The Last Stand: 1976 Pontiac Trans Am

In the history of American muscle, 1976 is often dismissed as a “malaise era” afterthought—a time of strangulating emissions, plummeting compression ratios, and the slow death of performance. But for the Pontiac Trans Am, 1976 wasn’t a funeral; it was a coronation. This model year represents a critical demarcation line in F-Body history: the final stand of the 455 cubic inch era and the birth of the pop-culture icon that would define the late 1970s. This 1976 Pontiac Trans Am is a frame off restoration example located in Wilseyville, California in the Sierra Foothills. It is listed here on Craigslist for a handsome price of $63,000. The car has been posted for sale for just over two weeks. The seller states that he or she has owned the car since 1980 and spent 5 years restoring it.

The listing boasts a “Frame-off restoration” with “every nut, bolt, washer, and screw sandblasted and painted.” While “restored” is a subjective term on Craigslist, the specific details provided—such as the “Original Space Saver Tire” and “New Honeycomb Rims in GM Boxes”—suggest an owner obsessed with OEM correctness. Those NOS (New Old Stock) Honeycomb wheels alone are worth thousands of dollars and are nearly impossible to find. The mentioned “cons” (replaced carpet and headliner) are negligible maintenance items that do not detract from the car’s investment grade.

The headline for 1976 was the swan song of the 455-cubic-inch V8. While other manufacturers had long since abandoned their high-displacement engines—Chevrolet killed the 454 in the Camaro years prior, and Mopar’s 440 was a shadow of its former self—Pontiac engineers stubbornly kept the 455 alive for one last brawl. Rated at a modest 200 net horsepower, the L75 455 was undoubtedly a far cry from the 370-hp monsters of 1970. However, paper numbers tell only half the story. The 455 still churned out a massive 330 lb ft of torque at a useful 2,000 rpm. On the street, this translated to effortless, tire-shredding thrust that made the Trans Am feel significantly faster than its smog-choked contemporaries. Considering other muscle car options in 1976, the Trans Am offered the kind of visceral, low-end grunt that other manufacturers simply couldn’t match. You could only order a 1976 Trans Am with a 455 and a 4 speed manual transmission. The fact that this car presents with the correct Borg-Warner Super T-10 4 speed lends immediate credibility to its authenticity. Out of 46,701 Trans Ams produced in 1976, only 7,099 were built with the L75 455 engine.

Unlike Chevrolets of this era, which are notoriously difficult to authenticate, Pontiacs have the Pontiac Historical Service (PHS). A PHS packet will include a copy of the original factory invoice. You are looking for the engine code L75 and the transmission code M21 (4-speed). Furthermore, the VIN on the dash must have a “W” in the fifth digit (e.g., 2W87W6…). If the VIN has a “Z” or “S,” it was born a 400 car, and the value is halved. Whoever buys this car will own the final chapter of the massive-displacement Pontiac V8 story, wrapped in a restored package that is ready to appreciate.