Muscle car buyers in the sixties and seventies often had to spend time doing some homework before visiting the dealer of their choice, as many models offered a fine variety of engine options to pick from. However, the only selection Trans Am customers had to make in ’71 was whether they wanted two pedals or three, as there was only one powerplant available. In this case, it’s probably better to just say thanks to Pontiac for deciding for you, as they chose a 455 HO V8 as the sole engine to equip all 2,116 of the Trans Am cars that rolled off the assembly line. Some great news is this 1971 Pontiac Trans here on Facebook Marketplace still has the numbers-matching component under the hood. This F-Body is in Bruce Township, Michigan, and can become your winter project for $30,000.
The seller calls his T/A a barn find and says it’s been in storage for the past 30 years. Color choices were limited to either white with blue stripes or blue with white stripes, with this one receiving the former treatment, and the owner confirming that the Pontiac is still wearing its original factory paint. There have been some touch-ups and the finish is nowhere near perfect, plus some amateur repairs have been attempted around the back glass. However, the body appears to be relatively solid overall, and mostly complete.
The carpet sort of reminds me of a pattern my mom chose for our living room back in the seventies, which she loved and my dad hated. When this one gets restored, it’ll be time for those threads to go and some fresh carpeting installed, but most of the interior seems to be in fairly good shape. We can see from the console that this Trans Am is one of the 1,231 built with an automatic transmission, and while I’d rather have the manual, this is one of those situations where I could probably learn to live with an automatic!
With a factory rating of 335 horsepower, the High Output 455 offered some serious performance capabilities, but the seller doesn’t give us any details here other than mentioning that the engine is still the numbers-matching factory unit. Having been out of commission for three decades, the motor will probably require a good going through, but this 1971 Pontiac Trans Am seems like a great candidate to invest some time and money into. What are your thoughts on this one?
Delicious tasty treat and a good price point to start a project.
Love the double whitewalls even though they look a bit odd on a T/A. Good car to get the mechanics sorted out and commence to ripping the blacktop.
Arent those HOs in demand? Price seems like… like someone would have bought this already.?
There are signs it’s got a fair amount of rust, the asking price, $30,000 is a significant amount of money, to the point this cars asking price needs to be justified by its condition. This is the type of car potential buyers are willing to travel to look at, sooner or later someone is likely to act if it’s as described in the ad.
Steve R