Received an interesting trade offer.

In reply to Curmudgeon:

Here's a NICE one for sale....only 350k! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Restored-Numbers-Matching-Trans-Am-Ram-Air-IV-4-Speed-/121183768451?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item1c371d8f83

I ran across this dealer a while back. I know nothing about them, but they have a nice selection of T/A's.

http://www.oldbrockmusclecars.com/muscle-cars-inventory.aspx

In reply to bravenrace:

The 73 Formula SD 455 they have is incredibly rare...like 1 of 43. Too bad they don't post prices..

I would love to have a 73 or 74 SD455 car. Those are awesome. There's a local guy that has a Buccaneer Red '74 SD455 that's all original with 60k miles on it. It has some patina, but it will stay unrestored.

I know a guy with a '69 Ram Air III Trans Am, as well as a blue on white '70 Trans Am. He was telling me that the hood alone on the '69 was ridiculous money. He's the guy that also owns that AMX on the 2004 GTO chassis.

In reply to SilverFleet:

I had heard an original NOS hood for a 69 T/A can sell for around 10k....crazy.

Well, guess a '69 T/A ain't gonna live in my garage any time soon. In the 'aw, crap' dept: a high school buddy had a GTO Ram Air IV convertible, gold with a black top. Had all the correct badges, stickers etc and was in pretty decent shape. He bought it as a roller with no engine or transmission and stuck a basic 400/TH350 in it, drove it for a few years then wrecked the hell out of it. I shudder to think what that body shell would bring these days.

Cotton wrote: In reply to bravenrace: The 73 Formula SD 455 they have is incredibly rare...like 1 of 43. Too bad they dont't post prices..

'If you have to ask...'

Yes much to the horror of some, 2nd gen Trans Ams are all collectible to some degree. Like every other car, there is a hierarchy of desirability based on years and options. Somewhere on the Trans Am forum there is an actual listing of which cars are more or less desirable, but it generally goes from 1973 SD455 cars at the top down to something like a 301 powered non-WS6 1980 at the bottom (all 80's were automatic).

As I mentioned much earlier in this thread, the car that Javelin's trade was trying to be, a 1977 W72, is actually fairly high on that list.

And yes, count me in as another non-mulllet wearing Trans Am owner. In fact I live in the bluest part of one of the blue states, I can't stand country music and I would much rather watch professional bicycle racing than college football. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble.

My very first PG movie, ever, in the theater and at the ripe age of ten, was Smokey and the Bandit. I have openly and unrepentantly lusted after second-gen Trans Ams ever since. Preferably with T-tops and a chicken. :)

Cotton wrote: In reply to bravenrace: The 73 Formula SD 455 they have is incredibly rare...like 1 of 43. Too bad they don't post prices..

Yes I know. And me too. I'm a long time Firebird/Pontiac fan. I had a 71 Formula 400 and a '78 Trans Am, along with a '68 Camaro and a '78 Z-28. Loved all of them. Don't let the Mustang ownership fool you. I only bought my Mustang because I couldn't find a 70-73 T/A and I had some friends that owned Mustangs. They've all sold theirs over the years, and I will soon as well. Then I'll be in the hunt for something new, and these cars will be back on my radar.

True story - My buddy in high school had a Ram Air IV Formula that his dad gave him. This was back in the mid-70's - It was just an old car. Anyway, it was really cool - Silver with black interior, 4 speed, no rear spoiler, plain painted Rally II's without trim rings. Anyway, one day he stops over my house in another car and asks me if I need any Firebird parts. (My Formula had an ugly green interior and an automatic trans.) I asked him why. He said he had gotten drunk the other night while trying to fix something on it and flipped it over with a fork lift, thus caving in the roof. So he was parting it out! I bought the interior and 4 speed off him, along with the rearend. He kept the engine, but later sold it for next to nothing. Really, that's a true story.

bravenrace wrote: I ran across this dealer a while back. I know nothing about them, but they have a nice selection of T/A's. http://www.oldbrockmusclecars.com/muscle-cars-inventory.aspx

I was just perusing this site and there's a 1979 10th Anniversary W72 WS6 car on there. They say there were 1781 built. WRONG. There were 1817 equipped with the Z code 400/4-speed W72/WS6 package.

I had one for a while. They are the last of the "real" Pontiacs, and are growing by the day in value. I bought mine as a basket case full resto project that didn't run for $500 and sold it 7 years later after not touching it and in worse shape for $2k and some parts for my other T/A on top of that. Considering I did nothing with it for 7 years and it quadrupled in value, I'd say it was a sound investment. I would have liked to keep it, but I came to the realization that I wasn't the right person to do a nut and bolt stock restoration on a car that special. Besides, it would have cost a mint to restore.

The reproduction seat upholstery ALONE for a 10th went for around $1100 plus shipping 7 years ago. I don't think I'll have that much in my entire CSX build when that car is done.