1979 Trans Am with 65 original miles?

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted By: Jimmy9190
This is kind of hard to believe..

http://www.thedrive.com/sheetmetal/14988...miles-since-new


Believe it? Sure why not, people do funny things. There has to be more to the story of this family though, this is obviously not normal teenage boy behavior.

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
Does it come with a Gas Station?

Nice car but man it wouldn't be cheap to run with that engine.


WHY? These weren't any harder on gas than a new full size 3/4 ton pickup does today, 40 years later.

I dropped a 403 in a 1979 Olds Cutlass that had a 260 Olds engine in it. The car got 19-22 MPG. (very tall rear gears)

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
But not 100% Poncho...the 403 is an Oldsmobile engine; one of Pontiac's "better" ideas.
403 was junk. Could not touch a poncho 400 in a race.


You are IGNORING a ton of other factors, The changes that happened from 78 to 79 were a lot more then just the engine.

 

[Kira]

I love to hear about cars like these. I also love the inevitable discussions about year-to-year option changes 'back then".

A garaged gem of a car???...Why not? I never got into them either but that car and paint job is simply "of interest" (to many, no less).

OBVIOUSLY the seller is trying to capitalize on "Smokey freaks", Burt Renyolds fans etc.

I would LOVE to read the 2 page sticker though.

Maybe that Ohio company which makes Batmobile copies will branch out and recreate these.

 

[Panzerman]

I would buy this car in a hot minute if I was a millionaire and car collector.
I even thought the asking price was low.
Shame though he could have enjoyed the car probably would have landed him chicks galore. Memories would have been worth more than the $140,000 he won't even be ending up with.
I see it all the time though people buy nice cars and don't drive them. It's only a car, you like it, you bought it have fun in it. Next year's model will be even nicer. As a guy that got a new truck every 5 years, no matter how nice the old truck was, the new truck was nicer and handled better and had more power etc.
A true shame would be if a network buys it and gives it to some garage like Gas Monkeys that gut the trunk put in bass players, redo the suspension and put 20" wheels on it. That makes me sick.
The best part is how the old cars did handle and ride, that's how you relive your youth. They don't get that.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: SeaJay
Originally Posted By: maxdustington

The fact that he ordered it from the factory with an auto trans is harder for me to understand.


Some people would rather not shift. It was still a quick car with the auto tranny.
was not very quick with a 403 and 2.56 gears .

 

[BAJA_05]

One of my best friends had the same exact car growing up with under 10,000 original miles that his Dad gave him for a graduation present. It had the 6.6L 400 cubic inch motor & automatic trans. Long story short, at that time my first car was a 72 Grand Prix 400 4barrel with the Turbo 400 trans. Dad bought if for me with 72 thousand original miles from a co-worker for my birthday. As soon as I got it, I replaced the factory duals with flow masters paired with Hedman headers. Getting to my point, my buddy & I raced one nite from light to light for a good mile straight road & I BLEW his doors off of that Trans Am. He ended up selling the Trans Am & buying a brand new Honda Civic & I ended up losing my car to neighbor hood punks when having it parked up at my Grand Mothers house back on her 3 acre property -- they threw bricks through all the windows & trashed the interior. I wish I would have kept the car & restored it. Goooooo Pontiac 400 motors all day!!!

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Just as a point of reference, if a Dow tracking fund had existed in the '78-'79 time frame and one had invested $10,000 in it, the investment would be worth something like $250,000 today.
And, you wouldn't have been tying up garage space all that time... ;^)

 

[ATex7239]

I know a family friend who did this same thing with almost the same car.

It's was a white '77, if I recall correctly. He had more miles but probably less than 25K.

It was the early 90's, I was kid, and I thought it was cool as [censored].

He died about ten years ago with no kids. Wonder who got the car and the gobs of money he had... sure wasn't me.

That car was so cherry. It looked like it came right off the show room floor.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
But not 100% Poncho...the 403 is an Oldsmobile engine; one of Pontiac's "better" ideas.
403 was junk. Could not touch a poncho 400 in a race.
You are IGNORING a ton of other factors, The changes that happened from 78 to 79 were a lot more then just the engine.
The biggest changes happened from 1979 to 1980 when a 4.9L (301CID) was introduced ('79 was the last year of the "real" V-8) and the 2.41 or 2.29 gearing was the "standard". I owned a '78 (400CID) and a '80 and the '80 model could not get out of its own way. I dropped a 455CID, Doug Nash 5 speed, 3.08 gears in the '80 model and then it was worthy of the Trans Am moniker.

 

[BigD1]

I had a 78 and a 79. The 79 did have a good bit of torque from the factory. I had the Olds 403 in the 79 built by a local speed shop, and it was beastly, and it looked hot! In a straight line it hooked up real good. Turn the wheel slightly, and it would let loose with double striped figure eights. Wrapped it around a tree, and that was the end of it.

 

[blupupher]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
...

The original buyer ended up passing away from cancer and never enjoyed driving the car. Think I'd rather use and enjoy it instead of just letting it sit regardless of how much it could be worth in the future.

That is what I was thinking. Never got to enjoy the car.
You see several post above that owned one, drove it, and enjoyed it.
This guy bought it as an investment and never saw the return on that investment.

 

[CT8]

I would rather have a new Mustang, Camaro or Challenger.

 

[gman2304]

One of the few 70’s cars that have appreciated in value. This is an investment/museum grade TA, and should never be driven.

 

[HM12460]

Very nice car. My thought's echo the sentiment of a few other poster's. Car's like that were meant to be driven and enjoyed. Don't ever be a servant to a car, let the car serve you. A cherry 4th generation F body or even a 3rd generation would be more desirable.

 

[Panzerman]

Interesting tidbit of information. They actually played a sound track of a Dodge Hemi for the Trans Am sound effects in Smokey and the Bandit.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Jimmy9190 - Thanks for posting the story. Much appreciated.

I thought it was a good story, I guess it is true but I can not see how he kept himself from driving the car. He had more willpower than I do, that is for sure.

I have always loved the 1970s and early 80s Trans Am. Camaro and Z/28 too but the Trans Am is my all-time favorite. A guy in my high school had a 1980 TA. It was gold with tan interior and the black screaming chicken on the hood. I drooled over that car every time I saw it.

A good friend from my school bought a white TA while he was in the Army. I think it was a 78 or 79. He ragged it out pretty badly, did not take good care of it. I remember one night we were going about 60 down the interstate and the engine started sounding bad and he said "I betcha I am out of oil". He bought a few quarts at a store and kept on driving.

The bad thing about 2nd gen F bodies was the trunk was not as wide as the rear deck. Made it a real pain for a tall guy like me to get in the trunk to put new speakers in the deck. Once you did install good speakers and a high powered radio maybe with a nice amplifier you could get really good sound out of it. No fun cutting the dash for a cd player though.

I remember guys joking that the TA would pick up an extra second in the quarter mile after you removed the separate factory 8 track player. Darn thing must have weighed 15 pounds...

 

[i_hate_autofraud]

The leak stain at the rad, should have been wiped clean, I'd devalue it $10K for that LOL...

Seriously though, 40 yrs old coolant in an engine, rad and heater core spells corrosion because of time
more then mileage!

Old oil with 65 miles is no big deal, is it black or amber? Should be amber if the 65 miles is true.
Was it stored in a heated garage?

If you store a car in a 'non-condensing' environment with fairly steady temperature, surface
corrosion slows right down! .......My livingroom perhaps!

 

[aquariuscsm]

Who in the world buys this sweet car and doesn't drive it?? Only to stare at it,leaving it in mint condition for the next owner. Life is short and you only live once,drive that car and enjoy it!

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: Jimmy9190
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Jimmy9190 - Thanks for posting the story. Much appreciated.

I thought it was a good story, I guess it is true but I can not see how he kept himself from driving the car. He had more willpower than I do, that is for sure.

I have always loved the 1970s and early 80s Trans Am. Camaro and Z/28 too but the Trans Am is my all-time favorite. A guy in my high school had a 1980 TA. It was gold with tan interior and the black screaming chicken on the hood. I drooled over that car every time I saw it.

A good friend from my school bought a white TA while he was in the Army. I think it was a 78 or 79. He ragged it out pretty badly, did not take good care of it. I remember one night we were going about 60 down the interstate and the engine started sounding bad and he said "I betcha I am out of oil". He bought a few quarts at a store and kept on driving.

The bad thing about 2nd gen F bodies was the trunk was not as wide as the rear deck. Made it a real pain for a tall guy like me to get in the trunk to put new speakers in the deck. Once you did install good speakers and a high powered radio maybe with a nice amplifier you could get really good sound out of it. No fun cutting the dash for a cd player though.

I remember guys joking that the TA would pick up an extra second in the quarter mile after you removed the separate factory 8 track player. Darn thing must have weighed 15 pounds...


Haha I remember those mount under the dash 8track and cassette decks. This goofy bf of my sister's had one in his mid 70s Le Mans.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: blupupher
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
...

The original buyer ended up passing away from cancer and never enjoyed driving the car. Think I'd rather use and enjoy it instead of just letting it sit regardless of how much it could be worth in the future.

That is what I was thinking. Never got to enjoy the car.
You see several post above that owned one, drove it, and enjoyed it.
This guy bought it as an investment and never saw the return on that investment.


That's heartbreaking,I hate to hear that