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1988 Pontiac Trans Am Gta Firebird L98 350 Tpi on 2040-cars

Year:1988 Mileage:139000
Location:

Stuarts Draft, Virginia, United States

Stuarts Draft, Virginia, United States
Advertising:

Up for sale is the car that got me through college and I didn't think I'd ever let it go. However the time has finally come, I have a baby on the way and just don’t have time to mess with it anymore.  The car had been parked for 10+ years and I finally got it back on the road and inspected this summer.  It runs and drives well, with the exception of not wanting to idle while cold due to the cam that’s in it.  Once up to operating temperature it’s fine though.  The engine was replaced with a custom Scoggin-Dickey crate motor (ZZ4 rotating assembly, Edelbrock 6085 heads, LT4 Hot cam & 1.6 RRs) around 100k miles (in 2000), so it has less than 40k on it now.  It also has an exhaust leak between the header collector and y-pipe on the passenger side.  Nothing is damaged; it just isn’t lined up quite right. I have installed a vacuum assist pump and canister to make sure the brakes always have sufficient vacuum. Air conditioning and cruise control do not work. 

Cosmetically the paint is completely shot. The only body damage is a torn hole in the front bumper cover.  The original hatch glass was damaged and has been replaced by a unit from an 86 T/A. The spoiler has been replaced by a fiberglass one from Hawks. The only rust on the car is under the battery tray from a leaky battery at some point in time.  The passenger front wheel has a dent in it, and most if not all have some mild curb rash. 

The interior is good shape for its age. The dash and top door sill on the driver’s side have been replaced with un-cracked pieces. (Included is a new piece for the passenger door too, I just haven’t installed it). The center console was swapped out for a 4th gen console for cup holders. There are no rips or tears in the seats, but there are a few minor burn spots.  These are not from cigarettes (car was never smoked in during the 16 years I’ve owned it) but rather from sloppy soldering while working on the stereo, etc.  The steering wheel radio controls work. The hatch motor works properly. The headlights go up and down on their own. The headliner is starting to sag, but is not real bad yet. There is a mild musty smell to the interior from being closed up for so long. 

I think I have covered all the issues with the car, and if you have any questions ask before bidding!  I will be completely honest with you.  I want you to be able to make an educated bid. The mileage may change slightly as I am driving it a little.  The car is for sale locally and I reserve the right to end the auction at any time. The car is sold “As-Is” with no warranty stated or implied. A $500 deposit is due within 2 days of auction end or negative feedback will be left. Buyer is responsible for pickup/shipping, but I will help with what I can.  Thanks for looking.

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Auto blog

A case for Pontiac's return

Wed, Apr 5 2017

Sadly, many brands have disappeared off of the automotive landscape over the decades. Many people have imagined over the years of restarting defunct automotive brands. A few of those dreamers even made prototypes to shop around and to established connections with investors. But, alas poor Yorick, however valiant an effort, many brands are shuttered for good, rarely to be heard of again except in historical tales or maybe seen in car shows. So, what do you do when you win the lottery? Not just any lottery... In fact, it is a lottery that takes care of you and your loved ones for life? You and your family don't have to work, ever. You can give to charity, pay other people to do those projects that you've been putting off, and so on and so on. But, you're still a Car Nut right? There begins the conundrum. Do you buy and fix cars, new premium cars, old muscle cars, or classics, or maybe, just maybe, do you buy the rights to an old departed automotive brand and bring it back to life. Hmm. Which brand? The problem with the old Pontiac was that it was an additional badge engineered vehicle in the portfolio of GM. The meant the brand was diluted by competition from its own parent company, in addition to the competition outside the camp. So, if it were to come back, it would have to be different. Yet, it would still need to keep true to its roots at the same time in order to wake up its armies of existing fans. Even those that aren't fans of Pontiac cannot deny that Pontiac has a long heritage of legendary vehicles. So do Packard, and Studebaker, and others. So, why would a lottery winner choose Pontiac as the marque to bring back? That's easy! Pontiac's long heritage is closely tied to performance vehicles that made many of a teenager drool. Even more important though is that Pontiac is still fresh on people's minds. The brand itself is only recently departed. So, Boomers, Generation X, and Millenials all would all be able to identify with it as opposed to brand names that disappeared multiple decades ago and that now have a more limited appeal. The return of Pontiac couldn't just be another launch of a badge engineered vehicle. It would have to be performance oriented, yes. But, it would have to be unique in some way, a niche brand. What niche though? Look at the automotive landscape now and you see that Tesla is the one out there grabbing at the wide open electric niche with success.

Aficionauto sits down with The Hoff and KITT

Fri, 10 Oct 2014

The latest video from The Aficionauto is the perfect palate cleanser for Knight Rider fans after finding out that Justin Bieber is the voice of KITT in an upcoming film. Host Christopher Rutkowski says that the Knight Industries Two Thousand is one of the most requested vehicles to appear on the series and for good reason - Michael Knight's Pontiac Trans-Am is among the most famous cars to ever appear on television.
While the video isn't able to showcase one of the original KITTs from the series, it does get star David Hasselhoff to drive his personal replica and talk about the lasting legacy of the show. The highlight here might be seeing The Hoff back behind the wheel in the open desert basically recreating Knight Rider's opening sequence.
With all of its flashing lights and gizmos, you can probably make the argument that KITT is pretty cheesy, and the show itself was never exactly a pillar of high-quality drama on television. Despite that, the series still provides a ton of good-natured fun, and The Hoff's continued enthusiasm for it is pretty infectious. Check out The Aficionauto video to take another ride with Knight Rider.

Junkyard Gem: 1997 Pontiac Sunfire SE Convertible

Sun, Mar 5 2023

For the entire 24-year production run of the GM J platform (best known for the Chevrolet Cavalier), the Pontiac Division offered new J-Body cars for sale in the United States. First there was the J2000, followed in quick succession by the 2000, 2000 Sunbird and Sunbird. The Sunbird stuck around until the Cavalier got a major redesign for the 1995 model year, at which point Pontiac changed the car's name to Sunfire. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of those early Sunfires, a top-of-the-line SE convertible with the optional big engine and manual transmission. The Sunfire was an extremely close sibling to the same-year Cavalier (by the late 1980s, all the other US-market GM divisions had dropped their J-cars, which meant no more Skyhawks, Cimarrons or Firenzas), quite difficult to distinguish from its near-twin at a glance. The base engine for the 1997 Sunfire convertible was the pushrod 2.2-liter straight-four that powered so many J-bodies of the 1990s. That engine produced just 120 gnashing, valve-floating horsepower, not much by late-1990s standards. For a mere 450 additional dollars, however, the 2.4-liter Twin Cam engine and its high-revving 150 horses could be had by '97 Sunfire buyers. That's what's in this car. This is one of the members of the Oldsmobile Quad 4 family, though some fanatics will yell at you if you apply that name to the versions that don't have big QUAD 4 lettering cast into the valve cover. This is the most powerful engine ever used in production Sunfires. For 1997, Pontiac offered a four-speed automatic transmission for no extra cost in the Sunfire convertible. Buyers of all other Sunfire models that year had to shell out either $550 or $810 ($1,026 or $1,511 in 2023 dollars) for a two-pedal rig. That means that the buyer of this car really wanted the five-speed manual transmission (or just hungered for the $810 credit offered in the fine print for takers of the manual). Plenty of free-breathing engine power, five-on-the-floor driving enjoyment and the open skies above. What a fun car! This one made it to nearly 180,000 miles. For this car with the Quad 4 under the hood and a clutch pedal on the floor, the MSRP was $18,539 (about $34,584 today). Its Cavalier LS convertible twin with the same engine/transmission setup cost $17,365 ($32,394 now). This car has a bunch of options, including the 15" Rally aluminum wheels, so the out-the-door price would have been higher. The last year for the Sunfire was 2005, same as the Cavalier.