[FULZGOLD]

Originally Posted by ta6point6

I don't care what anyone says the 2nd Gen Trans Am is one of the best looking cars ever built.

[T/A addict]

Originally Posted by ta6point6

I don't care what anyone says the 2nd Gen Trans Am is one of the best looking cars ever built.

Amen!!!!!

[red1975pacer]

Originally Posted by FULZGOLD

NADA has some wild values listed also. Haven't seen but a handful sell at those rates. Not sure what they are basing them on, but reality is a lot closer to the ground...

I just turned down 25k on my original paint, 400 4 speed 79 TATA. Guy tried to tell me there a dime a dozen at that price.. Don't think so, not with 400 4 speeds.

[W72-Bandit]

Originally Posted by gtohurstjudge

You guys can't imagine how I'm kicking myself right now. I was the original
owner of a 1979 Trans Am Special Edition that was ordered by a specialty car
lot in Dallas with every option and it was a 400 4 speed car one of 1107 built. I
used it as a show car and for car show cruises. It had the black hobnail interior.
It had all the options that the TATA's had plus it had door edge guards, halogen
headlamps and engine block heater. The window sticker was two pages long.
I used to show it at the Dallas Autorama back in the 80's and it would have a crowd around it all weekend. For some reason which I don't know why I decided to sell it in 1991 when it had 10,000 miles on it at the Leake Auction in Dallas. It
sold for 13,000 dollars, which was all the money back then. When I sold it at the auction it was probably the cleanest nicest car in the building. Believe me if I had known what these cars would be worth today that car would never have left my garage! A few weeks later, I decided I had made a mistake and tried to buy it back from the guy who bought it. He informed me that he had flipped it to a guy who lived
in Tokyo, Japan and it had been shipped out of the country! I still have the VIN on the car memorized....
it was 2W87Z9L170829. The specialty car lot that special ordered the car with the 400 4 speed and every option actually ordered two of them built identically. The other one was totaled a few months after it was sold.

LOL! I was one of those guys in the crowd around your SE back in the 80's at Dallas Autorama! I lusted after that car, it was so fine! I've seen your white car several times as well, it is near perfect.
I'm bringing my survivor SE to the Convention this July for points judging......should be fun!

[GT182]

Originally Posted by Formulabruce

That said; the 79 T/A came off the truck at all dealerships with Underbody rust. I know, I set them up. Very limited paint on anything, and the rear ends had near Zero paint by then.

You noticed that too Bruce. When I got my 79 Formula from the dealer it had rust under it but they wouldn't do a thing about it. I had it undercoated by Rusty Jones. What a joke that was. They wouldn't honor their warranty at all. I fought with them for 6 months, and in that time they went out of business. I wanted that rear cross panel under the trunk behind the bumper repaired where it rotted out on the right side.

[Formulabruce]

We used a product called "Quaker Koat" , which was waxy and did NOT harden. Its a thicker version of "Fluid Film", made by Quaker State. I always nailed that back panel when I put it on the F Bodys, and have seen cars I did in the 70's just last year! Owner had his set up sheet from the dealer, and I sorta smiled when I saw my signature at the bottom. He asked me what the wax was, and I showed him on his invoice. It seemed better than the other types that were popular. I had a can of black paint ( an could get all I wanted without a R/O) to paint a rear end cover, or a frame section that a customer could see.
Ps. This one owner produced a blank piece of paper and a ink pen and asked me to sign my name to check it against his set up sheet, at a big cruise night.. A skeptic indeed. He was shocked when he compared the two in front of buddies that were there.

[GT182]

I never heard of "Quaker Koat" in my part of the "North Country back then. Zeibart was one option other than Rusty Jones, I can't remember the others. Dealers would also undercoat their new cars but what they used escapes my memory too.

[Formulabruce]

here is how we got it , we had a siphon gun for it.

[Don 79 TA]

guess in a way this setup was known as a Me2 car back in the day lol
i have one too, for 25+ years now
or should say that is what mine looked like
to bad its so hard to find quality carmine red interior parts
i had to settle for a mix of black trim and what ever red colors i could find to match

i've been looking for so many years to find an original carmine red steering wheel, mine has seen better days indeed
and the last one i had restored..... certainly wasn't worth it, not to mention took almost 1yr to get back

Originally Posted by Warren Seale

Hmmm, sort of looks like my 79 even with the unusual gold wheels on a white car (that I requested when I ordered the car).

[lil65gto]

My son and I were just laughing about this. We were looking up book values for my '67 Lemans convertible and he says, "Hey, look up what my '79 T/A is worth". It was double the value! What? Now it's an ongoing joke around the house, letting me know his car is twice the value...LoL

[GT182]

You have to admit tho that the Deluxe Hobnail interior upholstery was the nicest look that Pontiac ever put in a Pontiac.

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by GT182

You have to admit tho that the Deluxe Hobnail interior upholstery was the nicest look that Pontiac ever put in a Pontiac.

I do like it, A LOT... BUT...

[Jerry H.]

What you guys have to remember is that Hagerty benefits by the high valuations on these cars (any lots of others). Their premiums are based on the valuations and naturally you are going to value it as high as you can. Therefore it produces more premiums on each car they insure.

[Grand73Am]

Originally Posted by GT182

You have to admit tho that the Deluxe Hobnail interior upholstery was the nicest look that Pontiac ever put in a Pontiac.

I agree with you.

[Warren Seale]

The hobnail was also used in 79 Corvettes with cloth interior. These are hard to find since most of them came with leather.



Warren

[Grand73Am]

Originally Posted by Warren Seale

The hobnail was also used in 79 Corvettes with cloth interior. These are hard to find since most of them came with leather.



Warren

Didn't know that..interesting. Not as good a look on a door panel I think .

[Nitebird]

Originally Posted by linden_gto

i simply can not believe what these cars are going for right now. i know it's hyped by all the bandit stuff and how they were so popular, but they also had little to no performance. they drove initially sales on 'image' and the interest now is driven by 'image'. i'm still SHOCKED by the auction numbers i'm seeing on these birds. i'd buy a '71 455HO TA or a GTO or a Judge way before i'd buy a slow, heavy '79 TA. everyone has the car of their childhood, etc. though. not everyone wants the same car - thankfully.

But I would buy a Trans Am before I would a GTO. Its all a matter of what a person wants. I had a 1979 TA/SE a long time ago with 400 4spd and I walked alot of GTO's that were not that fast.

[77 Canamman]

Originally Posted by linden_gto

i simply can not believe what these cars are going for right now. i know it's hyped by all the bandit stuff and how they were so popular, but they also had little to no performance. they drove initially sales on 'image' and the interest now is driven by 'image'. i'm still SHOCKED by the auction numbers i'm seeing on these birds. i'd buy a '71 455HO TA or a GTO or a Judge way before i'd buy a slow, heavy '79 TA. everyone has the car of their childhood, etc. though. not everyone wants the same car - thankfully.

Originally Posted by Nitebird

But I would buy a Trans Am before I would a GTO. Its all a matter of what a person wants. I had a 1979 TA/SE a long time ago with 400 4spd and I walked alot of GTO's that were not that fast.

100 percent stock, they were good for the day, but not that impressive now. With some well thought out mods, and good tuning, they will run quite well, and live up to that perceived image that keeps the prices high. Not all GTO's and earlier T/A's were that impressive either.

The snobs of the hobby are ruining it for everyone.

[linden_gto]

sorry if i came off too critical of the late 2nd-gen T/As. i'm a fan of the cars, i'm just surprised how the values have taken off recently considering the volume produced and overall performance from the late '70s. my first wife drove a '79 T/A when we met and it immediately caught my attention. values are related to the buyer and what they knew as 'cool cars' when they were young - these cars have clearly come into their own.

[FULZGOLD]

The question is, who's cashing out?....I don't see this lasting for a long time.