[1969T/A]

1969 "350 Engined" Trans Am
I finally found the article that states there was about
6 "350 Engined" Promotional 1969 Trans Ams
Made for Advertising The 1969 trans am..
There was also one "V6" prototype car.

[Flowjoe]

Originally Posted by 1969T/A

1969 "350 Engined" Trans Am
I finally found the article that states there was about
6 "350 Engined" Promotional 1969 Trans Ams
Made for Advertising The 1969 trans am..
There was also one "V6" prototype car.

link to the article? I'd love to read that...

[1969T/A]

The article is in the October 1980 issue of the
Car Collector And Car Classics.

[1969T/A]

Also,There's A Article In The First Dealer Bulletin Announcing The 1969 Trans Am.
That Backs Up Some Info Provided In The Car Collector And Car Classics Article.

[RA4auto]

Quote from article written by Edward Morehouse:

"While Adams' PFST was a one-off. Jim Wangers had a half-dozen similar cars built for promotional purposes. These were all fitted with Pontiac's new 350cid V-8 and utilized the standard Firebird 400 hood with its twin forward facing scoops.

[Cammer-6]

Agreed that was PFST
I would love to have that one off Sprint PFST.
PSSS its not a V-6 and those werent Trans AMs.

[1969T/A]

Originally Posted by Cammer-6

Agreed that was PFST
I would love to have that one off Sprint PFST.
PSSS its not a V-6 and those werent Trans AMs.

Hey Numb Nuts PSSS Go Look
In The First Dealer Bulletin Announcing The 1969 Trans Am.
It tells you there were 1969 trans am's with 400 hoods.
And By the way these were promotional 1969 trans ams
with 400 hoods.

[einstein]

What's with the name-calling? Are you 12 years old?

[boater bill]

I seem to remember the article and they are referring to the PFST cars.
The first was a bad a** Sprint with webers and machined aluminum oil pan to match the cam cover.
Motor Trend did a test drive and article on that car. I have a photo copy in my files.

[Cammer-6]

Originally Posted by einstein

What's with the name-calling? Are you 12 years old?

avatar must have some role in thinking process before a response

[Kurt S]

Originally Posted by 1969T/A

Hey Numb Nuts PSSS Go Look
In The First Dealer Bulletin Announcing The 1969 Trans Am.
It tells you there were 1969 trans am's with 400 hoods.
And By the way these were promotional 1969 trans ams
with 400 hoods.

Yes, they published an incorrect list and then corrected it. They followed the original 2/7/69 bulletin with one on 3/7/69 correcting many of the options / features that were shown in the first bulletin. The second bulletin lists the correct T/A hood.

Anyone able to scan the relevant page of the 1980 article so we can see the context??

[1969T/A]

Originally Posted by Kurt S

Yes, they published an incorrect list and then corrected it. They followed the original 2/7/69 bulletin with one on 3/7/69 correcting many of the options / features that were shown in the first bulletin. The second bulletin lists the correct T/A hood.

Anyone able to scan the relevant page of the 1980 article so we can see the context??

No,The "350 Engined" Promotional 1969 Trans Ams had 400 hoods.
When they started production they then added the trans am hood.
Thats why there's two bulletins.

[Kurt S]

Originally Posted by 1969T/A

No,The "350 Engined" Promotional 1969 Trans Ams had 400 hoods.
When they started production they then added the trans am hood.
Thats why there's two bulletins.

The second bulletin clearly is a correction to the information in the first bulletin. Both predate any T/A production.

I sure don't think you can juxtapose the magazine article and the first bulletin. The bulletin says they have to be 400's. Nothing in the magazine article (from what you've posted, still waiting to see it) says what hood they used.

[1969T/A]

Originally Posted by Kurt S

The second bulletin clearly is a correction to the information in the first bulletin. Both predate any T/A production.

I sure don't think you can juxtapose the magazine article and the first bulletin. The bulletin says they have to be 400's. Nothing in the magazine article (from what you've posted, still waiting to see it) says what hood they used.

I pointed you in the direction were you need to look
Now its time for you to go buy or locate the article.
I gave you the magazine "Name, Month, Year & Picture Of It".

P.S
Also you should never state something as clearly a correction
until you have seen all the info.
To me that's not good research or a good researcher.

[Jocko Johnson]

Guys; discussion board hints....
Call out the trolls as trolls from the get go when it is this obvious.
Bait them if you know the game, and want to 'play'.
But do not "debate" them. In not debating them they tend to implode, and then get banned.
By responding like they are rationale beings you play into the game. By not doing so they lose the game. Trolls hate "losing the game".

[John V.]

This discussion is kind of silly to me. What the heck is meant by a "promotional" Trans Am?

The 2nd TA Bulletin was mainly a clarification. Very little of the option content was changed.

For example, the 1st Bulletin says the TA Package will include Variable Ratio Power Steering. But it incorrectly noted the Sales Code for this regular Firebird option as 502. The 2nd Bulletin corrected the Sales Code to the proper 501.

Specifically, addressing the TA Hood. The 1st Bulletin noted that the TA Package content included the Firebird 400 equipment with noted additions.

One of the noted additions was "Specific Hood with Longer Scoops". It separately listed the Code 611 (UPC T42) Ram Air Inlet Hood which was an available regular Friebird option (400 only).

The 2nd Bulletin revised this because the specific Trans Am Ram Air arrangement was unique to the Trans Am because of the specific TA hood. So the wording was changed to read "Specific hood with longer scoops provide fresh air intake to engine".

But the "Specific Hood with Longer Scoops" was noted as part of the TA Package in both Bulletins.

If the 1st Bulletin wanted to imply a regular 400 Hood, it would have omitted reference to the "Specific Hood" since the premise was the TA was adding to the 400 equipment.

The format for identfying the additional equipment by starting from the next lesser model was the same format that PMD used for all of the Firebird offerings.

To suggest that the 2nd Bulletin implied a change of content from the regular 400 hood to the TA hood is a colossal misinterpretation of what is clearly stated.

The 1st Bulletin makes it clear that not only had production of the TA not begun but that TA pricing had not even been established yet. I have no clue how anything in the 1st Bulletin could be construed to mean that there were already TAs, "promotional" or otherwise, yet 1969T/A states the 1st Bulletin "tells you there were 1969 trans am's with 400 hoods". In fact, it clearly states they were not yet in production.

The most interesting info contained in the 1st Bulletin is that production would begin in the Norwood and Van Nuys Assembly Plants around April 1.

The interesting part is that when this announcement was made Norwood had not even begun to build any Firebird. And the Lordstown Plant, where the majority of '69 Firebirds were being built to that point, isn't even mentioned.

Clearly, PMD knew that '69 Firebird production would soon shift to Norwood from Lordstown, but still, if you were not aware of that event, the 1st Bulletin would be very telling.

I don't see it as research to point to a magazine article published more than a decade after the '69 TA was built and point to it as evidence of anything. It is a rare auto mag article that doesn't get several facts wrong about the subject matter.

But if RA4auto is quoting from the referenced article, it sounds like the "promotional" cars that 1969T/A is interpreting as 350 engined TAs were actually an evolution of the Sprint PFST. The quote says these cars, purported to have been ordered up by Jim Wangers, featured "Pontiac's new 350cid V-8" with 400 hoods.

Could anything be more obvious? The Pontiac 350 was "new" for '68.

To suggest a connection between such a car and the '69 TA is grasping at straws.

It is well established that the PFST evolved from its OHC6 origin with its Herb Adams tuned suspension thru to V-8 power. Ultimately, the PFST concepts were drawn upon in the evolution of what became the production TA.

I'm sure many here are more familiar than me with the actual TA prototype and introduction story.

The prototype was previewed by the press in December 1968. The car was silver, it was powered by a 400. I have no idea where it was built or where it was transformed with TA prototype fender extractors, fiberglass hood, etc. It was featured in a Hot Rod Mag article that appeared in March, still prior to production. The car was reportedly later destroyed, I would think there is little doubt of this, or at least that it was not sold with prototype equipment in place.

A TA closely resembling actual production was then introduced at the Chicago Auto Show in early March, 1969. In fact, the 2nd Bulletin may have been issued to coincide with this event. I do not know if this was a pilot production car, where it may have been built (Van Nuys would seem more likely than Lordstown, assuming it was line built). I do not know if there is any photo record from the Auto Show or what may have become of the car itself.

I am not aware of more than one TA prototype being previewed by the press in Dec. '68. I suppose Wangers could have had a few more dressed up with TA prototype exterior paraphernalia for that event, and if he claims they were done up from 350 engined 'birds, I'll believe it. But it would have been pretty dumb to use those examples to gain press reaction since they would only have looked the part. Personally, I doubt more than one such prototype was built or shown.

[einstein]

John, I don't know about the dates, but I'm thinking there were two silver cars used for the press to evaluate which might suggest they were released to the press about the same time. One (the one in HRM) was a RA IV auto, the other was a four speed but I cannot recall which engine - III or IV. I have seven magazines (and a loose October MT article about the 303 in a TA) from back then that published road tests of the TA and a couple of them were obviously later as the cars were white and blue by then. Only problem is I can't get my hands on the magazines right now. But at least one other road test was with a silver car, probably the auto car Hot Rod used, but I just keep thinking there was a silver four-speed car used in another article.

Of course, the white/blue-striped cars were in more than one article, as you could see the GM license plates in some of the photos.

I recall the Hot Rod article was March 69, but Car Craft and Motor Trend were June 69 with white/blue striped cars. Motor Trend also had the one-month-only two-page advertisement, along with (I think) Sports Car Graphic. I think there was another article with a white car that was an April publication, might have been SCG. There was an article that showed Jerry Titus standing between a silver racecar and a white/blue car, I don't recall which magazine that was. One later and unusual magazine was one called "Supercars of 1970" or something, which talked about the 303. I guess I'm forgetting the one magazine with a silver car that was a very detailed 7-page report on thrashing the car across the desert for hours.

Maybe another TA guy can remember and list them all, or post links to a site with these articles?

[69TA/RAIII]

Glenn, I have the Hot Rod with the silver T/A AND the Motor Trend with the 303 article handy. Would you like scans?

[69 T/A]

I think it would help most folks here if you could put them here, but what would I know?

[einstein]

Originally Posted by 69TA/RAIII

Glenn, I have the Hot Rod with the silver T/A AND the Motor Trend with the 303 article handy. Would you like scans?

Not for me, I was just wondering if anybody might post them here for the enlightenment of others.

I have all seven original magazines, plus the page from MT with the 303 article, plus I have a file with all of them photocopied. My problem is I cannot share them because I'm traveling every week and they're packed away somewhere at home. I probably couldn't put my hand on them without hours of searching. With all my travel, weekends are too precious to take away from the family.