Years from now, we’ll probably cringe when we learn someone took the drivetrain out of a Challenger Hellcat and dropped it into a Fox Body, or some other lesser sports car. The same sense of remorse comes through on this listing for a 1979 Pontiac Trans Am WS6, which swapped its heart with a 1974 Trans Am SD when both cars were young. Find it here on eBay with damage evident from a warehouse collapse wherein the Pontiac was unfortunately stored at the time.
The seller seems to acknowledge that ditching a genuine Trans Am SD for the later car wasn’t the wisest move, but given the popularity of a ’79 at the time, it likely made sense to a young driver. The good news is the desirable 455 engine remains with the Trans Am, and the seller notes that several upgrades performed at the time of the build are intact as well: “The motor was balanced and blueprinted by Pierre Mansure of Mansure Machine in Brookyln. It has a Nunzi cam. Nunzi also set up the carb.” The seller notes the engine was bored out at the same time and the original pistons are included.
The Trans Am by itself was a desirable spec, with the WS6 suspension package and a four-speed manual from the factory. The seller says recorded mileage is low, with 20,000 on the body and approximately 60,000 on the 455. The photos aren’t great as it’s currently stored in a trailer (which is for sale separately) and the seller says he’ll get better pictures posted soon, as he’s in the New York metro area and the Trans Am is stored in the Catskills upstate. Many of the removed original parts are still with the seller, including the factory A/C.
Here’s some of the damage, which is just behind the above photo on the T-Top roof; the hood is also damaged but the Shaker escaped unscathed. This is an interesting project, as the low body mileage would almost certainly warrant the repairs necessitated by the building collapse, and the desirable 455 engine should really stay with the Trans Am given its long tenure in the “mutant”, as the seller describes his project. And if you do buy it, you must find a set of period-correct Cibie fog lights to mount up front, because they look the business.
Nice write up and as I scrolled thru to see comments there was an ad for prefab garages with the article about a warehouse collapse on the car !! Gee what a coincidence….
20k? 4 days to go? Wow. Body work, paint, will the tranny handle the 74 SD POWER (snicker). Dunno looks like a low mile TA with that interior. That roof though…. Probably easier to buy one done. I mean if it was a 71 SD, I could see the money.
Replacing the T-Top roof panel is a fairly easy and straight forward process,you just need a donor car, anything from a 6cyl Firebird Esprit up to a Trans Am… After welding the roof back on, all you need to do would be matching the paint of the new roof section to the rest of the body paint… This swap is popular for converting non T-Top cars to T-Top cars…
Not sure of the exact numbers, but the SD 455 was built in very limited amounts (somewhere around 1000 IIRC). For its time, the SD 455 was extremely powerful….almost what the 68-70 muscle engines were. The bone stock SD 455 74 Firebird on loan to Super Stock Magazine from a private owner ran 14.25 @ 101 with automatic, a/c, & 3.08 gears. 3.50 gears and some tuning would have put it in the high 13’s in the 1/4. It was rated at 290 hp @ 4000 rpm, but would turn 5700. All the magazines of the day felt it was very underrated. It was Pontiacs last ditch effort at an American muscle engine in a time when the future looked very bleak.
The official number was 1296 SD 455’s. Wouldn’t it be cool if that engine could get reunited with its chassis?
Interesting
No such thing as a 71 SD, SD’s were only available in 73-74
Your better off making it a convertible now. Thats very hard to fix and make the t-top fit correctly again. Id also go ahead with the 455.
Drew V. – or vice versa.
P.S. Nunzi is the King of all thing Pontiac!!!
Trashed a SD. Putting that SD motor into a non SD car? Why not sell the 455 SD to someone that has one and wants to deal with the cost due to the rarity and get yourself a W72 with some work and use the rest of the money on the bodywork etc.
Good point. I bet somebody’s out there looking for a correct date-coded block who’ll hand over a blank check.
Indeed, with the prices SD’s are fetching nowadays, get the vin off it, and post it on the SD Registry.
I’ve never owned a Pontiac but my research tells me this car would be much faster if the engine where setting a few feet further back.
Lab3
I’m a bit slow, but it finally dawned on me what you were talking about. That was hilarious.
Shenanigans. 20K for a car that needs a new top, quarter, hood, and paint without the original engine? The bidding on this one to me smells funny.
If I am wrong, please enlighten me, as I am both confused and sure that I am not wrong…unsure if right?
The money is chasing the engine, not the car.
Steve R
Thanks Steve. So, free parts car with purchase of motor. Starting to get it now!
car is really located between the twilight zone and DS9.
due to star fleet regs, car cannot be transported across
the neutral zone. call Quark at Ferengi-br549
Whoa, I think you might be interested in this 2375 Delta Flyer rebuilt title, slighty modified with a burnt out chrono deflector. Gold pressed latinum talks BS walks
Is the transmogrifier functional
this dude is high……not just the price.
There is a real SD Trans Am not 3 miles from me that is missing it’s original engine.
He has been looking for an original engine for years…
I bet it gets. Good mpg with the engine in front 🙄
Nrg8, i’ll see your delta flyer and raise you a
Cardassian re-po Reliant with a cloaking device!
I see that the Romulan Ale has been flowing like water here…
Watch it when tossing foxbody’s under the bus as being a “lesser” sports cars. Only time will tell how popular those Hellcats will be in 25-30 years, but we all know the importance of the foxbody Mustang on Ford and the aftermarket in general. Shame on you for that statement.
People are already putting Hellcat engines in all kinds of cars as you can buy a complete engine from the factory.
I agree with finding the right home for that motor. As for the car that roof repair isn’t that difficult to do. Donor car would give you everything you need including a motor to put back in. Lots of rusty ones out there with good roofs.
Great engine, too bad so few of ’em were built. Pontiac must have lost a fortune on that idea with all the certifying and re-certifying.
Would be more interesting for me if it was installed in an older gto, but it really belongs in a legitimate super duty Trans Am or Formula.
No such thing as a 71 SD, SD’s were only available in 73-74