old Trans Ams

[ving]

Pontiacs have been in the family for many years. Some good, like a 1973 Grand Am, and some not so good, like the T-1000. My favorite was dad's old 1977 Trans Am, like in the Smokey & The Bandit movies. Anyone else with a Pontiac past? http://www.78ta.com/international.htm http://my.execpc.com/~steveb/t....html

[noginsk]

A Smokey and the Bandit car is my dream car! Someday I'll get one and fix it up real nice...

[goodvibe]

My first car was a 67 Tempest with a 326 V8. Same body as the GTO from that time. Fun car.

[ving]

Great to hear. Apart from the Vibe I have also hung onto my 1985 Fiero V6. Something tells me Pontiac is going to be around for many years to come with cars like the Vibe and new GTO behind it.

[esjones]

I had a new 75 Blue Trans Am, White Interior... GREAT CAR! (No screaming chicken on the hood, though... that was WAY too Boy-Racer for me!)Then a 78 Sunbird Wagon, so-so, but a good commuter car and occasional hauler.88 Bonneville SSE that racked up over 200K miles, and now my 03 Vibe.

[savedbyzero]

Let's see, my family had a '78 Silver Trans Am, Brother-in-law had a Trans Am very much like the Smokey and the Bandit car, I had a Sunfire, and now the Vibe. But what I really NEED is a WS6!

[ving]

My Fiero SE has WS6, but I don't think that's the WS6 you want. I can imagine that blue 1975 Trans Am without the hoodbird decal, that would have been sweet indeed. From memory it would probably have had the L78 400. 455 motor was a mid year option. There was a white T/A with blue hoodbird decal in the Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges film Thunderbolt & Lightfoot, but I can't remember if it was a 1974, or a pre 5mph bumper car.

[red]

'67 GTO w/dual gate at shifter (very neat), '75 TA w/white interior/firethorn red exterior and rare rear seat console (should of kept it) , '83 Pontiac 6000 2dr coupe, '88 fiero formula w/white exterior and tan interior/mt (should of kept it) , '03 vibe awd w/frosty 2tone and black interior.........yeah, i might be a little biased towards pontiac

[AKLGT]

good to see you're still around red!

[esjones]

Quote, originally posted by ving » I can imagine that blue 1975 Trans Am without the hoodbird decal, that would have been sweet indeed. From memory it would probably have had the L78 400. 455 motor was a mid year option. Yep... 400 CID engine with the big "shaker" fake scoop on the air cleaner.

[JohnC]

Here is a picture of the second Pontiac I have owned, the first was a 37 coupe that I put a small block chevy and auto transmision in. A freind was restoring a 37 and needed body parts so I traded my 37 for this totaly restored/original 38 4-door. Kind looks like the Vibe's great gran daddy. Gotta love them knee-action shock absorbers!

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[NovaResource2]

My father was an original owner of a Marina Turquoise 1966 GTO. I came home from the hospital in that car. I owned a red 1993 Sunbird LE 3.1L V6 before the Vibe.Quote, originally posted by ving » My Fiero SE has WS6, but I don't think that's the WS6 you want.RPO-WS6 is a suspension package (sport springs, shocks and anti-sway bars, etc.). It's not a "Trans Am/Firebird only" option.

[ving]

The Hurst his & hers dual gate was way ahead of its time for automatic shifting, and everyone in 70s Firebird cicrcles wishes they could get the optional rear seat console. WS6 is certainly available on other lines, even on the Fiero in the 80s.

[RIT]

I believe the color was Meridian Turquiose - I owned a '68 GTO in that color! Awesome color. Unless the '66 was different - sort of a blue-green.

[Fformula88]

My favorite Pontiac has been my uncle's 79 Trans Am. He has had it since new and has been working on a restoration for a few years now. He also has pulled the motor and done some upgrading to it! Its one awesome car!I am also a huge fan of Fieros, with my current summer toy being an 88 Fiero Formula. I've had it for 7 years. Its interesting to get all the looks and comments about the car, and then really surprise people who don't know of the mid engine placement. Those people are generally people too young to really remember the Fiero! As for the WS6 suspension package on the Fiero, I believe it was on all V6 equipped cars, and all 4 cylinder cars with the SE package, although it might have been a stand alone package on 4 bangers. Depending on the model year makes a difference in exactly what upgrades it included, sometimes it added a rear anti roll bar (at least in 88) bigger tires (and wheels on 86.5+ GT's and 88 Formulas) springs, shocks/struts etc. Most people lately equate the WS6 package to the late model Trans Ams and Formulas with the ram air induction hood. Pontiac advertised their ram air package as the WS6 package, and even put a WS6 badge onto the back of these cars.

[ving]

I am no GTO expert, but wasn't the color "Reef" turquoise? It's funny you should bring up the 1979 T/A, I assume it was Olds 403 powered, most were. In 1977/78 the Olds 403/THM 350 power team was for Californian T/As, but in 1979 it became a 50 state power team. The thing is that when tested the 77s and 78s with the Olds 403 were much slower than the 1979 Olds 403 T/A, even though all three years had the same 185 bhp power rating. I think they tweaked up the 1979 version in terms of distrib timing etc. because it seemed to have more pep. Yes, WS6 (suspension/air induction) has been associated in recent times with the recently discontinued 4th gen Formula and T/A. I didn't buy my 1985 Fiero brand new so I don't know if WS6 was std. equipment or optional on it, but I do remember reading that WS6 was optional on the 1984 Iron Duke 4 cyl Fieros. The 1988 Fiero was a work of art, they improved the suspension hardware greatly, but as with all GM cars that are about to be axed they priced it very high, higher than a Trans Am.

[ColonelPanic]

There's still a few 88 Fiero GT's running around town... All those years later, I still think it's quite a slick car. Yep, GM enjoys killing off cars they finally got right. A friend of mine had an '86 with the 4-banger... I didn't ride in it much, it kinda scared me, being sooo low to the ground - especially when we took it out on the interstate. Looks like you could drive right under a semi trailer. lolAbout the GTO... Sadly, my uncle just sold his '69 Carousel Red Judge. No telling how much time and money he spent on that car, it sure was rough when he bought it. Only got to drive it once, but man... 400 with ram air, 4-speed... Yeah. That big spoiler on the back was cool too.

[Fformula88]

His 79 T/A does have the olds 403 and he hates it, mainly because there is a minimal aftermarket for it now, and he is very much into increasing its power. He has totally rebuilt it, and has a performance cam, performance pistons, valves, carb, and some other minor things in it. It was fast before, and is a screamer now, although the new cam is a little too aggressive and the thing just does not like to idle very well. It wants to GO. Its an awesome car.The Fieros pricing was creaping up a lot, but it wasn't just because it was getting axed. It was getting rather expensive for them to build it. It was the only car being made in the Pontiac Michigan plant, and it had its own dedicated platform. I think the new 88 suspension, although much better, helped kill it because of the engineering and production costs of the parts, since they were not shared with other GM vehicles like on the prior models. Basically it was costing a fortune to build it, so sticker prices had to go up.My Formula stickered for $13,250 (give or take a hundred bucks) in September 1987, which was a good amount of money for a car then. Its only option was the Formula package (included the V6 engine, the WS6 sport suspension, and a rear spoiler) an auto trans, AC and rear defroster. It was certainly not loaded. An 88 GT with all that, plus T-tops, power windows, locks, mirrors, leather, and a high end sound system would have been thousands more. It is low to the ground, and takes some getting used to, but the pay off in handling (no body lean!) is definately worth it. I try not to follow trucks and big SUV's since the nose would definately submarine them in an accident, but the car is also very sturdy and safe in an accident. I t-boned a station wagon that had spun out and came into my lane on the highway in an 87 4 banger Fiero going about 50 MPH a few years back. Turned the wagon into a horseshoe, while the Fiero suffered cosmetic damage to the front end, and damage to the first 3 inches of the frame rails which had to be pulled out. Otherwise the frame remained straight and solid, and I even got to drive it home (not even any damage to the radiator!)

[Reynoma]

I also really loved that "Smokey and the Bandit" T/A...one day I'll find one.The only other pontiac I've owned was a 1987 6000. The car was not all bad...it was pretty roomy.

[ving]

Yeah, the 403 was an Olds family car engine so it doesn't have the aftermarket support of a Chevy 350 or Pontiac 400. That said, back in 1979 the 403 T/A was valued highly because it was one of the few cars left that had some fire. It was quicker than the base L78 350 powered Corvette of the time, and had an edge on the 350 only Z/28 Camaros. I have vauge recollections of someone telling me about a stroker kit for the 403. Yes, earlier on when the Fiero was selling 100,000 cars a year and it used parts/hardware from the GM X body, it made financial sense. The custom suspension parts of the final year probably did put the nail in the coffin, and the market was quite depressed in the late 80s what with the Wall Street crash being recent. Book value for late 70s Trans Ams is in the 12-15k range, but it's rising given the rarity of the cars. As for GTO Judge, that's even higher still.