Vehicle Description
1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
Stunt driver and conceptual organizer of the movie "Smokey and the
Bandit" Hal Needham saw a picture of a Pontiac Trans Am in a
magazine and thought up a product placement idea. He asked for 6
Trans Ams, but Pontiac would only agree to send 4. Needham also
asked for 4 Bonnevilles for Jackie Gleason's cars, but he only got
2. By the time they shot the final scene, they had wiped out three
Trans Ams and the fourth wouldn't start after all of the stunts, so
another car was used to push it into the scene.
No pushing needed on this one as with matching numbers power plant,
chassis, and transmission in the 400ci, 4-speed manual, decaled
version. Low documented miles at 33,446 it is exceptionally clean
with a few areas of respray to shine it up. Belly up to the bar and
I'll have a Coors' (movie trivia research needed to explain the
Coors' beer)!
Exterior
Anytime a screaming chicken graces our halls here at Classic Auto
Mall, we can hear it throughout the facility. This one speaks
loudly bathed in Buccaneer Red and of course the screaming chicken
decal attached to the scooped hood in beautiful black with yellow
and gold lines surrounding the outside of the bird. Gaps are well
minded, and paint is in very nice condition, with just a few areas
of some faults, but one needs to look long and hard. All graphics
and badging are stickers as well and use gold as the main color
with black accenting. Dual headlights in their rectangular late
70's design are floating in a field of black that work their way to
the central front of this car and form the iconic beak. Some
neoprene bumper additions and a low spoiler up front complete the
menacing look. On back some flared guards stand in the front of the
rear wheel wells and protect the gold snowflake wheels with raised
white letters. On back we note the spoiler, and the trio of
horizontal bar taillights that conform to the curved rear panels of
this car. Overall looking real nice, screaming for attention!
Interior
Black carpeting floods the floors and creates the base for the
white vinyl pristine buckets upfront, and bench in the back. White
door panels add to the clean look, and a black center console is
between the buckets. Housed here is a Hurst shifter fronting the
original dash with its machined swirl circle aluminum insert. This
aluminum creates a nice field for the black faced gauges to play
within and relay any pertinent info to the driver. The factory
AM/FM radio has been replaced by an aftermarket version. A drilled
3 spoke rally wheel fronts this dash and allows the driver to do a
Rockford Files J turn with ease. A tightey whitey headliner all in
vinyl is above.
Drivetrain
Under the scooped hood is a 400ci V8 which decodes original to this
car. A single 4-barrel carburetor is atop and a replacement Borg
Warner T10 4-speed manual transmission is on back. The rear axle is
a 10-bolt version with 3.42 gear posi-traction.
Undercarriage
Underneath a nicely shined fuel tank is in the back along with some
black floorpans and solid unibody construction. Some slight surface
rust is noted on the driver's side near the back wheel well, but
otherwise unremarkable. Bottom end of the engine is absolutely drip
free and all is looking good here. Independent coil springs are on
front and leaf springs on the back. Power disc brakes for the
front, and power drums for the back. A Flowmaster exhaust is now
on.
Drive-Ability
A quick starter and feels much like a new car inside. It has great
take off, good solid brakes, and handles well for a 1977 GM
product. Has some rattles but nothing out of the ordinary for these
examples. All was working fine save for the clock inside.
With only 33,446 original miles, it is still being broken in 40
years later. It is still looking great, driving smoothly and is a
great car to take to a show, or just go for a Sunday drive
(remember those?) Anyway in red screaming for attention, and after
a drive definitely got mine!
VIN DECODE
2W87Z7N143910
2-Pontiac
W-Trans Am
87-2 Door Coupe
Z-400ci V8 4bbl
7-1977
N-Norwood, OH Assy Plant
143910-Sequential Unit Number
TRIM TAG
ST 77 2FS87-1977 Firebird 2 Door Coupe
BDY N097863-Norwood Body #
TR 11R A51-White Buckets
PNT 75L 75U-Buccaneer Red
12B-2nd Week December Build
WS4-Trans Am
BLK-Secondary Interior Color
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 600 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.
