Vehicle Description
1989 Pontiac Firebird TURBO Trans AM 20th Anniversary Pace Car. 1
of only 1,323 T-Top & Leather Interior cars built. This example is
loaded with options and has ONLY 9460 miles. Comes with it's window
sticker, dealer brochure, Pontiac owners manual, Firebird
Supplement owners manual, warranty assistance manual, advertisement
photograph and TA themed clothing sales literature. 1989 was the
biggest year for Pontiac with respect to press coverage,
promotions, and performance. It was not well known at the time, but
in 1989, Pontiac produced the quickest and fastest American
production car. The "Excitement Division" was also asked to provide
a car to pace the 73rd running of the Indianapolis 500 sadly, it
would be the final time a Pontiac would ever receive that honor.
The Trans Am model was now 20 years old, and it was time for
another anniversary edition, with this special 20th Anniversary
Trans Am to be based on the existing Trans Am GTA. Through a unique
partnership between Pontiac and an engineering firm called
Prototype Automotive Services (PAS), the Trans Am GTA was equipped
with a more powerful version of the turbocharged Buick 3.8L V6,
originally developed for the Buick Regal Grand National, and the
Turbo Trans Am (TTA) became the vehicle Pontiac supplied to pace
the Indianapolis 500. Ultimately, 1,555 TTA replicas, rated at 250
hp, were produced for sale, five of those being test cars. But
after Car and Driver magazine tested the car, logging a 060 mph run
in 4.6 seconds, a standing quarter-mile in 13.4 seconds at 101 mph,
and a top speed of 153 MPH, they called the 250 hp rating
"exceedingly modest," estimating the actual output to be "closer to
300 hp." They also subsequently reported that it was the "quickest
060 sprinter available in any US production-car showroom at any
price." The Car and Driver evaluation produced the best
acceleration performance of any mainstream publication to test a
regular TTA press car from the Pontiac fleet, partly because Car
and Driver realized that the turbo boost must be "preloaded" to get
maximum performance figures. But short-distance sprinting was not
all this car could do well. Early in 1989, Motor Trend ran their
top speed test article "Flat-out Fastest American Cars II-the
Sequel." During this test, the TTA did 162 mph, and was the fastest
production car evaluated in the test. However, Motor Trend declared
the winner to be a 1989 Corvette ZR-1, which went much faster, but
was not a production car (it was a prototype that Chevrolet
intended to release for production in 1989, but did not come out
until 1990). So by a slight technicality, the TTA could be called
the flat-out quickest (060 4.6 sec.) and fastest (162 mph) American
production car in 1989. When PAS installed a ZF 6-speed manual
transmission into one of their modified High Output test cars
(featuring different axle gearing, a modified engine with upgraded
pistons and head gaskets which was tuned for much higher boost than
stock, and running on 100-octane racing fuel), they were able to
reach 181 mph. Perhaps more importantly than the performance tests
provided by the industry magazines was the fact that these cars
were capable of much faster acceleration times with minimal
modifications. In fact, with $300 in new parts installed,
12.5-second quarter-mile runs were achievable without manually
shifting gears or the need to trailer the vehicle to the track!
Because of this, the TTA has gained a cult following among amateur
racing enthusiasts.