My old man had one ....One day he dropped me off at Jr high...I felt like a rock star...All the kids were outside as the bell had not rung to start the day...They all were oogling the fuck out of that gold TA
They really don't design cars like this anymore..... the design never gets old and if you have a restored one, it will definitely turn heads and who can forget about the V8 sound.
@@ronspeer I'm with you. But the later models weren't bad either. Just not as good as the earlier, I'm with you on that. Still, they all had a presence that is extremely absent from modern cars. My 1980 model was even not as good a car as it's immediate predecessor, a 1979 Trans Am, but still it more than got the job done with minor reliability issues.
listen to me boys when you got a V8 you don't need a beautiful interior or a good paint job or fuel economy or a good grip or a cat when you drive a muscle car your are just a road warrior
More dynamic than the vette? 😂😂😂 plus he never said that, he just said it had the aerodynamics of a brick, just like Dam near everything else back then
@Livin Vids No, he had the window cracked open. But ask yourself this question.. do you intend to take a 43 year old classic muscle car thru a car wash?
Long Live T-Tops! I've got a76 Buick Regal in the garage with 99k on it, been there for 30+years, need a rebuild and interior redone, but other than that, its pretty damn cherry. it has t-tops. Such a nice car!
Well some leak right out of the showroom. Not all. Have you been through high pressure car washes? I don't have alot of experience but, those car washes are the test. I hand wash my precious vehicles. I haven't had to many. Probably none but I liked them. Hand washing or heavy rain was never an issue more than a drip here and there but and powerful wash they leaked everytime.
I thought you were talking about the guy in the review that's talking about the Trans Am the way it sounds like we don't even need hats the b in the passenger way he's reviewing his Trans am
Not cheap anymore. The values of low mileage , clean survivors, and fully restored have skyrocketed in the last couple years. Now, the Gen 3 values are taking off as well.
About the only ones that have skyrocketed are the real deal Y82 (aka "Bandit") cars. I sold my black and gold (NON Y82) 77, with 26,000 original miles and struggled for 9 months to barley get $20k for it.
Im pretty young, and my uncle has had one of these in his garage as long as I can remember. I’ve recently gotten into cars and I’ll be adopting it as my first project car to try and renovate it. So I’m excited!
@@adnikelmendi3847 Haha, didn’t think anyone would care much. Bad news, been working in it a lot, and I had my Uncle hold onto it for a few days while I went out of town. Well he left it in the driveway when a hurricane blew through, uprooting and dropping a tree… right on top of it. Soo… yeah, there went all of that haha
this makes so much more sense now. I was wondering why their editing and personality styles were the same.He's like Doug, but without the Brand whoring
As an 8 year old in 1977, I clearly remember how popular the Trans Am really was, especially after the movie came out. I had a neighbor who owned the local pontiac dealership, and he drove a dealership Trans Am most of the time. My sister's boyfriend drove a '78 model, and the hellraiser down the street drove a Trans Am Formula. The cars seemed to be everywhere, along with the Camaro.
what the hell kind of carwash was that? everyone knows that tanned blondes in jean cut-offs and a bikini top with a foamy sponge are required for washing this car.
This is still the best muscle car in my eyes. It really is visually distinctive, I can see it being used "offroad" (Not like, mountiany offroad, but dirt roads and minor stuff) vs other cars of similar era. I would never for instance, try to take a Dodge Charger from a simlar era of muscle cars offroad in any capacity, or a challenger, they just dont look the part in my eyes. But a slightly dusty or dirty Firebird, just looks like it wants to keep going and burn through more. I think one would use the term... Rugged. Thats how I think of the Firebird. Rugged Muscle. Its not the most powerful, its not the most popular, But It has its own style that just fits with me, and that is the most important part of a car for a person, if THEY like it. If they feel cool in it. Hell with the rest of the world, and drive Your own path.
I rode in an 81 firebird with a built 400, no seat belts. I was in the backseat flingin around and this guy was slidin in the rocks with the cooper cobras. It felt so lightweight and the suspension was great. Awesome experience. It was just about 2016. I was 19 and soon after I found an '81 Trans Am in Craigslist that I had for sometime until march 2017. I got ran over. Sometime after, 79 camaro, 79 firebird, 68 le mans, 00 firebird, 79 trans am w 400. I was just so obsessed. That time is gone for now. I'd have a 68 GTO, 70 Road Runner or another 79 TA later on, but for now it's Taco truck time and it's been the best since. Really has taken more places, it's fast with the 4.0 and I've done some small jumps already. Most durable vehicle yet.
Totally agree this is one of the most affordable ways of owning a car like in the movies. I may be a Ford guy, but I'd take a late 70s Firebird over a late 70s Mustang.
The tooling on the dash and shifter is called machining. Original tops didn't leak, replacements did as they were stolen often. The movie was a 77' not a 78'. The 77 had several differences. The tops had 2 latches and gold on front honeycomb inserts and dash plate, black window exterior trim, many more double row gold pinstripes. Headers, opening up the shaker hood and air cleaner frame with openings and dual open flow mufflers unchokes the bird and it was a screamin eagle then with well over 350hp. They handled and rode like a go cart. So the one you tested needed new suspension supports.
I had a 77 special edition with the tan interior. To this day its my favorite car! Quality, fit, finish were bad, but it was fun, beautiful and one hell of a way to get cheerleaders! The Hurst t tops leaked, the blacked out paint on the front and back window frame always peeled, and the door handles always loosened up! Lol. But i miss the fun of driving it, people staring at it and crusing with the t tops off and that engine sound!!! I put in a Blaupunct radio/cassette with a clarion equalizer/booster and Jenson speakers it the back with Phillip tweeters in the front! I remember the sound of Hotel California, Rumors, Frampton comes Alive, Aja and Earth Wind and Fire blasting out of that system like it was yesterday! Great time!
It's 2017 and I still find these cars beauties. Back in the day, you were a cool shit driving down the road in one of these. They were literally pantie remover.
The year was 1985, and I was a junior in high school when I got my DL. But I bought my car when I had just turned 14, that was a long 2 years for a teenager. The car, you might ask? She was a dark forest green, with a flat black grabber style hood, 1974 Pontiac Formula Firebird with 455/ 4-speed/ 3:73 posi, with Craggar SS/T's (deep dish in the back, of course). She turned heads everywhere she went. I joined the Army after graduation, and didn't have anywhere to store her. So I put her up for sale a couple of weeks before I left out for basic. I sold her the same day the classified ad hit the paper. The guy that bought her called me at 6:30 am. He wanted to make sure he had first dibs, and didn't even try to haggle. If I knew then, what I know now I would have kept her. Which for 1987 I sold for a pretty good price at $6,500.00
@@paulthomson9709 he doesn't mean 90 as in that's super fast, he's just pointing out the dude in video is over exaggerating a shit load saying its horrible and rough ride at barely 70.
@@paulthomson9709 < You pussies can’t fight because the real men in the US have to bail your KIA ass out on every war you get into so shut the hell up.
@@melrose9252 what the actual fu$k does war have to do with a hot hatch beating a trans am ???? I actually quite like the trans am purely making a statement that european hot hatches handle better and are easily as fast as a 6.6 litre v8 trans am . . Muppet
the Radial Tuned Suspension was actually pretty good in these cars, as long as you have good bushings and shocks in them, it will perform fairly well and have way better road manners than about anything else of the muscle car era!
220HP was no slouch in the smog control ridden, low tech, energy crisis plagued late 70s. New these things could run 15s in the 1/4 (14s if you powershifted and ran leaded gas). And the WS6 cars were some of the best handling cars around. Rather than kill the car or turn it into an econo car like what happened with almost all the other performance cars, Pontiac instead did they best they could to up the performance and keep making a respectable, cool car.
People always forget to divulge the switch from gross to net horsepower ratings in 1972. The ratings change was significant. People think the change was more drastic in 72 than it was. Look up what a 70 Chevelle SS was rated at, then look up net or rwhp ratings.
V.I.P PLAYERZz Dude I bought an '81 Trans Am for 3k. It's my daily driver lmao. Body is pretty good, still can use abit of work. You can sometimes find a fantastic one for around 5-8k possibly on craigslist. You just gotta be ready on the money and quick to call. Stalling too long will only make other people get there, first. You might as well keep it for yourself, I'm sure your dad would be proud of you for having some sort of style, unlike my parents. I'm the only one in my family that grew up a big time HotWheels kidd.
I had a friend who lived in Little Rock, AR who had a T-top Trans Am of that era. The problem he had was having the glass tops stolen which I've since learned was not an uncommon problem encountered by owners. But man, he loved that Trans Am!
Even after Pontiac stopped offering functional Shaker Hoods, few new Shaker Hoods remained non-functional for long. A few minutes of careful use of a saber saw rendered mine fully functional - I even fitted painted-black metal screening into the opening to keep leaves and debris out. The sound of the air getting sucked into that thing under full throttle was to die for.
First of all, the Pontiac 6.6 (Pontiac or Olds 403) had 180 hp, the optional W72 engine was a Pontiac special block with higher performance ignition, Rochester Q-jet carb and 350 heads that boosted the hp to 220, (NHRA stated that GM under reported and it was more like 260hp). The performance was limited due to Carter administration EPA choking adjustments. Its NOT a ram air, its a shaker hood. In 78 Pontiac offered the WS6 suspension option along with the W72, they were geared as torque monsters. Car and Driver tested the 78 Trans Am against the Corvette, the TA outperformed the Vette at the time. I have owned a 71 , 78, 84 Trans Am and still have a 78 W72/WS6, the 2nd gen TA aerodynamics do work., the rear spoiler adds 55lbs of downward force at 70+mph, the air extractors keep a build up of air from forming under the hood as well as venting hot air from the engine compartment, the front chin spoiler and wheel spats move air around the car. The car stock would do 14 sec 1/4 miles in the low 90's not bad and outstanding for the time. They are a blast to drive, the "screaming chicken is actually a "Firebird or Phoenix" and next time roll the window up if you want to stay dry and don't take a classic car through the car wash.
DustyBalz Hey Dusty, I ordered and bought a78TA with the ta 6.6 220 hp engine back in March,1978. l was told by my dealer in meridian, ms. that t-tops were not available with the 220 hp option. Was that correct ? Thanks .
ken lucas hi Ken, you could order the 78 TA with the "performance package " ( W72 220hp and WS6 handling). Along with T -Tops, possible your dealer was bullshitting you
Dusty, so far, you are the only reply that got it all correct. I have owned 4, 1977-78 T/A's. Two of them were W-72/WS6 cars, of those 2, one was ALSO a Special Edition. I took meticulous care of it during my ownership between 1980-1983, but also drove it like it was stolen. Only upgrades I installed were a race prepped Quadra-jet, anti-pump-up hydraulic lifters and headers. Burnout king of 2 states, no BS. Replaced BFG 295/50R-15 back tires, every 3 months. Decorated many, many parking lots! I out ran cops, slid sideways @ high speeds, that car handled, compared to my "self built" early Mopar muscle cars I currently own.. Pictures/old tickets to prove all of it, and a few still living witnesses. I also went for top end once and wrapped the speedo all the way around and back to 15 mph. If that's accurate ...155-160. Not a California car btw. This was in Minot, N. Dakota. And it got girls, lots of girls. I worked on the RR there and ALWAYS had $$$$. You would have had to lived it, to believe it. The day I sold it, I ran it up to 130 mph between lights on an Expwy, and at that light the potential buyer simply said....I'll take it. 6K cash on a Sunday! I get disappointed when I see bumbling idiots whom really have never even built a car 100% on their own, but they sure know it all. No respect, no manners. That baby face know it all in the video wouldn't last 5 seconds in my shop.
Fantastic!..I had the same great looking car with dark metallic blue with the simulated wood dash back in the seventies. To me, it handled great and the performance was stellar. Loved the sound of cranking up that 455 engine. I had the coolest car in HS. Music of choice on my 8 track Sony was Moving in Stereo by the cars. It was the theme of the car as I tooled around in it. But it wasn't built to last. It had rust showing up on the fenders and on top. Thanks for the memories....
I think you dont know that this car had the best Handling from all US-Cars in this Time and it is today a great driving car on a german Autobahn. I know this, because i am a german and i have a 1978 Trans Am. And of course people must have the ability to drive a car, to DRIVE a CAR ! And the Aerodynamic from this car is great for fast speed. The rear Wing pusch the back down at more then 140 km/h. Are maybe 80 mp/h. And the heavy front is always good on the road.
Yes! I had a 1978 Trans Am and it handled like a racing car - especially after I replaced the stock 225/70R15 tires and 15X7 honeycomb wheels with 255/60-R15 Eagle GT tires mounted on 15X8 honeycomb wheels I found for sale at some tire shop in Missouri while driving from Chicago to Los Angeles. By the way, I lived in German (first Lübeck and then Berlin) for about six years and had my 1972 Datsun 240Z shipped over when I lived there. It was a blast on the Autobahns!
Hi Gerd, we have a 78 T/A as well, here in Poland, just finishing renovation. It will be for sale soon, let me know if somebody from e.g. your circle of friends could be interested - two TA's on a German highway alongside would be a nice view for sure :))
Gerd Lierheimer Great car! But it was not built for long runs on the autobahn because of its gearing! It’s a high torque muscle car! Did you change the rear axle?
You're right, it was a phoenix. But it was affectionalty dubbed by all who loved it the "screaming chicken." Oh I miss my Kentucky fried Trans-Am!!!!!!!
I think you don't know much about cars and still has a lot to learn young man! Not only the fact to appreciate a classic American Legend car but also don't know how to detail a car and take care of our history. That was the bench mark for cars in the late 70's/ early 80's and if you go read up about it you will infant see that this car was ahead of its time, with styling + aerodynamics. I own a 81 Smokey & the Bandit orginal in black and gold, I'm from South Africa - there's only a hand full of these cars left so we pride ourselves to take care of them for they are irreplaceable.
I’m thinking he’s probably not going to take that carb off and rebuild it every couple of years let alone keep it adjusted and working properly. Or any of the other maintenance that car needs like fixing the door hinges!
Real cute. It is true that the T-tops in those days were notorious for leaking if you didn't keep the seals replaced, but that doesn't excuse the fact that you CLEARLY have the window cracked while you were going through the wash.
An easy fix for leaking sunroofs and T tops was to run a very thin layer of silicone around the edges of the seals where the glass touched. Worked for me with every car that had a leak.
@Charlie Vetsworth you can see very clearly at 2:51, cupcake, that the window is open about a quarter of an inch because the UV protection ends before touching the t top.
.... they really do leak in a car wash- especially at the outboard corners, no matter what you do. and if you by a t-top car, pull the carpet out and check the floors first.
+MrRebus777 Don’t get too worked up about the “review” done by a millennial!!! Most likely, his ideas of aerodynamics is what the automotive industry is producing now; not something that is over ten years old!!! I’ll bet he thinks pickup trucks have the aerodynamics of a log!!! He was born 25 years after the movie was made and he obviously has not asked a single former or current owner of any Firebird or Trans Ams’ for anything along the line of doing real research on this topic!!! He did treat it like a topic and not like any kind of a story that required the smallest effort as a journalist!!!
Well….the second generation firebird isn’t so cheap anymore. A rust bucket that’s worth a full restoration will set you back around $10.000 these days. Be prepared to dump another $40-$50.000 plus to do a proper restoration.
I had an 80 Camaro Z-28 (bought it used and it was a repaired from a wreck) that was quite happy cruising at 100 mph. Loved that car. Then I got married and we had a baby....bye bye banana....it was yellow.
It’s hilarious seeing you go through all the issues of the trans am. A lot of it applies to my ‘76 corvette, and as soon as you mentioned the t-tops I knew where it was headed haha
Windows are simply out of adjustment, and / or the seals are old. My wifes doesn't leak, but I adjusted the glass on both doors over numerous hours, one week-end. Love the TA
The doors on those old trans ams and Camaros were heavy it didn't take long for the bushings in the hinges to wear out that also added to the reason the t-tops leaked I had a 80 I never saw the t-tops leak but the carpet in the back was always wet so I had a auto body guy massage and adjust the doors for about 100 bucks and it was worth every penny
I'm not from the United States so I went to Google and Wikipedia to read about it. It seems controversial. One hit on google says "It is a symbol of a time when the south wanted to keep slavery and not participate with the American belief that all men are created equal."
They didn't all leak. My '81 Recaro Daytona Pace Car T/A T-tops did not leak, even when I still had it un-restored in 2012. I visited with the original owner and he said he didn't take the tops off, but I did.
Yeah all that water is going through the T top didn’t leak that bad I had a Trans Am that was beat to shit and my T top in the rain never leaked like that
I worked at a Pontiac dealer in High School washing cars from 1978-79. Great job for a teen boy who just got his license; some brand new ones would arrive from Tarrytown NY plant on the trucks with broken windows and had to be driven to the body shop 5 miles away. It was fun side stepping the clutch on new cars with 2.5 miles on them. An interesting note, as often as I did that I also did it to the Sunbirds with the V6 and the Sunbirds felt like they were quicker off the line for the first 2 or 3 gears. I generally worked the used car lot and some of the trade in's are cars to die for today. My favorite was a '69 Grand Prix LJ automatic and 400 motor, light yellow. Super long hood and looked like a pimp car from the factory. We also had a few Stage 1 Skylarks, and 67-75 Firebirds and Camaro's.
As an owner of an 81 corvette, so a similar era gm car with t tops... I can attest that that was 100% accurate. The windows are hit or miss whether they'll line up right when you roll them up and even then they don't seal worth shit.
Because. As a former Pontiac salesman who sold plenty of Firebirds from 1976 to 1978 including our allotted number of Trans Ams, I can attest that any car with a 1/4" gap at the top of the windows would be back in for warranty repair/adjustment before the customer even got home. Now I understand that these cars were far from perfect and I know that they did have leak problems with the T tops, but nothing like the video. I believe Hoovies Garage wished to demonstrate the leaks in the video however in order to dramatize them and make sure they would be visible in the video, I believe that Hoovies deliberately didn't roll them up all the way.
Oh I'm exposed for being such a fraud!!! I'm quitting RU-vid in shame now. Haha Seriously though, I reviewed the raw footage. I rolled it all the way up, you can see I didn't purposely stop it slightly open. It may not have lined up on the seal correctly, which happens on this car all the time. Sometimes I have to open the door, roll it all the way up, then close it for it to seal SLIGHTLY better. I know the car well; it's been in the family for over 10 years, and in that time I could always see a little daylight between the window and the T-Tops! The only thing that I dramatized was where the T-Top leaked on my body. After years of washing it (always hand-washing) I knew exactly where the bulk of the water comes in, and put a towel there. For the video, I scooted closer to the door and moved my crotch further up so I know it would hit there. haha. If this is keeping you up at night, I can send you a clip of the window rolling up haha.
I have owned many of these Trans Am's. I currently own a '78 black on black W72 4 speed car with Hurst Hatch T-tops. The car Burt Reynolds drove was a '77 and it had the Hurst Hatch T-tops as well. The car in this video has the Harrison T-tops and they are much better in terms of fit and leakage. They have multiple adjustments so if they are leaking and the seals are in good shape all it usually takes is an afternoon in the driveway with a screw driver and a couple of wrenches to stop them from leaking. Or at least make them almost leak free. The Hurst Hatches are much harder to seal up. The Harrison T-tops were actually engineered and produced in the cars on the assembly line while the Hurst Hatches were added by Hurst after the cars were built. The easiest way to tell them apart is that the Hurst Hatches are smaller and have a large aluminum strip that stays attached to the roof that outlines the T-top opening. I assume it was put there to provide some support to the sheet metal and hide the saw marks. The Harrison style T-tops are larger and the roof starts where the T-top ends. The Harrison T-tops became available early in the '78 model year although a few very early cars were made with the Hurst Hatches like my current car and of course many cars had T-tops added after the fact and Hurst did a lot of those conversions too.
There is a huge difference in the value of a W72 and a L78 or L80 (Olds 403) Trans Am. In 78 the W72 was rated at 220hp while the L78 and L80 were 180hp and 185hp respectively. The real W72 would have a "T/A 6.6" on the shaker while the other 2 merely had a "6.6 Litre" call out. People like to rag on the L78/L80 but most of these did not come with performance gearing making them decent highway cruisers but not much in the 1/8 mile category. The 2 latter mentioned T/A's can be found at reasonable prices and they respond to the same hot rod tricks as any car of the era. The W72 just had some of these tricks added from the factory. I personally like the Old 403's as they are normally cheaper and with a few mods can really move. In 79 the W72 was only offered with a manual shifter. NOTE: A 1977 Mustang II with a 302 would lay most automatic Trans Am's to waste in a 0-60 or 1/8 mile run. The biggest detriment to the MII in the 1/4 mile was the tiny 275cfm carb Ford kneecapped the car with. Any Trans Am is fun to drive IMO, the handle fairly well for their size and always look cool.
It's always fun to watch kids play with toys they don't understand. I have my own '77 Trans Am that I've owned since '99. I've tried to sell it before but my son stopped me. He wants it! Not for monetary value, but for the memories he has growing up with it. He wants it because he said it was "my" car. And people who respect the Trans Am don't call it a "Screaming Chicken". That is a Firebird or Phoenix.
what kind of car guy are you, that's not a ram air hood. that's called a shaker hood. the point is to actually see it shaking when the engine is on. challengers also had them.
It also had a vacuum operated opening on the windshield side to pull air from the high pressure area at the base of the windshield. It wasn't "ram" air but it had the same effect due to the pressure at the windshield. That also make it cooler air for a little more HP.
I had a 71 AMC Javelin with the funky stripes along the inside and headliner, mine had a 360 CI but no cowl induction. It had twin snorkels to the front of the engine, just under the hood from what I remember. It was bright freaking yellow with black interior and the multi color swoosh along the headliner.
I had a buddy with an old T/A, I thought for sure it had a metal plate along the back that opened as the throttle was applied, a vacuum actuated door. I see in the pics that there is a air intake tube coming from the front of the driver front wheel. I can't find a pic of the back of the shaker.
it originally was a ram air hood in the early seventies.....later they sealed the little door in the back of it that used to open when you floored the car,,,,what kind of car guy are you
I remember the day my mom came home with a brand new Trans Am, gold with the black firebird decal on the hood, black T-tops. The kids in the neighborhood were so jealous of that thing. You wouldn't think 4 year olds can be haters, but there it was. If I ever get the opportunity, I'll buy one for myself one day.
Unless my history is wrong....The Bandit Trans Am was a 1977 Trans Am. Those cars prices have gone through the ROOF! Good luck trying to find one lower than 40k and if you do the condition will probably be marginal. ;-)
The Movie was made using 1976 Trans Ams (like mine) with a couple of the Early Prototype '77 Front Noses, because the 77 cars were not yet in Production when they were filming the movie in '76
victor bozzo 77 and 78 virtually identical cosmetics... both available with SE package. Update to nose and rear in 79 very minor changes through 81. lots of big blocks through 79, by 80 they became scarce.
I did a driveaway with a 78, but it was dark blue instead of black. Drove it from Detroit to a car dealership someplace in CA (Placentia?) It was heavy, and had the full air kit, and that was a damned good car! I went through whole states at 120, which is a convenient speed--road sign: "Broomfield Kansas 60 miles" Cool be there in 1/2 an hour. Got one ticket, just before I got out of Michigan. The speed limit had just been lowered to 55 a couple of years previous, and I told the cop I didn't think I could drive it that slow. I took it up to 140 at one point, and it was very stable, believe it or not. That's about the fastest I've ever driven a car.
I was the 2nd owner of a hard top 78 T/A 6.6 with a 4 speed. Previous owner had made the shaker scoop functional. So you could hear the air just being gulped down into the carb. Cruising the highway and pulling up to pass, you could stay in 4th and just let the 4 barrels kick in like an automatic downshifts to pass. Fun car to drive. But high single digit gas mileage in town and not quite 20 mpg on the highway, meant frequent fill ups. But when you decided to have fun, you had fun.
I don't remember these cars being particularly loud. I knew quite of few people who had these at the time. All purchased brand new. 76 Formula 400, 78 Golden Anniversary Trans Am, 79 Limited Edition Trans Am (Silver with silver leather interior). Another had an 81 with a 301 turbo. There are a few more in there but again unless you put on an aftermarket exhaust they were not as loud as the one you just demonstrated. Fun cars non the less. Aerodynamics were pretty good in the Firebird/Comaro. Considering that most cars in the seventies were bricks in the wind especially with those guardrails for bumpers starting in 1973. Keep in mind that the car you were driving was a three speed automatic, that can be part of the reason for it feeling like it's going faster. Its probably running at 3000 rpms at 65. Speed limit back then was a cool 55. I had cars back then that seemed like they were starving for another gear at highway speed. My moms 2 speed Hondamatic really took the cake. 3500 rpm at 65 mph. Never take a black car through a carwash like that.
The starters on these cars were mounted way too close to the exhaust pipes. This meant your starter had to be replaced regularly. The factory came out with a small lame heat shield as a band-aid.
What a fantastic looking piece of "Motoring Americana" - The Duke drove one in McQ (1974) and the late Mr Burt Reynolds was given a number of them (as part payment) for "Smokey And The Bandit" (1977) : if that's not an honour, then I really don't know what is. The sound of that engine is brilliant!.
Hoovie, when you accelerate from rest, put your left foot halfway on the brake pedal and your right foot all the way on the GO pedal. It has drum brakes at rear, so wheels will spin and start to smoke. Then slowly lift off the brake. We need to see you do this.
I bought a brand new Pontiac Firebird in 1978. I still remember I paid $5800 for it. It was black with reddish interior and about a year later I had sixty series tires - GT Qualifier Dunlaps, and Centerline rims put on it. I also had a buddy who did body work put a rear spoiler on it. I LOVED that car and it was unique - NO ONE had one that was just like it. Damn, the good old days. I do remember the very next year they went way up in price, and as the newer ones came out, they kept on going up and up.
Nitrous, new intake and headers really helped those years. The thing was you had to put the stock exhaust on to inspect them. My friend in high school had the 78 and wrecked it @ 20 mph and they totaled it. He got the new 401 79 model as a replacement. That car was real dog. Neither could touch my 69' AMX at the time. Not even close.
That is only because they're the next set of cars to start selling for big money. Sooner than later the third and fourth gens will follow along. One day you'll see an IROC sell for a ridiculous amount of money.
5 лет назад
I can't stop thinking of Burt Reynolds. We miss him.
Sadly those are notorious for the weather stripping going bad over the years. My '75 Firebird leaks like crazy when it rains. Of course that is why I keep her under cover most of the time. lol
It's not a Chicken, it's a Pheonix and the drivers window wasn't fully up. He just wanted to make a Trans-am video for his channel without any actual analysis and skip to his predetermined conclusion. This guy doesn't get the Trans-am. His channel videos suggest he's probably more of an old Mercedes or old BMW type.
I had a gorgeous 1978 gold version of this Trans Am. I bought it righter after I graduated college in 1984. I always, always, always had people come up to compliment the car and once in awhile someone would hand me their card and ask me to call them first if I ever decided to sell it. It's true the T tops eventually would leak but not like in this video. And that is fixed by new rubber seals. I also put in a fabulous Kenwood sound system in it and it kicked a$$. Alas after we had our first child I sold my beautiful car as getting a baby in and out of a Trans Am was not practical. We needed a vehicle that made sense and we needed the money at the time. Oh how I miss that car!
A few things, Smokey and the Bandit was a '77, not a '78. Also, the motor had "low" horsepower but extremely high torque, nearly 400 ft/lbs. It, at the time, was the fastest thing around. As far as value goes, it's been slightly stunted due to CALIFORNIA emmision laws. Its post '75 which many car enthusiasts in CA don't want to deal with. If the restrictions were lifted for the '77-'80 years, the later 2nd Gen would sky rocket universally, because of the money people could drop on one in CA. Which in turn would raise prices every where else.
I’m pretty sure they made a sequel with the 1980 Turbo Trans Am. The first one was a 1978 identified by the fisher T roofs. There wasn’t a fisher T top in 77. The 1977 Trans Am came with Hurst T Tops installed by Hurst for GM. It wasn’t in tell 1978 GM designed and started production of there own Fisher T Tops.
Sorry dudes, all 3 Trans Ams used to film the original Smokey and the Bandit were in fact 1976 cars- with the pre-production 1977 front fascia, shaker, and SE decal package. The movie was shot before 1977's were available to the public. Burt Reynolds promo 1977 car- gifted to him by Pontiac for touring, occurred post production of the movie. The 3 used in the film were all destroyed. There have been all kinds of comments "a 77 trans am won't perform like in the movie... won't even bake the tires... etc ad naseum" - pretty clear those folks don't know how to drive them. I've had a couple; they will most definitely fry the tires with light power braking STOCK, or bark gears nicely if a 4-speed. They will drift and do doughnuts without much prodding.
Can take a little water thru the window.. Wimp...these are real cars.id take a 69 camaro any day over moose or a ford..least you have some money at the end. Rj
My family has one the Pontiac Firebirds from 1979 however we didn't think it was loud enough so we bought a 1964 480ci Pontiac judge engine and straight piped it now it look cool as balls and sounds loud as ball
A few things 1) EPA was killing sales on everything but not the Firebirds. Their sales continued to rise in this time. 2) It's easy enough to see that you didn't grow up in this era. Or around these cars when they ruled the streets. 3) These cars are still Iconic for their time in fashion and which included the T Tops, the wheel flares, and the the rear spoiler, and dual exhaust tips, Shakers "which is true they didn't work. But neither did anyone else's that had them. All of these traits were the styling of the car even from yrs prior for second Generation Firebirds. Thus why they sold so well. 4) Own one I love this car it turns heads everytime it comes out. It is easily recognized. The design is eloquent and smooth 5)Pontiac was the last hold out for the big engines in their cars while everyone else dropped them to 351s, 350s, 360s and, 305, to 302s, Pontiac still had the 400. 6) all the reasons you mentioned why would anyone own them is the same reason we wanted them. They are also one of most desired of all the Firebirds for a second gen 1977-1979 to where you can buy one now for what it cost to actually buy it then. That speaks kuddos for the car. 7)nice to see you taking a interest in a car that is older than you are
They're priced cheap because most owners thrashed them thoroughly in the day. If they weren't wrapping them around telephone poles they were running the guts out of them. Very few were cared for and those few are hard to find and not cheap.
Nice slidways burnout in the end bro!!! Had the same exact one but had alloy wheels so silver instead of gold but loved it n now I got a built 82 Z28 that would blow the doors off that TA but would trade in a Heartbeat!!! Gr8 video TY!!!
Actually the 78 TA was a quiet and smooth driving car (I bought mine in 1980 with 17,000 miles on it). The one you are testing has been altered. Yours has the early 70s speedometer (the 1978 went to 100 mph, not 160) and based on your comments someone has changed the ring and pinion ratio in the rear differential (2.41 and 2.56 ratios were common). At highway speeds (55 mph back then) my engine only turned 1,500 rpm and was only 3,000 rpm at 100 mph. The T tops didn't leak 40 years ago....maybe you should replace the rubber seals? Your video is mildly interesting but lacks accuracy.
@@melrose9252 That is true, but if the video car’s engine is “screaming at highway speeds”, somebody must have given it a ring and pinion in the 3.73 to 4.10 range. A 3.23 ratio with P225 70R 15 tires is sill below 2000 rpm at highway speeds and after 1975 the Trans Ams had catalytic converters and mufflers making them quiet rides. Mine made more intake noise from the quadrajet 4 barrel carb than it did from the exhaust.
The Hurst hatches ALWAYS leaked... I have a 2 owner, WS6, 400/4-speed, Fisher T-Top, warmed up a bit, so this character saying how slow these are is just stupid... And the WS6 suspension is just as magical as it was back then...
My '81 Daytona Pace car T/A never leaked either and it was un-restored. Hurst hatches were horribly crude. Fisher was much better, though I think most still leaked :)
Spencer who owned and operated a upholstery place should know he owned and operated it for years and did my work for me he should know that's who told me it was beside the Southern Ice Company on West Market Street in Anderson S.C.down below City Hall where the Police DEPT IS AT RICHARD SHIRLEY IS THE CLERK OF COURT THAT'S SPENCER S
Yesterday, I was taking pictures for my hs graduation, and I had the pleasure of taking pictures in this guy’s beautiful 1978 Pontiac Trans Am in the S&B configuration. Belonged to the photographer’s cousin. Also the photographer was my religious ed teacher. Anyways, I was ecstatic to have gotten to sit in it. The guy started it up as well and not only was it loud but boy did it sound amazing
