The splitter exhaust was an standard Trans Am feature. Only the 1980 and 81 305s came with z28 straight exhaust.

Wishing you a speedy recovery Steve!

I would love to live in this guys head for a week and absorb some if his car knowledge. Thank you Steve for all these videos that I cant watch enough of.

I love ya Steve, but the Splitter exhaust was standard with both 4.9 engines in 80 & 81. The 5.0 got the straight tail pipes.

I can't believe I live 10 minutes away need to take a walk around this place , driven by and this place has a great selection. I remember when a pretty mint 6.6 was around 8k not long ago times have changed!

Geez that’s a nice looking Trans Am!

Never knew N/A 4.9 existed in Trans-Am , Thanks Steve

Looks and sounds great anyway

Had a 1979 Firebird Formula w/301 v-8 a fun car no questions. Love Pontiacs. I Have a 1967 Firebird Convertible 326 w/3-speed Muncie floor shift I've had since 1971. Nice car well kept and good survivor Firebird.

Had 2 a white 77 and the best one was my black 79 bandit I redid. White one I tried to move a phone pole,I lost my 79 lives somewhere else😫 fun driver nice any yr

Wow nice shine on that paint!

Born in 1965. First car: 1975 firebird 350 sport coupe. Tail spoiler, wheel flares, no shaker hood.

A girl friend (not girlfriend) of mine in high school had one. Steve - you’re spot on as usual. Acceleration was just ok, but the handling and braking were stellar.

Looks and sounds amazing. Really looks like it runs awesome.

The 77' looked better but still have to hand it to Pontiac for trying to keep muscle cars alive!

the splitter pipes were standard on all T/A;s in the late 70,s to 81.

Had '77, 400 car had more than respectable power, handled great.

I was just here from Fall River Massachusetts a couple weeks ago for a small car show you had on the lot with a bunch if T/As it was cool. I think it was you who told me all the cars in the garage were for sale! You told me the Lamborghini was just over 500,000 bucks.

That's a beauty.

Ride-along kind of a nice touch. My wife's 77 is all original AZ. car (so zero rust), 400 Pontiac engine, snowflakes, but no T tops otherwise beautiful car that looks like new, love these.

My first car was a ‘78 Esprit in high school with duals and glass packs. Looked good, sounded great and fast enough to earn me 2 traffic tickets.

I test drove one from a used car lot back when it was about a year old. Also silver, it had a 305 Chevy/auto. Not great on straight line, but still handled better than anything I’d driven at that point in my car enthusiast life. I still would have bought it if I had the money, but I didn’t. A cousin had a 305 4 barrel Camaro of around the same year and we got 115 mph out it one afternoon, at least according to the speedo. Great video.

I knew a kid in high school that had a brand new 81 Turbo Trans am, not his first, he wrecked an 80 Turbo pace car, yeah, his old man was rich, any way he let me drive it one day and I was not going to be happy unless I got all 3 boost lights on the back of the hood scoop lit up, let me tell you it took a long time to get there, but I did, the car was an absolute stone, so I can only imagine what the 301 4 barrel is not capable of!, I personally don't understand why people are paying stupid money for these, they built so many of them, but if you're going to get one it needs to have a Pontiac 400 and a 4 speed!

My favorite style of the second gens. Those quad headlights in the fiberglass nose. ✌

I had a '73 Esprit and my father had a '77 Formula. Both were fun to drive, especially without the catalytic converter.

1970 with a 455 & 4 speed trans was the best Trans Am

I'm glad I found another car site maybe soon I can afford to call you and get you to find me a badass car I love the mustang the Camaro and let's not forget the trans am 6.6

Nice 👍 car , I have a 79 403 Olds no t-tops 57k miles black with silver chicken always turns heads ‼️

I HAD THE PLEASURE OF OWNING A 1979 SILVER TRANS AM W BLK VELOUR INTERIOR...IT HAD A 403 OLDSMOBILE ENGINE 6.6 LTR ...BOY!!WOULD IT FLY!!ME W MY BLONDE HAIR AND A KICKIN BOD..23 YRS OLD...HOT MOMMA LOVED HER RIDE!

A blistering 150 horsepower...

Great information! I just bought an 81' trans am (Canadian) don't know if that makes a difference

That is a nice clean car and I am surprised that 301 sounds strong for what it is.

My brother bought a new one with t tops and colour. Had blue interior though. Paid around 13k Canadian. Side note. The gas filler door in 80 did not have the emblem on it. 81’s had them

Nice car, looks a little high in the rear. I always wanted one of these, maybe that time is coming soon.

Steve you do great work i liked this one because i had a 6.6 T/A back in the 80's screw Jay Leno he's a moron my car was fast as hell no matter what he says! anyway this car is in great shape because its a dog 4.9 nice car but its a shadow of what these cars were just a few years (a year) earlier Steve keep up the great work you really know your stuff i enjoy all your videos take care.

The 301NA in the 1980-1981 had the W designation in the VIN and the 1981 was dubbed 301EC Both of them were the HO versions of the 301 V8 For instance, the 301EC is referred to as "high performance" in the official GM service manual for the 1981 TA equipped with the 301NA. Little information is available nor was it publicized by GM in order not to piss off the 1981 Corvette buyers.

the shacker hood was blocked off from 1973 to 1981.

Would they want to buy a 95' 9c1 caprice LT1 in good shape ex Maine patrol car?

Steve, did this car have the WS-6 Performance Package? Those wider "snowflake" wheels are part of that package. Also, faster steering, harder suspension bushings, firmer shocks, bigger anti-roll bars, stiffer springs and ... four-wheel disc brakes. As for the T-tops; all they do is weaken the unit body, generate squeaks and allow water into the car ... Firebirds and Camaros are better off without them.

open up the shaker !! ... it helps !!

I have a 81 ta black on black solid roof 305 4spd car sitting in my garage. I think it came from the Ohio plant. Something went wrong with a few factory paint jobs my car was one, it was repainted solid black shortly after it was new.

I had a 79 6.6 t top,velour interior the whole shebang..biggest piece of crap i ever owned!..the i bought an 81 5.0 4 speed,handling ,package, gas shocks,no AC,no power door locks or windows,no decals or badging..that was a fun car to drive.you could take off in 2nd gear and at 70mph it tacked at 3000 rpm..

Close, 1973 and up shaker scoops were not functional. It was an emission and supposedly noise issue for them to be functional. We got the tag, we can brag: 80 for 1980 model year, 09A for the first week of September 1979 production, 2FS87 for Pontiac Firebird, L for Van Nuys (Los Angeles), CA assembly, 74B for Carmine Deluxe hobnail interior trim, 15L and 15U for Platinum upper and lower exterior paint, W for water based paint technology (which was what Van Nuys used back then due to air pollution regulations), A51 for bucket seats. Can't make out the last code next to the processing number on the last line. Van Nuys trim tags were less informative than their Norwood, OH counterparts. We got the VIN, we win: 2 for Pontiac, W for Trans Am (correct), 87 for two door plain back coupe, W for 301 V8 with four barrel, Pontiac produced, aka RPO code "L37", A for 1980 model year, L for Van Nuys, CA assembly and the rest is the production sequence. I spot RPO K30 cruise control, C60 AC, N33 tilt wheel, AU3 power locks, C49 rear defogger. That's not correct about the tail pipe splitters. The 301 and 301 turbo of that year all came with them. There is no RPO code on the build sheet to denote the splitter exhaust. No, those are not the original keys. The original keys did not have the plastic cover. Those are replacement keys. 1980 keys are coded C for the ignition and D for the doors, 1979 was A for ignition and B for the doors. Those codes (along with others) rotated every four years. Strattec (part of Briggs and Stratton) made the keys and locks for GM and many other car makers. The fuel filler door appears to have been replaced as 1980 and 1979 did not have a bird decal in most cases. That's usually a 1981 thing. No, that's a repaint inside the trunk as the jacking instructions and aluminum wheel warning decals are missing. Those are available reproduction from Osborn Reproductions among other places online. There were about 22,254 Turbo 301s made for 1980 (I own one of the 5,753 that were hardtops and turbo. My parents bought it brand new). The 5th wheel was swapped out as 1980 would have had a space saver spare originally. Both the 301 VIN "W" and 301 VIN "T" were carbureted. Both had an M4ME Rochester Quadrajet four barrel. The turbo was "complex" for the time because it was a new concept and only used from 1980-1981. Overall, pretty good presentation, but a few facts needed some more details. LOL.

took her out for a RIP, did you Steve, sounded good

Has T/A 4.9 on the shaker not Turbo 4.9

at 5:00 mark, I didn't think GM started using the black plastic covered keys until '83 or '84.....

The passenger side high bram needs replaced🙃 The reflector has corroded inside.

The right inside headlight is blown

That's the wrong spare. It should have a space saver, and a can of air to inflate it. I also see somebody put some air shocks on it to compensate for the broken leaf springs.

Didn't need to be ridiculous in speed. Looking cool was the era

Funny how this car has power door locks but not power windows. Pontiac mad everything a stand alone option. Wish new cars could be ordered with individual options instead of everything being packaged

What actually works better. Cowl or Ram Air Induction. I always thought/think Ram Air, Opening at the Front of the Scoop rather than the Back of the Scoop facing the windshield. Also, Please Report Any and ALL SEX SITE SPAM BOTS!

Please rip out the motor and put in a 455 with straight pipes, 4:11's and a 6 speed.

You "are" a good salesman, Steve. But we know what your "true" opinion is. LOL. Sure, the car is clean, and if you like that nose, I guess it is what it is. But a 301T car couldn't get out of the 16s, (1/4 mile), so we can only imagine what an N/A 301 making way less than 200 HP would be doing. (or not doing). A nice car...for some-one who will really never open the 4 barrels. "yawn".

a very sad and slow demise to a once amazing car it’s about the same as having your pet stuffed after it died

I'd never buy one for over 25 grand

Again. These cool csrs with....an automatic? No thanks.

It's certainly a beautiful car, and I love the fact that it is all original, including the FIFTEEN INCH wheels. But the 1979-1981 Trans Ams (and Firebirds in general) are the worst looking and least desirable of all the second generation models. What was GM thinking when they put that horrible front end on it? If it were mine, I would convert it to the '77-'78 front end, even though that would ruin the originality of it. One really cool thing about these cars is that they can now be insured and registered as collector cars, which means no more emissions tests, and you can now put as much power under the hood as you want (Just keep it carbureted. NEVER put a computer engine in a classic car) As for Mustangs, Ford ended the Mustang in 1979, and when the next "Mustang" arrived in 2005, it was a computer car. Not something I would want.

These get better looking as time goes by until they are too expensive, then they are back to ugly/lame. (imho).

First thing I would do is rip out that turd motor and put in Butler performance engine and dress it with original looking engine compartment! Look stock is better than stock IMO!

Wow nice shine on that paint!