This 1978 Pontiac Trans Am is located in McCalla, Alabama. The eBay ad says the owner has only had it for one year so I am not sure why he or she is selling it but it is said to be a Y88 Special Edition. These cars could only be ordered from November 1977 to February 1978. Instead of black (Code 19) and gold stripes for the usual special edition, the Y88 was painted gold (Code 50) with black stripes. GM had trouble with the gold paint so they were discontinued. This car is listed here on eBay with three days remaining in the auction. It is currently bid to $27,100. One key feature that indicates a Y88 Trans Am is the steering column is painted camel tan on a Y88 Gold Special Edition, while a regular gold Trans Am had a black steering column.
There were three engine options for the Trans Am in 1978 depending on where you lived and ordered the car. The base engine was a L78 400 cubic inch V8 engine which was available with an automatic transmission. It was rated at 180 horsepower. If you lived in California, your only option was the L80 403 cubic inch V8 engine also only available with the GM Turbo Hydramatic 350 automatic transmission. It was rated at 185 horsepower. The performance option was the W72 400 cubic inch V8 engine that received new dual exhausts which increased its horsepower rating from 200 horsepower in 1977 to 220 horsepower in 1978. It was available with either an automatic transmission or a Borg Warner T-10 4 speed manual transmission.
The camel vinyl interior in this 1978 Pontiac Trans Am looks to be in excellent shape. It has the standard interior and is not optioned with the deluxe interior. I have a 1978 Chesterfield Brown Trans Am with this exact interior. The seats are adequate and hold you in place pretty well. The dash on this Y88 Trans Am is not cracked and all the plastic and vinyl surfaces appear to be in excellent shape.
This example is reported to have 84,000 miles. It is equipped with 15×8 aluminum snowflake wheels. If these are the wheels that came from the factory, it indicates that the car has the WS6 handling package. The seller states that all the lights and gauges work well. He or she also has the original build sheet that can be provided on request. This car is in excellent shape and should bring mid $30’s before the auction is complete.
Since the seller knows the Y88 option code, it’s safe to assume he knows the W72 code, also, and therefore safe to assume this is not a W72 car. Still a very desirable, collectible, and rare Trans Am, though.
The hot model w the 400 and 4spd were the cats 🐈 meow for ’78
I thought the 76 through 78 TAs had ugly bumpers. The 75 and previous and the 79 and later looked much better. The interiors of all of the TAs was great. The performance was OK.
I like the car and love the color but why do these gold T/As usually seem to look dingy?
It’s the color, I had one and it just never popped, the wheels on this one need polished and repainted, that would help a lot.
There was another engine option. The 301 cu in (4.9 liter)rated at 170 net horse power with either an automatic or 4-speed Borg Warner transmission in all states expect California. I tried to buy one but couldn’t swing the financing. It was Gold with the black stripes. I think the shaker said (T/A 4.9). In 1978 that engine was only available with the 4-speed. In 1980 all Trans Am’s had Automatics. In 1981 a 4-speed was offered but only with a 145 net horse power 305 (5.0 liter) Chevrolet small block. I never understood why they didn’t use the 350 (5.7 liter) Chevrolet instead.
WOW what a beautiful display of gold. Normally not into it but a Trans Am is always gold with me. Thanks to Smokey and The Bandit movies I’ve always wanted one but it’s a dream and not in my price range. Still love it🤘🏻
I had a Gold 78 with the Y88 and W72 4speed with a deluxe interior, sold it to a guy in Minnesota around 1988 or 89, I wonder if it’s still around.
This is a really nice example. It appears to be the base interior but super clean with nice original radio and beautiful dash and bezel. My Y88 I currently own is a W72 WS6 auto very nice but not as original as this one. Going to track this one to see where it ends up. GLWTS.