I only drive the car once in a blue moon to a local car show no more than 2 miles away at about 30 mph max. Car is not driven regularly on the street. Show car at this point only. Too valuable to drive anywhere, so I just kept the original tires on it for show. Car is kept indoors in climate controlled facility. Tires are in remarkable shape for being 35 years old. If I were to start driving it regularly, yes I agree with you.

Yup, GM wasn't happy when the big execs found out the GN was faster than the Vette.

 

Summer of '93 before college I worked at a biker bar in NJ. The hot bartender had a '77 T/A she thought was "soooo fast". I raced her passed the A&P (maybe an 1/8th mile) on my 1990 KX250 and blew her away.

Still love the looks of those cars. But I bet that bartender is haggared as all get out these days.

 

Funny how things pop up like this. I was just browsing the inter webs this weekend looking at late 70s T/As. I had a gold 79 with the olds 403. It was a project I ended up selling before I ever got it finished. Those TAs are still cool cars but if I was ever super serious I’d have to go with the Year One restomod version.

 

agreed , on the comparison (C5 to '77 T/A), regardless, both the T/A and the C3 of that era were absolute 'turds' when it came to performance.

 

If you want to go fast, LS Swap the 77 Trans AM. The 77/78 TA was a DOG.

 

Just watched it, probably 20 years since last time seeing it.

It was released May 19 1977, in 3 days it’s 45 years!

Not as good as I thought it was as a kid, also I’m wondering if this movie inspired the Dukes of Hazard, and parts of the Blues Brothers where being chased by cops.

 

The movie "Moonrunners" narrated by Waylon Jennings inspired both "Smokey and the Bandit" and the TV series "Duke's of Hazzard". The Duke's of Hazzard series was basically a spinoff from Moonrunners.

My childhood friends and I always watched Smokey and the Bandit and made fun of the scene when Bandit picks up Sally Fields in the wedding dress and she says "are we really going 110?!" Then they show the Speedo and they are doing 80mph (110kph).

 

I had a blue '78 with t-tops,silver interior, factory 4 speed with the pontiac 400. It was a great car back in 1991 when gas prices were good but It wouldnt outrun my grandma's heavy 66 Buick Wildcat 4 door. Gotta love the cat eye front end though and the shaker hood. Miss it.

 

I had a '77 T/A for almost 25 years. I bought it brand new, in the late summer of '76, and kept it until the mid summer of '01, when I traded it off for my '01 C-5. The mention of rust was a real issue with those F-bods. I live in the northeast, where the winters can be brutal, and road salt is used liberally. Like any true gearhead, I stored the T/A in the winters, and had a "beater" to drive through the snow.

Even so, my T/A was starting to show some rust, and I just didn't have the time or money to spend on it, at that point in time. I paid $6200 for the T/A in '76 and sold it for $8000 in '01. I did some "digging" about 3 years ago, running a VIN search, and located the T/A out it Montana, at a used musclecar dealership. They had made some suspension and wheel/tire mods to it, and were asking $28,000 for it.....

 

So I almost had one, my older brother bought a 1977 silver Trans Am with the bird logo on hood, maroon interior and I think Pontiac 400, the wheels were not honeycomb but more like 5 spoke with Pontiac logo in center.

The engine went out and my dad rebuilt it, also it got a new silver paint job, but no bird on hood.

I was born in 1977 and wanted to buy it, in about 1994, but my dad sold it to someone for I think $1100.00 to someone and said lucky to get that out of it.

I was so mad, but didn’t say anything about it, I mean someone else had money, and I could only give maybe $50.00 a month maybe $100.00.

My brother moved on to a fake IROC-Z with a 305 and electronic q jet, and a T5 transmission, I guess the 1970s look was not in at the time.

Would still have it if I had gotten it, bought my 1965 C10 shortbed in 1995, still have it.

Also I wanted a new or near new 2002 WS6 trans am but the prices were in Corvette territory because Pontiac was stopping, got C5 vert M6 in 2003, still have it too.

If I had that 1977 TA I would probably think of LS swap, but probably keep it Pontiac and maybe build up a 455, or even build the 400 to be the best it could be.

I’m happy with my C5.

 

I had a 76 455 4 sp, a 77 400 auto, and a 79 400 Pontiac motored 4 sp (all new) , and a 79 with a 403 Olds auto I got used. The 76 was fast, the 77 and 79 autos were OK, and the 79 4 speed was very fast. However, none came close to the 2002 Z06 I have now (or even the 93 LT 1 I had before the C5). Almost like comparing apples and oranges actually.

 

So the 79 Pontiac 400 4 speed outperformed the 76 455 Pontiac 4 speed?

Wonder if the 79 had better rear gears for performance.

 

I had one of the first new model ‘70 Firebirds sold in the New Orleans area. I loved it. Great styling. But performance wise, it wouldn’t pull granny off the pot. My 2004 C5 convertible would be in the next state and the engine cooled off before the Firebird was rolling good. 🤣🍻

 

There might be more to the story, but if nothing else, the '79 had a slightly freer flowing exhaust system.....

 

Greetings,

I had a 78 Trans Am back in 1978. I bought it brand new. It was a hard car to come by, because everyone wanted one after Burt's movie Smokey and the Bandit. Mine had the Pontiac 400 engine which only came with the 4-speed transmission. The 78 Trans Am's that had the auto transmissions had the Olds 403 engines in them.

The Pontiac 400 engines w/ the 4-speeds had 220HP stock. The Olds 403 engines with the auto I believe was at 190HP. The Pontiac 400 engine Trans Am's had more HP then the Corvettes that year. They also had tuned suspensions and upgrading handling packages. I have a 2004 C5 corvette, stock, and it would stomp *** all over my 78 Trans AM. However, for its time the Trans Am's were one of the fastest stock cars you could get from GM, and it was really cool. I wish I would have kept mine. But, you get married and have kids and it gets traded in for a station wagon.

Edgemerski

 

I believe that's true for '79 not the '78 model year.

 

I'll take that a step further, and say that (I think) the only T/As that got the Pontiac engine, backed by a 4 speed manual transmission, in the '79 model year, were the "10th Anniversary" T/As.....

 

[QUOTE=1999corvettels1;1605137279]I love my C5, also I’ve always wanted a 1977 Trans Am just like Smokey and the Bandit, but probably will not get one.

On the movie Burt Reynolds’s character brand new Trans Am seems to really have lots of get up and go, thinking it’s not factory, or they used Hollywood editing to make the car sound meaner, if stock that car sounded pretty amazing! I was looking and those old Trans Ams had gearing like that.

The C5 would probably outrun the TA but by how much?

I’m thinking new in 1977 the Trans Am would outrun the 1977 Corvette.

Who else likes the old movie and the black Trans Am with gold honeycomb wheels?/QUOTE]


Does it really matter if a car from the 1970s can run with a C5? Just look at the Trans Am from any angle. That is half the fun of owning one. Here are mine and my brothers Bandit Trans Ams. The '76 is a 455 4-Speed. 24k miles. The '77 had 12,381 miles on it. The 79 had 6100 miles on it. Just buy one and a Stetson cowboy hat and take the Mrs. on the Bandit run. Smokey and the Bandit did inspire The Dukes of Hazzard. As a matter of fact three actors from the main cast of The Dukes of Hazzard appear in small uncredited roles in Smokey and the Bandit: Ben Jones, John Schneider, and Sonny Shroyer.

http://thebanditrun.com/bandit-run-2022-schedule/

 

I had a 78,80 and 81. I loved those cars. The thing that sucked most were the doors. They are heavy monsters. The handles inside the cars would fall apart. The bushing on the door hinge would wear out and you get the awful door sag. Well my last one was my 81 that origanlly came with a 265 v8. It had no guts. Ripped it out for a 400. It was a beast.
Here is a drag racing video.

 

Here is the story: I ordered the 79 in I think Sept or Oct of 78. It was to be the last year of the Pontiac 400 engine. I went to the dealer and ordered the $90 400 cu in option along with the N/C 4 speed transmission. The salesman saw a little footnote. Uh oh...the $90 motor could only be ordered along with the $525 (I think. If not, real close to it. It was forty some years ago) A/C option. Hadn't counted on that but said go ahead. Uh oh,...another footnote. The N/C 4 speed was only available with the special handling pkg (another $435 or thereabouts). So the N/C 4 speed and $90 400 engine ended costing almost $1000. After a long wait, the dealer called me and said I would have to reorder the car because the 400 engine was no longer available. I was a tad upset but reordered the car with the 301 Pontiac motor and 4 speed. About two weeks later, the salesman called to say, after he ripped the Pontiac rep a new one, that Pontiac had agreed to make 50 more 400 4 speed cars and I got one of them. Finally got the car around April or May of 79. I don't know what the gearing was, but it was quicker than my 76 for whatever reason.

(As I remember it, the 400 was only available with a 4 speed trans in 79. It did not necessarily have to be a 10th Anniversary model. Mine wasn't. The automatics were equipped with 403 Olds motors. (You can tell a 400 from a 403 by the T/A 6.6 on the shaker, which was the Pontiac motor. The Olds equipped cars had 6.6 LITER (or maybe it was LITRE) written on the shaker. Also, the VIN code for the 400 was 2W87 "Z".