Vehicle Description
Erics Muscle Cars is proud to offer 1 OF 458 Trans Ams produced for
1972 strike shortened year. This PHS Documented Trans Am maintains
is NUMBERS MATCHING DRIVETRAIN with SERVICE REPLACEMENT BLOCK and
M22 ROCK CRUSHER 4 SPEED (SERIAL # STAMP) 7F6 HEADS AND EXHAUST
MANIFOLD ( Rebuilt but not in Car ) ORIGINAL CARBURATOR AND INTAKE
Interior was replaced by Current owner. Due to a 1972 UAW strike,
at which GM was the target, Firebird and Trans Am production was
devastated. All told only 1286 Trans Am's were completed V(828
automatics, & 458 4-speeds). At the plant, over 2,100 Firebird and
Camaro models were in various stages of assembly when the strike
ended, but as these cars would not meet the new 1973 Federal
standards, these cars were all scrapped! The 1972 Trans Am
production would hold the distinction of being the second lowest in
history. A new cylinder head rested atop the 4-bolt block, this had
a new casting number of 7F6 and was only used in 1972 and had
special combustion chambers. The good part about these new heads is
that they still used the horsepower producing oval ports and the
accompanying large 2.11" intake and 1.77" inch exhaust valves found
in big inch Pontiac high performance engines of the past. The 068
camshaft was back for another run in the TA, and the lift remained
at .408/.406 inches for intake and exhaust. As in 1971, there was
only one engine available in the Trans Am and it was subject to
same hand selection of components in order to make the engines as
close to the tolerances laid out in the blueprints. This engine
could be mated to a pair of transmissions, the infamous "M22 Rock
Crusher" Muncie 4-speed close ratio manual transmission or the
sturdy 3-speed Turbo Hydramatic 400 automatic transmission. This
was the 1st year for the honey comb grille, and the last year of a
functional shaker hood. The colors once again remained limited to
Cameo White with blue stripes or Lucerne Blue topped with a white
stripe. Lucerne Blue would have its swan song in 1972 as a blue
would not return to the Trans Am line up until 1974. The "racing'
stripes that were first introduced in '69 also made their last
appearance in 1972 and no Trans Am would be striped as such until
the 15th anniversary T/A in 1984.
