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
…asking anyone who is more familiar with these motors, isn’t that quoted 335 bhp possibly understated by the factory (to appease Insurance companies) or was this engine already being detuned a little, lower compression, softer cams? by 1971
Mainly compression. These engines share very little with other production Pontiac engines, the cylinder ports are different, they have an aluminum intake with separate heat riser, more aggressive cam and 4 bolt main block, they were more closely related to the Ram Air IV than to the 455 powering someone’s Catalina or station wagon. If you Google Pontiac 455HO it’s not hard to find a breakdown of this engine. Pontiac chose to use the 455HO name a few years later which diluted the name and caused confusion about how special the 71-72 engines really are.
Steve R
The HO455 is a great engine. I have a 1971 automatic and when I bought it there were time slips in the glove box in the high 13 second range. Very underrated in my opinion and a great driving car.
Another rust belt beauty. Too bad. A good friend bought one of these new in Idaho. Still has it. The car has 42k miles on it. He has a standing cash offer of $80k. He still has it. They truly are underrated. The only single downside is that you have to replace the door hinges ahead of most other cars. These doors are heavy due to the length. I always love the look of the machine jeweled dash. IMHO, this owner is asking more than I would feel comfortable to part with.
Made worse when cool people lean on them when their open.
Much like the 73-74 SD 455 Trans Am.These were low in production numbers.A $30k asking price may not be far off.When restored it would only gain value from here…..
I’d expect to find plenty of Michigan crispiness under the custom flares ahead of, and behind the wheel arches, but who knows?
We wonder what’s wrong here, expected it gone by now.
U R a funny man. 🤣😎👍
How much is it worth restored,might be better to just buy a good one.
$60-80k. In that vicinity. It all depends on a myriad of issues and options.
They are worth what someone will pay for them.