Mike Musto tests the iconic 1981 Pontiac Trans Am. It had the first mass-produced turbocharged V8, and more graphic art than a basement gallery showing. Icon. Legend. Famous. Fast?
I humbly disagree. Back in the day I owned a 93 z28, 97 30th anniversary SS Camaro, then finally ended all the f body suffering with an 02 WS6. The Camaro SS was a lighter and better car vs WS6. Besides, fact is that the Corvette rules the roost at GM. Last I looked it wasn't a Pontiac
@@andrewstevens7205 Really. I owned a stock '77 TA that would smoke stock Vettes and Camaros built in the same year. Besides GM killed Pontiac in 2010 to qualify for the government bailouts.
Have you all listened to the exhaust? If you listen closely, the car in this video has a miss. One cylinder is not firing. Cuts power terribly. I know this because I was a mechanic in this era. Listen, learn
Yes, I heard that too. Also, if that turbo is all original, it probably needs rebuilt by now. Also, the carb probably needs rebuilt by now as well. Simple maintenance would have brought this car alive. The 80 turbo T/A is NOT a slow car like the one is this video. Also, his automatic transmission kickdown did not seem to be working properly. That will also hurt performance.
@@DavidThomas-me6pi I had one too... 400, 4-speed, WS6, T-top... As fast as you could get for '79... A few mods, and you were back close to the glory days... Sold it 5 years ago
@@DavidThomas-me6pi Uncorked and super-tuned, the stock W72 was right back in the game for less than 500 bucks... About 300 horses.. changing the cam got you back to the nostalgia days... It was a marvelous engine...Loved mine...
The choking by the smog stuff and the resulting lack of performance is exactly why Dodge made the Lil' Red Express trucks that /Big Muscle already showcased. It is just very hard to look at cars from a different era and compare them to today. Look at the 90's when a 250 horse power WRX STI was considered very quick and the R32 Skyline was crushing many super cars with an under rated 276 hp. Twenty five years later you can get a base Mustang with 300 hp from a V6 and Dodge is selling a car with over 700. We are living in an age of massive hp
Evan Moon Dodge, like Chevrolet, most likely supercharged their V8 engines, the Imprezas were designed to be under 300hp to be homologated as Group A/WRC rally cars after modificatons, and the Skylines would be race modified and turbocharged to reach 500hp to be homologated for the JGTC/SuperGT.
Dodge never uses superchargers. Only for their hellcat. Never used it for their vipers. Its always been normal aspiration. Same with chevrolet. They just recently added superchargers for fuel economy. and to get that extra lil edge over ford. factually forced induction isnt normally used in american cars...theres no point. we have way too much torque n hp as it is.
Subaru runs detuned boxster porsche engines in their wrx and sti models. Dont ever think that that miniscule 300 hp is not enough for an awd tin can with a turbo charger as big as a grown mans face. Plus traction control helps big time for launches.
@@CaptainFALKEN Although slow. These cars Did have style! The looks. Not as desirable the 77 78"s. You can still put a 455 or whatever motor you want in it. if you made it quiet fool people!
Captain FALKEN umm at the time 3rd and 4ths where fast for what they where .my 02 ta cam only beats a lot of newer cars and let’s be honest all f body’s are fat
@@racingjunk7024 Right? If an LS1 Ws6 is slow, the late 2nd gen's are glacial 😂😂 Don't get me wrong, I love the old T/A's, but that dude needs to be reasonable. Don't ever put down an LS1 car, they may not be as fast as the most current cars, but they are badass. They at least have enough power to be fun to drive and a great engine to work off of. By '80 the old T/A's didn't even have the Poncho 400. You'd have to do an engine swap to get anything going.
I bet there are a million Firebird fanatics screaming at the monitor about the 20th anniversary Trans Am which used a Grand National motor and was considered the fastest thing GM made in the 80s.
@Stealth Customs Corporation I actually found and bought a 1979 F/A. They made modified T/A's from the same dealership as the Macho ones, they were the MSE Firebirds that out handled Porsches throughout the 1980's.
@@brettenford5816 it has a crude turbo charger, smog pump, single cat converter and then dual exhaust. That's how they sounded, I worked at Pontiac back then. The exhaust is not stock on this one, so who knows what they did.
Even I can hear something is just "off" with the exhaust, and I'm not that good with cars. Maybe that's why he's frustrated on how "slow" the Firebird is?
I've had my 81 Turbo Bird since 93 and although its slow its never died on me and trust me I beat on it. Kid in high school had an Omni GLHS and he could always out run me!!! Turbo Bird is currently apart and will be receiving a built Pontiac 400 and new interior and paint/graphics.
Derek Joon If you can afford it, get Alum heads. Nothing is as upsetting as having almost 12:1 on cast iron heads, you need 110, or at them min 93/110. You have video?
I got the car for a steal so I bought it, I'd have kept the turbo 301 but it was starting to burn oil and the cam was pretty much worn, buddy had a 400 from a wrecked GTO so why not I'm reserecting a great car instead of sending it to the crusher.
I've owned two Firebirds. The first was an 89 Formula, the second was an 87 Trans Am. Both sold for financial reasons. God willing, the next one will be a Trans Am from the 77 - 81 years. Resto-moded so it can be my daily driver.
ive owned a SD-455, you bring me great joy with the way you broadcast this bird, the turbo T/A has been called a turbo turkey , to a burbing chicken, but at least when some one sees that TRANS AM on the back spoiler, they still wanna race you, even though it aint got the juice to do it. but remember, the older birds were not called chickens, they were called FIREBIRDS !!!
I actually think its a flaming phoenix which is why they originally called it the "firebird".The chicken is what ignorant people say but i would bet the pheonix has alot of prevalence in this car.I also think trans (transition) plays a role here it is all esoteric.
Mike, I love your love for cars, man! I dig it, I appreciate it, I identify with it, all that stuff. Long time viewer, first time caller. Keep doing what you do brother!
Trans Ams were always good performers for their time. Not only was the Turbo TA the first mass produced V8 turbo production car, it was also one of the best performance cars of 1980-81. Yes, performance sucked back then but it was one of your best options. It was also one of the best handling cars of it's time with the WS6 suspension option. After 81, it took 4 years for there to be another Trans Am that had a higher power output - not until the 1985 Tuned Port Injection engines came out. The best you could get in '82 was the 165HP Cross-Fire Injection 5.0L. The standard '82 Trans Am engine was a carbureated 5.0L with only 145HP, so while the turbo TA may be slow by today's standards, it was respectable for it's day.
As a european ... when i first saw this car ... i could only say ... "lol" But then again ... this thing is insanely cool in it's own way. It's a balls out, no holds barred design. No fucks given. It is what it is. I can see this thing growing on you. I like it already. Although 200 hp from a turbo 5 litre v8 ... jeebus ... that is particularly horrendous.
detaart it was the early 80's dude. outside of F1 everything had shit power. You do realize that a Honda Accord V6 coupe from today can more or less match a Ferrrari 512i from the same year as his car right?
Maxpound A 1982 e30 325i made 170 hp. So a 2.5 litre in a non-assuming run of the mill sedan that had a non supercharged six cylinder car made 170 horse, while this is twice the size WITH a turbo and two extra cylinders and is supposed to be a performance car, but only makes 200 ... I get your point man, modern cars are quick. But this was slow even then. Cool car, don't get me wrong. Very cool car in fact. Just a bit of a pig ... Quick edit: a 512i made 360 horse, and a 2015 accord V6 makes 278, so ... no
detaart It would've made way more power but GM stopped Pontiac from further developing it. Pontiac had to rush it into production in the first place and then they weren't allowed to fine tune it. Read up on it if you like Pontiac always had big plans for their engines. They were the performance division of GM in their prime.
number3665 OK yeah, i'm sure there's much more to this car than meets the eye. I'm not even debating that. A production turbo V8 in those days ... there MUST have been some plan for this. Still ... doesn't change the fact that it is a pig. I wonder what you can get out of that motor though.
I am a total JDM guy but I must say I respect each person that was involved in the making of this beauty, it just DEFINES the word badass. I can only imagine what it was like in the 80's when chicks stared at you riding in one of these.
I just want to let you know that this video gave me one hell of a smile . in 1980 are used to own 1 and I had her for five years and now that I’m 55 I still miss my Trans Am 301 turbo mine was charcoal with black interior I’ve moved to Phoenix Arizona and I sold it there Hopefully one day I can Have one again if I can find one I seen them for around $25,000-$30,000 in the market absolutely a great car thank you very much for this video made my day...!!!!!!!!
Lol I love the smog era. such glamorous designs. (owner of a 79 mercury cougar xr7) luxury and flash hardly made up for 15mpg/200hp but after some compression modification and retrofitting, these cars have everything!
LOL. I just caught this video...again. Very entertaining. Love Mikes honesty. No sugar coating, just telling it like it is. "TURBO-CHARGE!". :D. Burt is smiley down right now. Fantastic job on the video. On my favorites list.
Excellent work really enjoyed it thankyou. I'm British so I've no idea how the muscle car golden era felt but I love watching retro muscle car golden era footage,rivalries are amazing
This Car is Legendary... It's an Icon... It's... Also Slow by today's standards. No Biggie, Here the Easy Fix. Pull Old Engine Out. Store it in Bubble Wrap. Insert New Pontiac 550HP Big Block and watch THE PHOENIX RISE AGAIN !!!!
PhenomProductions23 Or procure for yourself one of the new Trans-Am just being manufactured you can't get the limited edition model of a thousand horsepower! Those are gone. There is only 50 of these worldwide, so you and I will have to stick to the Bandit style Trans Am. Awesome styling (plus those must have T-Tops)and has 840 horse power. Here's a link to this wicked, wicked reworked Trans Am. it's not a thousand horsepower like the limited edition model bit 840 horses works for me! Link 1: www.transamflorida.com/hurst%20TA%20002.htm
David Snigier Looks like the only option for you and me is to get the newer style Bandit Trans Am because there are unlimited quantities unlike the one that was in New York at a thousand horsepower, but 840 horses works for me! Here's the link to the place that's making this new styled Trans Am. Link 1: www.transamflorida.com/hurst%20TA%20002.htm
Ragimund VonWallat I once heard a famous author saying if you want to live, live Dangerously. So keeping that theme in mind you might want to grab the 840 horsepower reworked Trans Am. Here's a link to the site. Good luck! Link 1: www.transamflorida.com/hurst%20TA%20002.htm
I own one of these. A 1981 Y84 Special Edition Trans AM. 22000 original miles in pristine condition. I love this car for all the same reasons Mike states in the video. No car I have ever owned or driven gets more positive attention than this car! You can't go anywhere without someone striking up a conversation about the car. It's really nice to see the reaction, and for those few people out there who don't get it...well they can get back in their Honda Civic and go have a nice day. Turbo Charge!
I had an 80 Turbo with a hopped up 455. Because people thought it was so slow I had A LOT of kills in it, even though 1st gear was practically useless (all the torque). You are right about gimmicks. It had to be the most gimmicked out Pontiac in history.
Close.The Indy Pace Cars with all the decals Recaro seats,power antenna,and factory 8track....I think the designers did an 8ball and dropped Acid when they rolled that baby out.Although when I was 13 I worked at a car wash and would fight over who got to drive them 25feet when they would come thru.I still like them.Can't believe what they bring at auctions.
Hell yea, dude! Great video! I think I was 15, or so, when a neighbor bought this, but in a tan color scheme! I remember in the color threw it off a bit for me, it didn’t seem like a real Trans Am. But we took off it, and I remember it seemed fast to me. But maybe it was just because it was cool and brand new.
I live in the UK and first saw one of these black T/A's in 1978 around the time of the Smokey & the Bandit movies. I love the look of the 70,s Trans-Ams, we never got them over here. I've only seen them at classic car shows over here, and I still think these are great looking cars, even after all these years.
***** Yeah, they looked great back then, and still look goodtoday. OK, at that time back in the late 70's, these cars may have beenmore "show than go" but you have to remember this was at a time whenengines were getting strangled by the manufacturers over emission laws.But, there were, and still are, many after market parts available to makethese cars perform as well as they look. I loved the look of US cars fromthe late 60's thru to late 70's. I hated that "Knight Rider" T/A from the 80'sthough. However, the ones from the 90's up until the end, the T/A's beganto look good again. Just my opinion.
Pontiac did a good job keeping the Trans Am competitive with cars of the day. (the '81 Corvette had 190HP) They stopped building the Pontiac 400 V8 in 1978, so after the '79 model year the only V8 options were the Pontiac 301 and Chevy 305 and 350. The turbo 301 was as close to the performance as they could get to the old 400. And being the first American production turbo V8 was a great marketing gimmick.
I have a 77 that I built using what I thought was the best of every year except for the 12 bolt posi that was only available in 1970 too rare to find at the time of build
Anonymou s The 78s were better. WS6 suspension, and the W72 "H.O." 400ci engine came along for 78. I owned lots of these cars in the 80s. A 78 Formula equipped with WS6/W72 was the best version, IMO....
Those 2 Burt Reynolds movies were the beginning of my love for cars! The first time he pulled that 6.6 liter black and gold T/A out of the truck I would never be the same (that goes double for the black Countach in Cannonball run). I knew someone’s dad growing up that had that identical car and used to just sit in his yard and look at it and daydream that I was the Bandit. If it were mine it would get upgraded to a modern LS, 6 speed and pro-touring suspension, brakes and wheel/tire setup.
Great Video! I remember the first time I saw a Turbo Trans Am. I was so awestruck that a car as awesome as the trans am could be turbo'd! It was like a jet that didn't leave the ground. Then I got to ride in it.....and it never left the ground. Still sounds bad ass to say "Turbo Trans Am' though. lol
I grew up with this car. My dad's sister bought one new, couldn't afford the payments so within a year or so it became his. I was born in 87, it was his daily driver for years and years. Eventually took some damage in a tornado, and been sitting in my dad's friend's garage out in a Texas country town for well over a decade now, along with his 1977 black and gold trans am that he picked up in the 90s I think it was. They presently both still need work done lol and are just sitting in that garage
Just spied a 1980 black Turbo Trans Am with a red cloth interior, hand crank windows and a silver dash board, not gold. The rims were not the turbo style. It reminded me of my high school days when everyone wanted this car. Peeking inside, seeing the low seats, the materials and ridiculously small back seat was an amazing flash back to a younger time.
The Burt hat is not what the Trans Am driver would have sported in those days. A mullet, a porn mustache, sleeveless Def Leppard union jack shirt w/ cut off acid wash jeans and Judas Priest blaring from a cassette deck would have been more appropriate. BTW, the Olds Jetfire turbocharged 215 ci alloy block V8 was mass produced roughly 15 years prior. A methonal/water solution injection was required to offset detonation. Apologies offered if I am 75th person to remark this fact.
After I graduated HS in 86, I ended up getting a 81 Z 28. It had an air induction flap on the cowl that would open when you punched it. Eventually all that computer controlled mess was doing poorly, so the upper end got replaced, new(used) turbo 350 transmission, emissions yanked and actual duals installed. For a while, was sporting a 410 gear. Even back then gas cost sucked. It wasn't a race machine, but around town, it was a lot of fun. Sold it after my oldest was born, and guy that bought it ended up totaling the car. Walked away with a scratch on his knee. The car and the telephone pole weren't so lucky.
Mike, I love all your episode. Furthermore, I am a huge Pontiac nut. My current collection includes a mildly tweaked G8 GXP (Dyno run is posted on my profile). Im in the process of building a pro-touring 800hp 74 Firebird and we've just adopted a 75 Ventura thats going to be a low buck street machine GTO replica for my son. That being said, I really wish you had picked something more appropriate for your show rather than Pontiac's worst example of a muscle car. I know there's tons of good examples of awesome Pontiac excitement worthy of your show. Keep up the good work, I cant wait to see the next episode!
That car isn't tuned correctly or it has 2:73 highway gears because the acceleration shouldn't be that poor. My 1979 TA with the Olds 403 lights the tires up in almost every gear! And it was only factory rated at 185HP.
The car has stock 3.08 gears and only makes its 200hp/340 tq at 9psi of boost. This car makes no boost until the revs get quite high, turbo lag is crazy in this car, Its compression ratio is only 7.6:1 which only adds to its slow response to throttle. Decent gearing, torque converter and EFI would help this car immensely. Night and day comparing this Turbo T/A to say a 1989 TTA.
This car stock only ran 16 second quarter miles. The big problem is the restrictive exhaust. Open it up and it will spool faster. 80's had 210 hp the 81's 200
in 81 I had 77 t/a opened up on i-35 doing a 135 mph at 2 in the morning.like gliding on air.had several near death experiences also.now I'm 55 and just bought 81 turbo t/a.offset good scoop.the lines are beautiful, a. real piece of art.if you never drove one,the feel is spectacular.so for me,that's what it's about.aint gonna be racing and tearing up my investment.gave 3000.matching numbers,undercarriage immaculate.
xBuzz996 This blew the time capsule mystique of the car for me, I was nine then and could've cared less if I'd known GM was being deceptive and letting the gov regs emasculate the TA. It's sounds terrible too. I still respect the badass rims though.
I always wanted a jetfire has the water injection to prevent detonation but I have a 62 olds super 88 with a transplanted 455 with turbo 400 transmission ( was my first car 40 years ago and I still have it learned mechanics on it.
Yep, I also had 1. My 1st car except mine had black interior. My engine blowed up so I put pontiac 400 in it and man oh man, what a rocket! Absolutely my favorite car ever!! Now I'm going after 1 of the new 1's.
I had a Midnight Blue Metallic '81 TT/A and I LOVED that car. It was a year-early graduation gift (thank you, grandpa!! rip) and I was as hated as I was admired. I had it until '84, when a brand-new Rabbit GTI totally smoked me in a race around Kearney, NE (Kids, don't street race- we were stupid in the 1980s). I drove to Omaha a month later and traded my T/A for a GTI, which I also LOVED. Extra upside of the GTI- the PoPo wouldn't follow me all over town, waiting for me to speed. Damn, wish I still had that Big Blue Chicken.
I have the same car, but the factory NASCAR/Recaro edition. I pulled the 301 and dropped in a 350. I gave the engine to my buddy who scrapped it.That was 20 years ago, and it was just an old car. Now, it really is an icon, and I wish I still had that crappy turbo engine!
+James West The first one was a classic. I had more fun watching the bloopers at the end of #2 than in watching the movie itself. #2 had its moments but it seemed to be the family version of #1.
Tullerion Yeah, didn't the 78 only have like 200hp? I personally think the mid-70s Firebirds looked pretty nice, my only complaint is that they were a bit plain.
Filmed in livermore ca I see, on old altamont pass road. Drive that all the time in my 84 trans am with the L69 and a t5. So much fun through there. Great stuff guys
My very first car was a 79 Trans Am with a 403 Oldsmobile engine 350 turbo transmission with 4 way disc brakes. The donuts and X marks I could do were completely amazing. These cars made this day in time will shift gears so fast and put you in the woods and the anti-lock brake crap gives you absolutely no control of how you want to control and slide your car out on a dime. I sure do miss my TA !!!!
Nice video, but the bird on the car are not chicken, chicken is what you eat at the 'colonel' restaurant,, fry.. Those on the car are eagle, just so you know!!
its an expression,you are obviously from a very sheltered European country that doesn't understand western pop culture.they call it the screaming chicken.
Thanks for showing me what the turbo lights do! I own an '81 Turbo Trans Am that still has the factory red paint and decals, but when I bought it in 1993 the engine had been replaced with a Pontiac 400. I heard the original owner blew up the turbo 301. Was always curious about how the lights on the turbo scoop lit up when the switch in the center console was turned on. I have yet to see another turbo model in person. Looks like I wasn't missing much from the turbo 301. I had heard they just couldn't generate exciting power and required a cool-down procedure that most people didn't follow, which often led to premature engine failure. After a complete rebuild with cylinders bored, 6x heads installed, and some light power mods, my Pontiac 400 has more than enough horsepower and torque to suit my needs. I hope to soon strip the car down to the frame and resto-mod it from the ground up.
AWESOME! When I was a kid in 1981 I remember a Pontiac dealership full of those 1981 Trans Am for sale with the marketing scheme last of the big birds. Sitting on my BMX I wanted to be able to own one and drive so badly...
Absolutely agree with what you said here. I had a dark blue '80 TA in high school that got a lot of attention, the colors were great and this was the 80's so the car "worked". Smokey and the Bandit is also what got me into cars and especially TAs, and loved the T-tops for cruising on sunny days. Wasn't fast but the style made up for any speed deficit, and honestly for a high school kid that was probably a good thing. I did love the sound the turbo made... once I learned it wasn't 5.0 wanting to write me a ticket.
That beautiful screaming chicken is easily grandfathered. You can pull that motor, set it aside, and slam in a BB LS. Talk about waking up that car! I did it with my square body that came originally with a v6. I love that truck, it rides smoother than most new cars and trucks on the road today.
If it actually made 200 HP it would have done OK. I don't even think they were making 160. I knew a guy with one who put a boost gauge on his and it was pushing 2 to 3 PSI in factory trim. The factory might be to blame since there wasn't much in the way of high octane unleaded around in 80/81. Pontiac probably didn't want endless warranty claims for blown head gaskets and fried pistons. Any way he figured out how to get the boost to 8 or 9 PSI and with 91 octane gas his T/A became way less of a pig :)
The combination of less emission and political bullshit-factor made it impossible to make any power to speak of at that time. Still - a lot of power makes a lot of emissions - but since engines are tested at idle - even a 5-6-7 hundred horsepower engine will pass the test.
The power was there, but it had a 3 speed trans, and nosebleed low 2's rear gears. That is what killed it. They just could not get off the line or wind up quickly. Higher boost would have helped, but I worked at Pontiac back then- the power was there, it kicked in very nicely over 4'000 RPM, it's just the trans and rear gear choice killed it. The 200 HP W72's could be had with a T-10 4-speed and up to 3:42 gears- and torque between these two was actually close, but obviously they were a lot quicker because of those differences. The introduction of "Computer Command Control" to the 81's was the final nail in the coffin. It was what it was, this car should be viewed as an investment, and let's applaud the effort to give us folks some excitement back then, as they tried to cope with having to deal with learning how to deal with emissions, computers, and such. I prefer the 75 (400 or 455) -78 (400) Trans Ams, 4-speed cars. If I were going to buy an '80 GM, it would be a 1980 Z28 w -4-speed, just like the black one on the sales brochure. But, I'll buy the TA, because nice, correct ones are better than money in the bank.
its the coolest of all !! I love TAs .... I own two show quality Trans Ams ; a 79 black Y84 400 4 speed t-tops , and a 73 455 white automatic and both steal the show wherever they go , even from exotic cars ....) we used to have them in great numbers in Saudi Arabia back in 1970s and 1980s
Derkaderka Bukaladuka dude you gotta put a whole new engine in it. That 301 is weak. You need big bucks to make that car go fast plus you need do away with the computer that controls the current engine. Big modifications there bub!!!!
I'm sorry, but that is genuinely one of the worst-sounding V8's I have ever heard. It sounds like a worn out truck engine, almsot like it's literally chugging along.
Mobes I'm certain the car in this video had a dead cylinder. Probably an ignition issue. I've heard 301 turbos before, and while the Pontiac V8s did have a slightly different sound to them, they didn't sound anywhere near as pitiful as this one did...
I use to have the 301 turbo installed. Now it sits in the garage, I replaced it with a 455 bored to 472 solid roller pumping 600hp. Yeah the 301 turbo sounded cool when I was 18 and after a custom Comp Cam I thought I was kool. Now I know what is really cool.
Drive BigMuscle This car would be awesome with an LSX power plant. Heck you could even drop some turbos on it. At that point I'd imagine you'd have a hot car. I never realized how good it looks going down the road.
Drive BigMuscle Glad you saw my comment. I subbed to Drive just for big muscle. Recently there have been a line up of cars that leave me wanting more. Mike is a great presenter, but these segments need more structure. I LOVE your old stuff like the custom 1966 mustang from maier racing- that was cutting edge and UNIQUE. Lots of technical talk, lots of great shots of the suspension and under the hood. Recently your uploads have been a collection of B roll of Mike driving by masturbating about how this episodes car is the best of all time and cannot ever be topped... Then he says the same thing the next segment about a different car. Have you guys purposefully dumbed down your content since you went mainstream with NBC? You see the first few minutes of the episode and you have seen it all. I liked what you did with the veteran and his raw roadster, that was great. That car had serious soul and pertained to your segment topic- BIG MUSCLE. If you guys want to make a new segment line called: "Mike's Favorite Cars" than do it, but we came here for muscle, not Mike's soapbox of personal opinion- which there has been too much of. In a recent episode he was actually dissing on people who build up cars. He was insinuating that there is a right way and a wrong way to build a hot rod... What Bullshit. its up to the individual and that is what makes this hobby so diverse and interesting. I wish I could make a show, but thats your job. Please do it well.
