This highly original 1989 Pontiac Trans Am 20th Anniversary Pace Car recently sold on Bring a Trailer for $59,000 exclusive of fees.
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After the Ford Mustang debuted with stunning success in mid-1964, GM needed a direct competitor. The Chevy Camaro bowed in late 1966 for the 1967 model year. Five months later, the Pontiac Firebird debuted. The Pontiac Firebird soon offered the Pontiac Trans Am Performance and Appearance Package, named for the racing series featuring five-liter Firebirds, Camaros, and Mustangs. Just 689 Trans Am coupes and a mere eight convertibles were built for the 1969 model year.
The Pontiac Trans Am developed a healthy following, but sales were never quite the measure of the Chevy Camaro. Despite performance like the 1973-1974 455 Super Duty Trans Am with 310 horsepower that handily embarrassed the 245-horsepower Camaro Z/28, the T/A still couldn’t match the Camaro’s sales numbers. That all changed after the 1977 release of Smokey and the Bandit, featuring a Starlight Black with gold trim 6.6-liter Trans Am. Suddenly, everyone wanted to own a Trans Am. In 1978, Pontiac moved a record 93,351 Trans Ams, and in 1979, Pontiac sold 117,078, besting the Camaro for the first time.
Government regulation would soon kill the horsepower fun just as it had in the early 1970s. Corporate Average Fuel Economy, aka CAFE, standards set levels Excitement Division could not achieve with the 6.6 liter in the Pontiac Trans Am. Their solution was to re-work the Pontiac 301 cubic-inch Small Block to accept turbocharging. Stronger pistons, head gaskets, a high pressure oil pump, Garrett TBO-305 turbos, a modified Rochester Quadrajet four barrel carb, and a knock sensor to retard ignition all combined to make 210 horsepower and 345 pound feet of torque. This sounded very close to the 220-horsepower rating Pontiac had claimed for the previous year’s 6.6, and it would have been had Pontiac not been grossly underrating their horsepower stats (260 horses was much closer to the truth). The Turbo’s performance was dismal, partly due to being saddled solely with a three-speed slushbox trans and a 3.08 rear gear to achieve efficiency numbers. The Turbo T/A posted a heartbreaking 9.05-second zero-to-sixty time, with the quarter mile loafing by in 17.02 seconds.
The F-Body cars (Firebird and Camaro) got a nose-to-tail redesign for the 1982 model year. Sharper design cues and a “wedgy” new shape with a 62-degree windshield rake were accompanied by a 500-pound weight loss, a seven-inch shorter wheelbase, flush-mounted side glass, a hatchback rear end, and for the Pontiac Firebird, pop-up headlights. Engine choices included the corporate 2.5-liter Iron Duke four cylinder that made a dismal 90 horsepower, the 2.8-liter V6 producing 102 horsepower, the LG5 V8 that made 145 horses, and the LU5 V8 with Crossfire Fuel Injection that made a range-topping 165 horses. These were dark days for the Pontiac Trans Am, but better times were on the horizon.
By 1988, the Pontiac Trans Am was starting to sport some serious power again. The Trans Am GTA came with either the 215-horsepower Tuned Port Injection V8, available with the 700R4 four-speed automatic transmission or a five-speed manual, or the 5.7-liter TPI V8 that made 225 horsepower, but could only be had with the four-speed auto. The GTA package came with the WS6 handling pack, 16-inch by 8-inch aluminum wheels, aero spoiler, and revamped hood, steering wheel with integrated stereo controls, cruise control, power windows, power locks, four-wheel power disc brakes, power steering, cruise control, air conditioning, and fog lamps. 9,765 Pontiac Trans Am GTAs sold in the US for the 1988 model year, but more importantly, Trans Am performance was back.
For the 1989 model year, the Pontiac Trans Am had something special in store. As it marked the Trans Am’s 20-year anniversary, there would be a 20th Anniversary model based on the GTA. The Anniversary T/A was finished in white over camel leather, with the 16-inch by 8-inch aluminum wheels, four-wheel power disc brakes, and all the power and luxury goodies. Power would come not from the 5.0 or 5.7 V8, but from a version of the Buick GNX 3.8-liter turbo V6. As General Motors had a mandate that no passenger car would have a higher horsepower rating than the Corvette, the Trans Am Turbo was again underrated at 250 horsepower, when a smidge over 300 was closer to the truth, which helps explain why the Corvette got trounced on the dragstrip (4.6 second 0-60 and 13.4 second quarter mile for the T/A, 5.6 and 14.2 for the ‘Vette).
Our feature 1989 Pontiac Trans Am Turbo 20th Anniversary is one of 1,555 Indy 500 Pace Car replicas built. This example has had just two owners from new. Finished in its original white over camel leather, this highly original Trans Am has amassed just 3,900 miles since 1989. It is equipped with the WS6 Special Performance Package, 16-inch gold aluminum wheels, four-wheel power disc brakes, power steering, power windows, power locks, air conditioning, cruise control, leather-wrapped steering wheel with stereo controls, a Delco AM/FM/cassette stereo with graphic equalizer, removable glass T-tops, and fog lights.