Bill’s Ride

1976 Pontiac Trans Am

I worked my way through college in the steel mills of Pittsburgh, PA, graduating debt free. My parents had saved for my education and because I covered that, they told me to go order any new car I wanted. Being a Pontiac family, the obvious choice was a Trans Am. I ordered a 455, 4-speed 1976 Trans Am. I do not remember what color I ordered.  Pontiac introduced black as an option after I placed my order.  When the dealer called our home to tell us about this option, my father and the sales person changed my order to black.  Little did we know that the movie Smokey and the Bandit was going to premiere in a few short months.  This made my Trans Am one of the first production black Trans Ams.  

I wish I still had that car.  I, like many others, sold car like this. It happened in December of 1980 and I missed it the next morning.  Years later I tried to find it, but could not.  As I continued my search for my old car, I found this car advertised in Hemmings Motor News. And so, my history with this car began.

This 1976 Trans Am was listed in Hemmings Motor News for several months in late 1992, early 1993.  It was in Cleveland, OH. It was a two-owner car originally purchased in Cleveland. The owner said it had no rust but I thought that was hard to believe in Cleveland. What the owner didn’t share was that he purchased the car when it was less that a year old and moved to Texas.  The car spent its life in Texas until late 1992 when he moved back to Cleveland.

The previous owner made several changes to the engine, but retained every part he replaced.  He added heads, intake and exhaust manifolds from Pontiac’s 1971 455HO engine and the cam used on Pontiacs 1969-1970 Ram Air IV.

I completed an 8-year frame off restoration in 2020.  I personally completed most of the work on the car with exception of the machine work on the engine and painting.  This included final assembly, engine assembly, stripping the car to bare metal, refinishing/plating the original hardware for much of the car and much, much more. 

I kept the car pretty much as I bought it, but added a few things.  The engine now has a hydraulic roller cam, a functional shaker air scoop from a 1971 Trans Am and a 5-speed transmission.

The firethorn red car is stunning and looks bone stock.  With 485 hp and 580 ft-lbs torque it is a blast to drive.  And with the overdrive transmission, I get 18 mpg.

I do not show the car much but I do like to drive it.  I do show it at the Trans Am Nationals in Dayton each year, where the picture was taken in 2021.