In 1980, Pontiac hired Tanya Tucker to promote the new Turbo Trans Am. Tanya was in her early 20’s and headed to legendary status in the country music world. In the promotional video, I Dream of Jeannie star Bill Daily crashes into her recording studio and Tanya sings “King of the Road” while Bill tells viewers that these cars are indestructible. Well, this is not the car from the commercial. It is a 1981 model of the Pontiac Turbo Trans Am but looks a lot like the Turbo Trans Am used in the prior year commercial. It is Starlight black with gold decals and a tan interior. However, it is not a Y84 Special Edition like the 1980 Turbo Trans Am in the commercial. This car is located in Addison, Illinois and is listed here on eBay. The seller has listed the car at a Buy It Now Price of $24,914 and there is an option to Make An Offer. There are 3 days remaining in the listing.
Turbochargers had been used in US production cars off and on for many years but Pontiac was one of the first to turbocharge a V8. It was available only in the 1980-1981 Firebird Trans Am and Formula and the turbocharged V8 engine was designated LU8. The turbo 301 cubic inch V8 engine (4.9 liter) was rated at 210 horsepower in 1980 and 200 horsepower in 1981. The LU8 was equipped with a Garrett TB305 turbo and a Rochester Quadrajet 4-barrel carburetor.
The tan interior on this car looks to be in good shape. It has the standard seating instead of the optional deluxe seats and door panels. The car does not have a lot of power options but does have air conditioning and T-Tops. All turbo 301 cubic inch V8 engines were backed by a GM Turbo 350 automatic transmission. Dyno tests by individuals showed that the factory horsepower rating was optimistic and the cars actually generated only about 170 horsepower. The non boosted 301 cubic inch V8 engine was rated at 155 horsepower with a 4 barrel carburetor in 1981.
There is a company in Kenosha, Wisconsin called TTA Performance that specializes in improving the power output of these special cars. They do engine work on Turbo Trans Ams and sells parts including water injection for these cars so that the turbos can be adjusted to safely build up to 14 psi of boost. This car looks clean from the pictures and is equipped with the “turbo” style wheels which came with the WS6 special performance handling package.
Great write-up, Bruce.
This would have been a nice one to buy if you wanted a Turbo T/A.
Too bad the seller ended the auction already.
“Going Nowhere and Gettin’ There Fast”, kinda like Tanya and Don Johnson!
The TTA Performance Street Driven Turbo 301 T/A has run a 12 sec. 1/4 mile – upgrades include using stock parts – 301 T block – bigger turbine in stock Turbo housing – Sniper FI – Ethanol – Direct outside air from the Turbo hood – 2500 stall with just the stock 3.08 rear gears etc. :)
For fuel it is E85 – 85 % Ethanol 15 % gas :)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JcvbzE7r7DM
Though I’m not a particularly big fan of the 301 you can definitely modify these turbos for good power. I would just make sure the t-tops are original. I’m in the tiny minority of F-body fans who don’t like t-tops, so people took the Sawzall to a lot of T/As that didn’t originally come with them and wedged aftermarket tops on them, of varying quality. You can even buy entire replacement roofs to convert to t-tops. So just make sure it’s an original CC1 car
Ended: Jan 29, 2022 , 9:57AM
Price: US $24,914.00
Located in:Addison, Illinois
NOT SOLD, at least not via EBay, so no way to know what has happened to it.
“This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available.”
Great car great video great voice
The younger mullet version of me was not impressed by the turbo 301 when i first tried it at 20
But 40 years later , i would like a second chance with the modified TTA version of this
4 to 5 hundred horses really wakes up a car and driver …
Lets go truckers for freedom
I’m not so sure about the car, but I sure love those pants Tanya is wearing!
I worked at a Pontiac/Cadillac dealer when these came out, what a dog. Beautiful cars but they should have used another motor in them