[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.

[Flowjoe]

Originally Posted by 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.

RA4auto, not picking on you just pulling your quote for reference.

If Jim Wangers is supposedly responsible for these "promotional" TA's fitted with 400 hoods and 350CID engines then why don't we ask him? He is alive and well. His office is like 7 miles from my home.

Here are two of his web sites:
http://www.geetotiger.com/

http://www.jimwangers.com/homepage.html

There are several PY members who know him very well.

Why guess and postulate when the source exists?

[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.

[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.

[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

[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?

[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.

[John V.]

I'd like to see any articles featuring the silver prototype(s). Curious if there was a man trans version.

Can any TA guys confirm what I surmise to be true, that the Chicago Auto Show car was likely the same car that was featured in the TA advertising and the Sales Manual TA cut sheets?

Further to my comments that the 2nd TA Bulletin was mainly a clarification, consider:

1. The base TA transmission was the same as the base Firebird 400 transmission so it is redundant to have added this notation since the 1st Bulletin intended to note only those additions beyond the Firebird 400 equipment.

2. Code 481 Dual Exhaust was only optional for the 2 bbl 350, it was a standard feature for all other V8s, including the Firebird 400. It was redundant to identify it as an added TA feature over the base Firebird 400.

3. Code 672 Heavy Duty Battery was also a standard feature for all V8 except 2 bbl 350, redundant as an added TA feature.

4. 14" dia., 7" wide steel wheels was standard for the Firebird 400, redundant as an added TA feature.

One could have reasonably assumed that the higher level Engine (RAIV) and Transmission choices that were available for the Firebird 400 would have been optional for the TA also, the 2nd Bulletin simply spells this out. The most significant content change between the 1st and 2nd Bulletin appears to be the inclusion of the Safe-T-Track differential. The specified 3.55 axle ratio did not change and I do not know if an open diff 3.55 axle was even offered for the Firebird 400 so it is unclear to me if this was actually an indication of added content or a clarification that the 3.55 axle was only available with locking diff. Either way, I'm guessing the plan was to include the Safe-T-Track diff all along.

Misc. wording changes can be found on the 2nd Bulletin. The Front Fender Air Extractors were called "Simulated" while they were called Brake Scoops on the 1st Bulletin, implying they were functional. Perhaps early prototypes were functional but in production they opted for "simulated" scoops.

Point is, the 2nd Bulletin did not "correct" a bunch of errors. There were at most 4 actual changes indicated, including the change in location for the Trans Am decals, if the prototype Brake Scoops were functional. There were 2 errors corrected, including the correction to the PS Sales Code and the elimination of the Ram Air Inlet as an included option. The rest of the revisions can be characterized as clarifications meant to confirm what the 1st Bulletin intended.

And if I didn't make it clear in my earlier post, the Silver prototype(s) made use of a specific prototype fiberglass hood, which was shown to the Press 2 months before the 1st Bulletin was written. Clearly, it was known at the time the 1st Bulletin was written that the TA was to get a hood very different from the Firebird 400 hood.

The issuance of the 2nd Bulletin in no way would have signaled a change in the planned hood as suggested by 1969TA by his statement, "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." That is nonsense. The TA hood was planned and prototyped months prior to either Bulletin.

[69 T/A]

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

[Cammer-6]

John, good research.
yes the base trans for a T/A was the Dearborn(same as the 400)
base differential for T/A was the 3.55 posi as was the variable rate PS ,1 inch sway bar,and the PDB.
Adding all this up at $724.60, standard equipment made the T/A a real bargain.
Not mentioned here but noteworthy was the 455 coupe that Adams played with before settling on the 400 for the T/A.This car had all the T/A equipment including the T/A hood but was painted a different paint scheme and had the yet to be released 455.