoop screwed down to an air cleaner for appearance purposes! With a car this nice, it is unsurprising that the engine bay looks almost like new. Though this car is an automatic, it could still be plenty of fun and ideal for weekend cruising. It also has Posi-Track!
The Firebird was designed to look sporty, and it had no problem pulling the look off. The car is clearly parked in this picture, but looks like it is moving (not really, but it looks fast!). This is a really excellent survivor example, and the white mud flaps do nothing but reinforce this Pontiac’s survivor status. What would you do with this car?
What would I do with it? Why drive it. Wouldn’t touch a thing.
All Trans Ams from that era came with posi.
I was surprised to see the car advertised in California, until I saw the Washington license plates. These cars rarely survived in California, with the 403’s and 2.xx rear end gears that were standard out here they weren’t great performers, add to that the bi-annual smog inspections and their fate was practically sealed.
Steve R
Elderly? She’s been elderly for 40 years?
Why be rude, Walrus?
Not sure how it’s rude pointing out that this was not owned by someone elderly since new. However old she is now, she was 40 years younger when the car was new.
I agree, she definitely hasn’t been elderly for 40 years. However, I’d estimate she was probably around 30 when the car was new. I’m guessing the seller is trying to imply this wasn’t owned by some young foolish kid who abused it for a decade!
Haha, My wife was 44 when she bought her first “performance” car (new). Age and weight of foot does not necessarily correlate.
Exactly Chuck! I’m well into my 40s and still perform many disreputable acts in my daily G35 6MT coupe!
Everybody says that there’s nobody meaner than the little old lady from Pasadena.
My best friends wife bought her 2007 Parnelli Jones Mustang on her 50th birthday.
Stranger things have happened.
I recently lost a dear friend who was 91. She was a sweet little English lady, but when I tried to follow her driving her Lexus on these twisty, hilly west Georgia roads, I could not keep up!
Nice. And she is not old! :)
Nice car and if true a one owner lady would most likely mean it wasn’t abused. Would a rear window defogger really be needed in California ??? We only use ours here in Missouri in the winter to clear snow & ice.
It’s not a California car, the license plates are from Washington. It appears to have been brought into the state to be re-sold.
Rear window defrosters are useful in California too. I live about 20 miles southeast of San Francisco, I needed to use mine last night.
Steve R
Back windows can fog up anywhere, especially at night. :)
Solid car and solid value. The Pontiac engine makes this thing a ringer. Now give her the cash and lets lay some rubber!
Heck I would have taken it and saved the trip from WA.
Steve R- I have owned a one legged 1978 Z28 with 3.73 gears and non posi. I don’t believe that the Trans Ams came standard with posi either.
http://www.78ta.com/Pages/etrcodes.htm
I believe those codes apply to the whole firebird line not specifically the T/A. Posi was listed as an “option” on build sheets/etc. because it was part of the T/A package in ’78, but it was a standard part of that package. The T/A was Pontiac’s performance leader which the Z28 was not for Chevy.
Yes, posi was standard on T/As of this vintage, as were HURST 4-speed shifters (crappy ITM shifters in the Z) . Chevrolet was the entry level brand, remember. Pontiac was the “step up” so it had a little extra for standard equipment.
Wasn’t posi part of the WS6 package, which this T/A seems to have?
Yeah they did come with posi. Mostly 10 bolt. On rainy days i use to drive from my hs to my house without ever going straight. That was a 77 TA. just another reason why firebirds were a step up from camaros.
Haha, My wife was 44 when she bought her first “performance” car (new). Age and weight of foot does not necessarily correlate.
Not too many desirable ponchos with this provenance – expensive, but look what you get – the price will
be viewed as no money in time
Data says they’ve peaked and stabilized at 40-ish for a show winner. So, as 40K becomes worth less and less due to the federal banking system always printing more dollars, this car will never be worth more than it is today. If in 10 years it’s worth $5k more, youkd have been better off in something else.
Market stabilization for any collectible is rarely stable in the long run.
My 93 yr old grandmother had an Olds Starfire in the garage that she hardly ever drove. Really low miles. I can’t remember the engine in it but it was enormous. Unfortunately when she passed away it went to her son (my uncle) and he never drove it either!
All ’78 T/A’s had their scoops “screwed to the air cleaner for looks”, so not sure what Andrew is talking about with that comment. Although, sure almost everyone cut the opening to make them functional, it doesn’t mean the uncut ones are weird it just means they’re still factory.
Allow me to clarify: I have seen the scoop screwed to a Mr. Gasket chrome air cleaner with sheet metal screws, and I’m pretty sure that isn’t factory!
This car is a 1978 time capsule
The options were what tells the story,many many, more limited slip than positrac, not standerd it was ordered,costs more.just ask the guy thats rebuilding a late 70’s ta who blew up the one wheel wonder that came with car,about the avail- of period correct posi replacement? of limited sliper haa! Also got a bone to pick with Mr.tanner “fair price”where is that place,way higher than here,B&J hammer price then why aint it there? Already moved it from its registered WA home to Caly for big bucks so keep on going a thousand miles farther. 23.5k sounds great for seller(flipper),but down here in regular atmospher!
Not so much. AllEvaluation sites say original owner family 67k excellent condtion1977
12kup to 16k so why do we see such a hopeful number? Must have alow battery in my notebook cause somthin aint left ,see what i mean, should be right,right? Anywho,remmember, believe 50% of what you see and even less of what you are told,we are all experts including myself,just ask and I will tell you so! Hardy harhar,go out and do it then you will know the truth with luv BRUCE.
Anybody else get irritated when flippers ( & other sellers)
can’t be bothered to register a vehicle when it comes from
another state?
I’ll bet that this seller picked it up from the estate for cheap.
Yes, I normally do too, except in the case, as this one might be, where you presumably have a car on it’s original owner’s title and the dealer/flipper is in a state where they’re not required to register in order to resell. In these cases, I prefer to be the documented second owner rather than third.
The law in CA is very clear – IF you’re a private party,
you have ten days upon the vehicle entering the state,to get
it registered,or at least start the registration process by paying
the fees.
And any vehicle being sold in California with out of state plates almost certainly won’t pass smog
And you’re basing that insight on what, exactly?
Out of state cars are smogged based on federal standards. It’s not a big deal as long as all of the original smog equipment is present and operational.
Steve R
These cars seem to be on the rise in value more than any other 70’s or 80’s cars….buy now while they are still affordable.
These are at the 30 year value peak. In terms of real value they will never be worth more than they are right now. They aren’t Hemi Cudas where only a couple thousand were made. They aren’t 67 Camaro’s where 10’s of thousands were made, either. They’re cool, but they peaked 18 months ago.
We’ll see. No they’re not Hemi Cudas, but that doesn’t mean it can’t go up anymore even if it has leveled off recently.
Hey Walrus…..while ROI, NPV, and other financial metrics can come into play, you’re disregarding the emotional value of recapturing the past, the joy of simply driving a legend, or perhaps the rebirth through the blood sweat & tears of a restoration.
Why does $23,500 seem way too high? $15-18K seems reasonable and the maximum worth of this car. I think folks need to stop believing there is a continual upward trend in prices. In ten years there will be a supply of these cars with very little demand.
One of the nicest ‘driver’ Trans Am I’ve seen. But the seller’s claim that it ‘drives like new’ is unlikely. I’m sure it’s a nice driver, but cars of this era just weren’t built like today’s cars. That, and with the years no doubt taking a toll on all the rubber suspension bushings, seat padding, plastic, etc., it probably ‘drives like a used car.’ I love it, and would love to have it, but I’m just sayin’.
Maybe when Burt Reynolds passes away, there will be an uptick in the price of these disco-era duds.
Shag haircuts, BeeGees 8-tracks, and platform soles all have the same appeal as this car.
A lot of people say that you have to look to the drier southern states to find a good rust free car, but I found it’s not always so. I travelled from California to Florida to Wisconsin last year looking for a good C4 Corvette to take home to Oz, and I discovered that all the cars that I looked at in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Alabama had been used as daily drivers and were high mileage cars. On the other hand most cars from the Northern states were only driven in Summer and were rust free and low mileage. I ended up buying a 1 owner 39K mile car in the Fall from a guy in Cleveland that had lost his Winter storage which prompted him to sell his car.
I couldn’t agree more Harry. I’ve also noticed garage kept summer use Northern states cars tend to have original rubber, leather, cloth, and plastics in much better condition than their dry climate counterparts.
True. But another big, cost covering swing would buck virtually every collector car trend ever seen. The guys who ‘had to have ’em’ have them now and are destined to lose value on their ‘investment’.
Fun story. Guess who owned a 455 Super Duty? Mrs. Bush, wife of George. George Senior. She sold it awhile back because the grandkids always wanted to ‘borrow,’ it and they’d argue over the car. So she sold it.
No a joke or BS
yabba dabba dooo!!!
@DR-I second the “crappy” Z/28 ITM shifter. I am replacing my ’81Z/28 ITM shifter with a complete factory ’79 T/A Hurst assembly I picked up many years ago.
almost as good as you can get for a 77 just needs 4 wheel disc brakes and the S/t-10 four speed. not a fan of T-Tops! price seems a little high but not much.
403 would be an Olds engine the 400 was only available with a standard.
Back in the mid 80’s, my late brother had a 76 TA in the same color combo as this one. It had a Pontiac 400 and a 4 speed. He bought it stock but soon pulled the 400, rebuilt it with some early 389 heads, (for higher compression,IIRC), swapped in an aftermarket cam, headers, aluminum intake and Holley 750 (both of which caused fitment issues with the shaker). It ran like a scalded dog. Just think if the original owner would have optioned the 455!
If a TA has the W72 Pontiac 400 engine, then the engine designations listed on the shaker scoop should be the “T/A 6.6”. If you have the L78 Pontiac 400, or the Oldsmobile 403 engine, then the shaker scoop engine designations should be the “6.6 Liter”.
Base L78 and Olds 403 had No Shaker decals in 1978 model year.
My grandmother turned 50 in 1973, & bought a white 1973 Trans An as a present to herself. Thereafter, she bought a new one every 3 or 4 years, always white, the last one being a 2000 model. Not long after, she had back surgery, & the TA gave way to a Buick Roadmaster.