Pontiac was hitting its stride in 1978 and improved on its ever-popular Trans Am model by increasing horsepower and offering the Trans Am in some new exterior colors. This car is painted in Martinique Blue which is a stunning bright blue but it is not equipped with the higher horsepower W72 40 cubic inch V8 engine that was offered. This Trans Am is offered for sale here on eBay and there are 5 days remaining in the auction. The car is currently bid to $10,600 and has a Buy It Now Price of $28,000. The car is located in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Per the build sheet, this beauty left the factory with the base L78 400 cubic inch V8 engine which was rated from the factory at 180 horsepower. This engine was comparable in power to what Chevrolet offered in the Camaro Z28 but this car was equipped with highway-minded 2.56 rear gears so it would not keep up with a Z28 with 3.42 or 3.73 gears. For just $100 more, the buyer could have opted for the W72 400 cubic inch V8 engine which was rated at 220 horsepower and came with 3.23 or 3.42 rear gears. The seller has added chrome valve covers and done some engine work with new gaskets.
The deluxe interior looks to be in nice shape. The dash is cracked but the car has new carpet, door panels, headliner, and seat covers. The light blue vinyl interior was popular with buyers who chose Martinique Blue for the exterior color. This car is well-optioned with power windows, air conditioning, and an automatic transmission. You can see the 1980’s aftermarket stereo and cool equalizer mounted in the dash and console. I had a Marantz equalizer in my 1978 Trans Am in high school. It had cool lights that went up and down as I played 38 Special and AC/DC songs.
The exterior of the car looks nice and fairly factory. The car does not have the WS6 suspension option but the car has had some suspension upgrades as seen in the pictures in the eBay ad. The Trans Am is said to be repainted and has new tires. Check out the rear spoiler as someone notched it in the center. I am not sure of the purpose of that but to each his own. Hopefully, this car will find a good home.
Sad story Chester! Thankfully he pulled through. There is an alarming number of people who have multiple DUI’s. Unfortunately there will always be people who act irresponsibly and hurt others. I do commend those who made the mistake and used that as their wake-up call. I had a service advisor who did that! He found Christ and turned his life around. I picked him up for work for a year until he got his license back.
Moving on to the car. I like the color. I don’t know if the historical society has production numbers broken down by color but I imagine this is a low volume one. Definitely optioned out to be a cruiser and not a performer to the one who ordered it new. Wouldn’t take much to recoup those missing ponies and change the final drive if that’s what you fancy. Keep the original parts of course.
I’ll take the 2.56 highway gears every time. Turning like 3800 rpm at 80 mph isn’t my idea of a good time.
Based on performance, the W72 makes about 260 hp.
I special ordered a new 1978 Martinique Blue TA with the TA engine, WS6 handling package and 4 speed. The car arrived late and an incredible amount of the hardware was never tightened during assembly. The main shifter bolt backed out causing the shifter to fall off the tail shaft, the rear anti sway bar hardware fell off driving down the road, etc. The day I drove it home one of the radiator hoses blew off where the clamp was never tightened. The final straw was having the valve stem seals replaced (twice). Nothing like have a new car that smokes like a campfire. Very sad…
Blue is my color, like her lots and lots.
Beautiful car. Only year they used that color and it has always been my favorite