As the 1970’s moved forward, sales of the Pontiac Trans Am improved every year. In 1976, Pontiac was just starting to hit its stride and Trans Am sales were up by 70%. This is the first year Pontiac offered the Trans Am in black which could be ordered on a regular Trans Am (like this one) or a Limited Edition Trans Am (LE). The Limited Edition Black and Gold Trans Am celebrated Pontiac’s 50th anniversary. This Trans Am is located in Chehalis, Washington south of Seattle. It is listed here on Craigslist for $37,000 and is said to be all original except for the aftermarket wheels. We appreciate Curvette finding this Trans Am. It has been listed for about 3 weeks.
Like the prior two years, Pontiac offered both the 400 cubic inch V8 engine and the 455 cubic inch V8 engine in 1976. This car is said to retain its original engine which was the standard offering in 1976. The L78 400 cubic inch V8 (Z code) engine was rated at 185 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque. This engine was available with either an automatic transmission or a 4-speed transmission. The optional engine was the L75 455 cubic inch V8 (W code), which was rated at 200 horsepower and 330 lb-ft of torque. This engine was only available with the 4 speed transmission. Most buyers chose the L78 400 cubic inch V8 engine with the automatic transmission. There were 5,424 4-speed L78 400 cubic inch V8 equipped Trans Ams and 7,528 Trans Ams with the 455 cubic inch V8 out of a total production number of 46,704 Trans Ams in 1976.
This car has the base black vinyl interior. It looks clean and original. The seller states that the car has 86,000 miles on the odometer. It appears that the car has air conditioning and possibly tilt steering but the listing does not say much. The aftermarket wheels look pretty good and the seller states that the original wheels come with the sale of the car. The car appears clean and the seller states that is looks amazing and there are no odors or rust.
The reason I like Trans Ams so much is that my older brother came home one day with a 1976 Trans Am. It was white with a charcoal and red bird. I was probably 13 years old and that car made a huge impression on me. I still remember sitting in the passenger seat watching the hood scoop shake when my brother revved the engine at idle. If you don’t own a Trans Am, this might be a good one. It is a little pricey but maybe worth it in this condition.
This isn’t a bad car, but the wheels/tire combination ruined its stance. It’s a combination of the car sitting too high and the tire is too short, leaving a large gap. It also doesn’t help that the Torq Thrust style of rim was out of fashion by the mid-1970’s. If the seller wanted aftermarket mag wheels a set of Dish/Slot or Vector mags would be more “period” correct.
As for the rest of the car, it looks nice, but lacks a lot of options, other than AC, which were common by that point in time. At $37,500 it’s going to be a tough sell. There is a lot of competition at that price.
Steve R
A set of 17″ Rally IIs or 17″ Honeycombs and this would be absolute aces in my book
Nice car and at least the original rims come with the car which should be put back on and throw those aftermarket ones away!!
I like the memory of you when you were 13 and sitting in the passenger seat of your brother’s Trans Am. Reminds me of when I was about 13 sitting in the passenger seat of my brother’s 1980 Turbo Trans Am. It was black with the 5 color red bird on the hood. Instead of memories of the scoop shaking (Turbos had the fixed off set scoop and eagle looking to the driver side with a large flame coming out of its mouth.) I have memories of when the turbo kicked in and I could hear the turbo whining and imagining it was the eagle on the hood screaming. Always thought his car was cool as it wasn’t the typical black/gold combo. He still has that car. Ah, the good old days.
Most high quality/high performance tires have either no 15″ options or very few, so your sort of stuck with at least a 17″ of one style or another if you want the safety, ride, and grip benefits of modern tire tech. My IROC has 17″ Michelin Pilot Sport all seasons on it. Good ride and treadwear, and amazing grip. No 15″ options. My 69 has 17″ g-force comp 2s, less elegant, but bite like a rabid dog. Also no 15″ options.
Any modern 235-60R-15 or even 215-65r-15 tires even from China are going to perform a lot better than the 225-70R-15 tires fitted to these cars in the 1970s. & they can be 5-10 pounds lighter in weight! Look on the walmart website. You can even find 13″ tires there.
I’ve got correct size $60 ea 225-55R-16 Linglong tires on my ’91 3000gt – light years better than the $175 ea Goodyear Gatorbacks those cars came with originally.
What’s wrong with jacked up rearends and mag wheels and better pipes? We buy the cars cause we have irreplaceable memories in the cars.we still use and enjoy these cars.thays how we set em up in the 50s 60s 70s 80s.why would we want any other way? You want museum cars.your not hotrodders you don’t know what that means.
hood as three turbo lights not 5
Hope they have the original rims. This looks hideous now – ruined the curb appeal. Looks like it doesn’t have an engine. Why the skinny tires? Like a fat guy wearing skinny jeans.
Wheels and tires are horrible on this car but no one makes a proper 15″ tire anymore and the choice in 16″ isn’t much. On the upside the body shell hasn’t been ruined with T-tops.
got to love the price guide photo shot. seller seems hopeful. yeah, good luck with that
Hi, In 75′ everybody still had fast ones! I stopped at Pontiac dealership, check out new 76. talked to salesman for a bit but I liked the Formula 400 better, had better looking gauge cluster etc. I looked it over. window sticker of….$ 6,000.38! black on black. I didn’t buy it cause no place for 68 400. don’t remember w/trans 76 had.