Every once in a while, we locate a garage find that is unmolested and, besides the deterioration of time, is close to original. This 1977 Pontiac Trans Am is located in Diana, Texas. It was purchased at an equipment auction in Arkansas. The Trans Am is believed to have been purchased by a Ms. Faulkner in 1977 when she was 46 years old. Now, at 89 years old, the car has gone through two owners who have fixed a few issues to make the car driveable. The Trans Am is Brentwood Brown and listed here on eBay. The auction has 5 days remaining and the bids have reached $11,470.
There were two engine options for most buyers in 1977. The L78 400 cubic inch V8 engine was still standard and produced 180 horsepower. That is what this car is equipped with. The Pontiac 455 cubic inch V8 was gone and in its place was the W72 400 cubic inch V8 that was rated at 200 horsepower. In California, emissions restricted the sale of the Pontiac 400 so all Trans Ams in California were equipped with the Oldsmobile 403 cubic inch V8 engine rated at 185 horsepower.
This 1977 Trans Am was ordred with several otpions including the deluxe interior, automatic transmission, tilt steering and air conditioning. The Trans Am’s interior is very faded and the carpet is trashed. If the interior is not brittle, most of the parts can be redyed to a tan or camel to bring them back to life. This car has not been registered since 1996 and will need new tires. The prior owner rebuilt the brakes and put new spark plugs and wires in it. The odometer reads 52,981.
Out of the 155,735 Firebirds produced in 1977, 68,744 were Trans Ams. Of course, this is the year that Smokey and the Bandit was released at the theaters and the movie was ranked #2 behind Star Wars. It was also the year that the Special Edition (black with gold pinstripes) made its debut after the 1976 Limited Edition Trans Am was produced in 1976.
I think this is a 403 car.
The shaker scoop should say T/A 6.6 if it was a 400. The 403 cars say 6.6 Litre.
No oil filler in front. This is not an Olds engine.
T/A 6.6 would be for W72 cars. This is indeed a base L78 400 Pontiac.
Lots of rust at the base of the rear window, which over time starts dripping onto the trunk floor where it is then trapped under the rubberized trunk mat until the trunk floor rusts through. There are signs of rust on some metal pieces in the interior and what looks like remnants of standing water in the passenger side footwell. It would be unwise to purchase this car without a thorough in person inspection.
Steve R
“Unmolested Time Capsule” ?
That drivers seat has seen some pretty hard time.
I need to resolve to quit reading comments in the fb post section. Kids(under 40)calling these “junk” and anything not making 400hp and who dont get why folks love these old F Bodies or really anything before fhe days of 8-10spd trannys and twin turbos. . Its not to race. Its not to hit 60 in 4.1 seconds or less. Its to relive a time and attain a feeling they couldnt afford when these were new. Maybe some day they will “get”it. I doubt it though
Just remember most of those kids are driving mommy’s Honda with some pop pop exhaust and think think they have a muscle car…
& almost all are ugly old all lookalike 4 doors with cloudy headlights with no time to(cause they are on their paid-for-by-mom smart phone all waking hours) wash, let alone wax or even know how to change the car’s oil & coolant.
it isn’t. The fifth digit of the VIN is a Z, which stands for the 180 HP L78 Pontiac 400. If it was a 403, that’d be a K and there’d be an oil filler tube at the front of the engine.
I had a ’79 with the 403. By then, the 403 was standard on all automatic TAs. In 1977, it was California only, so there weren’t a lot of them built. Only about 5,000.
The shaker scoop should say T/A 6.6 if it was a 400. The 403 cars say 6.6 Litre. If your info is correct TinInday, then something doesn’t add up to this “Unmolested Time Capsule”
The VIN is in the description, that will tell you what engine the car came with. Decals don’t verify anything.
The pictures of the engine which make it pretty clear it’s a Pontiac engine, but checking the VIN proves it.
Steve R
I thought only men had midlife crisises. At 46, I would have bought something more sensible, maybe a nice Caprice with a trusty 305.
My 85 Caprice 2dr, 305w/overdrive was one of the best cars I ever owned. Best fuel range over anything I’ve owned before or since. I really miss that car..
That seat needs more than dye, looks like something died in it!
Meh. There’s still many affordable nice ones out there to consider, instead of this. Restoration costs have gone through the roof, surely this will reflect the market value of some fixer-uppers one day. We’ve learned, always buy the best condition car you can.
You are right. Buy the best car you can afford, be flexible, patient and persistent something will turn up.
More than a few people on this site like to talk about and predict a collapse in the “collector” car market. If and when it occurs, cars like this, desirable cars that need lots of restoration work, as well as generic cars that don’t have a strong following will drop like a rock. Well preserved/restored muscle/performance cars, which have been sought after since the day they were built will always retain value.
Steve R
The point of this car at this time is different.
A Trans Am isn’t about jumping a bridge. It is about going for a ride with your kids after they watched Smokey and the Bandit and they think Trans Am’s are invincible.
They will think this car is a rocket ship and you are John Glenn or Burt Reynolds when driving it. That is why you buy this car. So when your kids are older, they remember their dad as the astronaut and hero and not the schmuck who worked to pay bills.
IMO, whitewalls do not look good at all on a 2nd gen t/a. Even the ultra thin ones offered on ’73s for maybe 6 months were a flop .
Back then we had JC Whitney and Cal Custom around to really customize a car with all kinds of unwanted and unnecessary doodads like chrome valve covers, colored plug wires, chrome door lock extensions and those plug into your distributor coil wire fake power booster things that were cheap to buy.