1 owner 70 TA 4spd 3.73 at Mecum PA
 

Crossing the block tomorrow at Mecum in Harrisburg PA
https://www.mecum.com/lots/1123357/1...aa_id=611912-0

Lifelong NC - 1 owner / 1 repaint
4spd, 3.73, 1 piece #s car except for T-Handle shifter
Right wheels and dash bezel but no underhood pics.

Also same seller is offering several other cars.
Another 70 TA (base firebird clone) Ram4 4spd fantasy car
Frame Off
100,000 in receipts ,,,, might tough to recoup - who knows
Wrong wheels and dash bezel , but right tires ?
https://www.mecum.com/lots/1123358/1...aa_id=611540-0

It's the same as my 70, except black interior. It'll be interesting to see how it does. Looks like an awesome car

Hard to make a firm prediction on sale price without under hood pics.
But feeling pretty sure I know who the seller is , and his real cars are usually always really nice under the hoods.

If anyone remembers the ultra rare Blue 70 with Black Cloth interior , 4spd AC car from some years back , I'm pretty sure this is the same collector in Piedmont NC .

The clone fortunate to get to $40k or so maybe $45k due to Ram Air IV drivetrain. Legit Trans Am could see $80k on a good day I feel

On the video they show a bit of the engine compartment.

My browser has problems with Mecum site , I don't see a provision for a video.
Do the inner fender jambs and radiator support look like early pieces ?

If so , it passes the rest of the smell test.

1970 genuine T/A has correct early fenders and dash bezel.

Clone does not.

Alternator is a replacement. They don't show or mention the carb but seems like there's a good chance it may be original.

Looks like a nice TA. Other than the alternator which has been pointed out, my nit-picky items would be fender extractor screens painted white, no drain hose on the shaker, and it looks like they maybe eliminated the TCS thermal switch and related wiring and put the gauge sending unit there on the intake.

Underhood screen shot:

My browser really goes back and forth with Mecum website.
I caught the fender screens , and I know I was looking at the original window sticker and other documents for the car - but now I can't see the document pics on their site at all.

The clone would be plenty cool to drive and joyride.
But too much spent on that type vehicle.
And it doesn't look like they did much or any joyriding with it.

Have seen several Ram3 TA's without original engines converted to Ram4 hardware and bring equal money as a #s Ram3 car in past years.
But this car started with a base bird.

If any of you haven't seen the 70 TA with BROWN / Chocolate interior on eBay yet , check it out too.
65madgoat linked to it in Thews eBay thread in the 67-69 Bird section.

Has anyone ever seen another ?
I have never even HEARD of another one.

I like the Brown when in a 70 GTO , but its pretty off the wall in a 70 TA with blue stripes.
About like the one with Green interior from years ago.

Did it sell?

High bid was $67,000. No bueno.

These cars keep coming out of the woodwork.

I met up with Mark (RAM5JUMB) and his uncle about a year ago. His uncle was buying a Hudson motor from a restorer near Gastonia NC. The restorer was working on a lightly modified Lucy Blue 1970 T/A that had been in their family for many years. I had never seen or heard about the car despite living in near there for about ten years.

So they're still out there.

Big surprise to me it was only bid to 67,000
Black standard interior probably isn't everybody's first choice ,
but I know there are plenty of guys who prefer the black over the blue.
If they correct the fender screens and shifter knob - and it has correct carburetor - I think it would do more around 90k on BaT.

The clone stopped at 55,000 RNM

Black 77 SE Automatic went to 105,000 RNM

75 TA 455 4spd with 76 Nose sold for 26,400

White 70 GTO non-judge Ram3 4spd sold for 88,000

Most all the other Pontiacs so far have done good to really good for what they were.

That 70 GTO was probably a WT car with induction added.
It had standard exhaust manifolds.
Strong money , but it was sharp looking.

No offense "madgoat";
Have some here lost sense of direction?

You can have a one owner, or single family car that is numbers matching and has the wrong fenders;
This car in question was undeniably repainted - and it isn't unusual for repainted cars to get replacement panels - only recently have people worried about idiosyncrasies like correct early fender tops.

in that same vein, you could have a one owner (fifty-four year old car) that has replacement interior parts like a dash bezel which is not assembly line correct.

And similarly, you can have a clone that has all the correct parts.

I would wager that in the first twenty to thirty years, many people just serviced these as used cars, and replaced worn parts with the best they could find.

That's what makes the intact / original cars more valuable and more incredible.
101

wrong eenders
 

Well I'm learning alot on this site and Like you said these are old cars. I believe incorrect fenders probably means an automobile accident that's why some guys don't like it. That's my understanding of why it's mentioned. Fenders don't normally wear out dude but interior does. It's possible that it got a replacement front end and frame tweeked. Big red flag for big dollar car

I completely agree.

And it gives people who are restoring their cars to the highest level of correctness as a guide book of sorts.

I mean wrong fenders shouldn't be that big of a deal - surely the presence of replacement fenders doesn't take away from overall experience of the car...
I try to frame it akin to an owner going the dealer ordering replacement parts 3-5 years after purchase;
There are parts which are obviously incorrect - then there are replacement parts which are not identical to the parts originally used on the assembly line.

Why would BOTH fenders ever get replaced?

Accident.

Rust.


Neither a good sign to buyers forking over $70K for these Trans Ams or any collectible car. if a $20k car, then yeah who cares.

But as Baron noted original/correct/intact cars with attention to detail makes them more valuable and incredible and more in demand these days.

Wrong parts and pieces like fenders.. dash bezels.. core supports.. etc... screams pieced together..

Most of you likely remember the White/Black Deluxe 4spd 70 on BaT a couple months ago.
California native car.
But laundry list of wrong parts.
The Whole front end for starters , restamped carb that was wrong for Cali , dash bezel , etc...

Brought around 75k after he revealed he had another set of wheels that turned out to be JW's with original rubber. I think he was going to hold them back.

He was making big claims and disagreeing with everyone the first few days.
Seemed like it was a good Cali Car that got wrecked , and had some key pieces swapped off of it before he bought it.

I think this Carolina car is a lot better car and could carry its weight on BaT

The one with 73 Endura and hacked grilles shoved / wedged in place.

oops ,,, 81k in February

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...4&d=1722092138

https://www.ebay.com/itm/40511868668...Bk9SR9aO1cqeZA

Oddity for sure.

Years ago.. I remember seeing pictures online of a '70 T/A with brown interior... Probably same car.

I have dark saddle Interior to. Question to experts. Is that correct color carpet? mine in darker.

The carpet appears way too light , to my memory . fwiw
Only a 1970 dealer showroom album will know for sure at this point though , and I don't have one.

That 1970 clone with Ram Air IV engine did close the deal at $55K (which was highest bid but reserve not met at the time):

I noticed it shows that today too.
For some reason I thought it stopped in the 40's ,,,,, even though I posted 55k here earlier.
Too much action this weekend.

A 70 Judge at GAA auction did like that too.
RNM yesterday - sold today.

Over the years I've recorded the VINs of 3 '70 T/As with the brown deluxe interior. All of them white cars - one of them is the car you referenced. That's out of a little over 400 cars ... so definitely rare.

Thanks Keith . :thumbup:

That's still one or two more than I would have thought out of 400 cars. lol
How many Green interiors have you logged - that's gotta be The Rarest.

I think I remember the green one was a numbers matching automatic.
Was probably over 15 years ago.

That's the only white/green one I think I've ever seen, too. It was for sale here in Michigan.

There was also a member on this forum that claimed ownership of an original '70 Blue exterior/green interior car. He posted a few pics of it in Post #48 of this thread:
https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...nterior&page=3

I hope that Green is the rarest interior in 70 TA's .
Just don't see how anyone made that selection , and paid extra for it too (custom/deluxe option).

That guy with the Blue/Green car probably has 1 of 1 if its genuine.
I don't remember much from that thread even though I posted in it 2 or 3 times. :knock:

I've seen at least three different 70-72 T/As that were white with green interior. One was a 1971 or 1972 T/A 4-spd over 30 yrs ago. It belonged to a co-worker when I was in Charlotte. I have seen two others, one was a 1972 column shift auto with green interior and another 1971 or 1972 green automatic interior. One was in the Raleigh area, the other was down in SC.

I’d wager they were ordered first, because green was a popular colour back then;
I mean, I cannot be the only person who seems to remember every second sedan from that period had some version of a green interior!?

Secondly, once inside the car, and you’re surrounded by it - it probably seems (and looks) just fine!

I used to think along the lines of what I am reading here about nearly every interior colour, till I spent some time driving a 77 TA with deluxe red interior - the colour, and contrast to the outside of the car was really nice.

I also had a 91 Grand am with navy blue interior;
I hated it at the time, and did a complete colour change - and ended up missing the blue.

Coloured interiors can be a good thing - even if from the outside it might seem odd or funny.

there was an older woman here in tulsa that bought a new 71 white / green t/a. she drove it everyday as her driver. she was really short and sat on a pillow. when she died her family sold it to a friend of mine who immediately did a complete interior color change to black. i wouldve kept it green myself.

Pictures of the original carpet in my old 1970 Formula 400 with brown interior (code 213).

I did the same to my white interior '72. If it would have been green... I would have left it alone.