[keith k]

Now for some 1970 TA trivia….

For probably 25 years now I’ve been saving PHS Invoice copies for 70 TAs that are posted online. This started when I was doing research to restore my first one. I’m up to 196 invoices now (70 TA only, I don’t do it for other models or years…).

Since I managed to bust up my shoulder slipping on ice in my driveway and can’t do much else right now, I did some data entry from the invoices to tabulate option take rates.

So below are the percentage of 1970 Trans Ams that have each available option, based on my sample of invoices. 196 invoices represents only a little over 6% of production, so I’m not suggesting these are pinpoint accurate – but probably directionally so.

342 4BBL SD R/A 5 % (actual rate was a little under 3 %)
368 AXLE-PERFORM 12 % (More than 12% got 3.73s, but on many they were unpriced, thus not on the invoice, because they were mandatory/included with RAIV cars and RAIII / M21 cars)
401 RADIO P/B 78 %
402 RADIO AM&FM 12 %
404 RADIO STEREO 7 % (the sum of these three implies 3% got no radio)
411 SPEAKER R/ST 24 %
412 TAPE-STEREO 12 %
431 MOULD-DÉCOR 39 %
441 MIRROR-VISOR-R 12 %
451 BELTS-CUSTOM 32 %
471 TRIM RINGS 11 %
494 CONSOLE 78 %
504 STG WHL-TILT 12 %
521 MATS-FL-FRT 39 %
522 MATS-FL-REAR 16 %
524 TRUNK MAT 2 % (incl. with Custom Trim, so these are just standalone orders on base trim cars)
531 GLASS-S/R-AL 45 %
532 GLASS-S/R-WS 36 %
541 DEFOG-R/WIND 8 %
551 PWR WINDOWS 10 %
552 POWER LOCKS 4 %
554 DECK LID-CON 6 %
582 AIR COND 32 %
661 CONVEN LAMPS 9 %
684 GRDS-DR-EDGE 20 %
692 BATTERY-HD 10 %
701 RADIATOR-HD 33 %
711 EM/SYS-EVAP 17 % (All California-sold cars)
731 CUSTOM TRIM 51 %
741 ROOF MLDG 3 % (incl w/ Décor Moulding, so these are just standalone orders on base moulding cars)
752 ANTI-FREEZE 5 % (All Canadian-sold cars)

Amongst the 196 cars, there was a 2-way tie for most invoiced options at 13.

One of them was a white over red RA III/auto sold out of Meridian Motors in Concord, CA. The other was a white over blue RA III/auto sold out of Peoples Pontiac in Clayton, NJ.