The second generation Trans Am was built from 1970 to 1981. This 1980 Trans Am is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico and is definitely a project that has been sitting a while. The seller is asking $6,500 and has owned it for 25 years. The original engine has been replaced with a Pontiac 400 cubic inch V8 engine which was not available after 1979. This Trans Am has been listed for 6 days. It is painted black and has a white deluxe interior. Total production for the Trans Am was down from 117,108 in 1979 to 50,896 in 1980.
The famous Pontiac 400 cubic inch V8 engine which had been available since the Trans Ams inception was gone. The base engine for the Trans Am was now the 301 cubic inch V8 engine that was rated at 155 horsepower. Pontiac tried to keep performance alive by offering a turbocharged 301 cubic inch V8 engine in the 1980-1981 Firebird Trans Am and Formula. The turbo 301 cubic inch V8 engine (4.9 liter) was rated at 210 horsepower in 1980 and 200 horsepower in 1981. It was designated as the LU8 and had a Garrett TB305 turbo and a Rochester Quadrajet 4-barrel carburetor. The seller states that the engine in this car is good and is backed by an automatic transmission. There is not much more information other than it is a Pontiac 400 cubic inch V8 engine.
The interior is in bad shape and will need new foam and seat covers for the seats. The dash is cracked and much of the trim and other major items like the door panels are missing. The ad mentions some new parts but you will need to call the seller to find out what those parts are and their condition. The seller states that the paint job is decent and the car is equipped with T-Tops, power windows and air conditioning. While the car is black, there is no mention that it might be a Special Edition (SE) car and there are no gold bezels on the dash or shifter to indicate that the car was an SE.
While dusty, the car looks like a good project and no visible rust is shown in the pictures. This 1980 Trans Am is listed here on Craigslist. The seller mentions that the original wheels are gone but a later set of Trans Am wheels are available. All in all, this looks like a reasonably priced project car that would look great when it is finished.
Great front end 👌
I’m hoping you are being sarcastic. It’s too bad the ’79-81 firebird front nose isn’t the 1st part to go on these.
Of course, the cracking ’70-73 firebird endura nose is. & still no one makes new repro bumper brackets to support the endura nose..
Hard to see a project worth $6,500 sitting there.
Steve R
I know these are appreciating like crazy, but I wouldn’t offer more than $3k for this WITH all the missing parts in the photos included, new parts included, and the later set of trans am wheels included. More pricing based on what it was rather than what it is now.