Black and gold Trans Ams are the most popular car at the auctions these days with prices exceeding $100,000. T.J. found this 1978 Pontiac Trans Am for sale with an asking price of $32,000. While it appears to not be one of the few Y84 Special Edition Trans Ams, it is painted and striped that way and has a 4 speed transmission. The Trans Am is listed here on Craigslist and is located in Thousand Oaks, California. It has been listed for about a week.
The deluxe black interior looks to be in nice driver’s condition. Interestingly, the seats are covered in red cloth material instead of black to match the rest of the car. As can be seen, the car has the upgraded door panels which came with the deluxe interior but the car does not have power windows, T-Tops or air conditioning. An aftermarket radio resides installed in the dash and the seller states that the dash has no cracks.
The ad states that this car has the highest performance engine available in 1978 which was the W72 400 cubic inch engine that came with either an automatic transmission or a 4 speed transmission. The W72 400 cubic inch V8 engine received new dual exhausts which increased its horsepower rating from 200 horsepower in 1977 to 220 horsepower in 1978. The other two engines available were the L78 400 cubic inch V8 engine and the L80 403 cubic inch V8 engine. The base engine was the L78 400 cubic inch V8 engine which was available only with an automatic transmission (GM Turbo Hydramatic 350 transmission). It was rated at 180 horsepower and 310 lb ft of torque. If you lived in California, your only option was the L80 403 cubic inch V8 engine also only with the Turbo 350 automatic transmission. It was rated at 185 horsepower.
Pontiac production of the Trans Am increased to 93,341 units in 1978 with only 12,665 being 4 speeds. This car rides on aftermarket aluminum wheels that look similar to the factory aluminum snowflake wheels. No exhaust tips are showing at the rear of the car in this picture. With a few subtle changes, this car could look even nicer than it is.
BJ, has this one got the 4wheel disc, and handling package ?
While WS6 suspension was introduced and available in ‘78, 4-wheel disc brakes didn’t come along until the ‘79 model year and only with the WS6 package. Late in the year, due to parts availability, a WS7 package with rear drums came out, identical to the ‘78 hardware.
Stan, ask the Seller.
Wouldn’t it have been cool if the Bandit drove a stick? Sticks always make a man look more manly.
…. well it is a “Z” code. Not my thing but it is a nice car! And a fair price
…. well it is a “Z” code. Not my thing but it is a nice car! And a fair price
Whoa! Those lipstick red seats got to go!
I agree. Lipstick red is meant for lips not seats. Especially in this car.
Well we know Burt could row a 4speed, he beat the everlivin daylights out of that brown Ltd in White Lightning!
It’s a buy because the lack of T-Tops…..
Fair enough Charl.
Some pics show it with 2nd gen WS6 Snowflakes and some show it with what look like 3rd gen Firebird wheels. Looks like a good buy (with the correct wheels, anyway).