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Rare 1996 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Coupe Ws6. Low Miles, Great Shape! on 2040-cars

Year:1996 Mileage:87300
Location:

Santa Rosa, California, United States

Santa Rosa, California, United States
Advertising:

FOR SALE: 1996 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am with "Ram Air" WS6 performance package.

Pictures: Spot of clear coat degradation on hood.  Graphite cloth interior has no rips or tears. Interior is darker than it appears in the pictures.  The sun was really bright that morning and the pictures are a bit washed out.  A few small chips in passenger door caused by careless folks in parking lots.  Stock LT1 V8 (Rated 305 hp) with Hotchkis Strut Tower Brace.  Car is always covered when parked outside of the garage.

Current Condition: 87,300 miles on original drive train, all accessories fully functional, original paint in good shape with one spot of clear coat degradation on the hood. Tires replaced in 2012 are in great shape.  The brakes with good life left in them. Interior is excellent. No rips/tears on the seats nor any cracks or warps in the plastic parts or dash. Interior in excellent shape due to the fact that the car was always under a car cover when taken to work. Car is basically factory stock with a few modifications documented below. This car has never been smoked in.  Check out the custom license in the picture: RAIR TA

History: I am the original owner. I ordered the car from Silveira Pontiac in Healdsburg, CA. in January of 1996. I took delivery on August 1, 1996. The car has been my daily driver ever since. I have a short commute (<5 miles) and that is why the mileage is so low for an 18 year old car. 

This car is one of 2051 WS6 Formula/Trans Ams built in 1996 and is destined to become a classic.This was the first year for the WS6 option in the Fourth Gen Firebirds (1993-2002). I still have the original window sticker and the 1996 Pontiac Firebird Brochure as well as a copy of Auto Week that did a nice article on the WS6 TA in November of 1996. Original owners manual, Helm Service and Chassis manuals also come with the car along with the car cover. Factory options include: AM/FM/CD Player with power antennae, Leather appointments group (Shifter boot, knob and steering wheel), Stereo controls in the steering wheel, factory alarm, upraised spoiler.  

I ordered every option available on this car except the T-Bar roof (worried about water leaks over the long haul), leather seats (too expensive and I like cloth), Traction Control (This is California, I would never take this car in the snow) and the auto transmission (Why would you want an auto when you can have a 6-speed??).  I was shocked when I saw the factory production numbers for 1996 and realized that the vast majority of these cars were built with automatic transmissions!

 Modifications: I had a set of Hotchkis sub frame connectors welded in when the car was brand new.  After 87K miles, the car is still very tight and solid with no body creaks. In addition to the SFCs, I installed a Hotchkis Strut Tower Brace under the hood. These mods in addition to the factory WS6 suspension make this TA a sweet handling car on curvy roads. The difference between the handling of this car and a standard Camaro or Firebird is dramatic. Recently, Hotchkis trailing arms have been added as well.

 The next modification was to install a new shifter. The stock GM Shifter is kind of mushy. I replaced it with a B&M Ripper for the M6. The difference is night and day. I still have the original shifter and you get it with the car if you want it. At this same time, I disabled the Skip Shift feature on the car. If you don't know what that is, Google GM Skip Shift. I used a ceramic resistor in the connector so the computer doesn't know it is disabled and does not trigger an Service Engine Soon light.

 When it was time for the first brake job, I upgraded the brakes with high performance slotted rotors and metallic pads. I was surprised by the improvement in stopping power. I would never go back to the stock rotors/pads. 

 The remaining mods are a Flowmaster muffler and synthetic fluids in the transmission and rear end. The engine has been running Mobil 1 since the first oil change at 500 miles. Other than that, the car is completely stock.

 Maintenance: The oil and filter have been changed every 3-5K miles and always with Mobil 1 5w-30 synthetic. All scheduled maintenance has been performed. Some of the long term common and expensive maintenance items have already been addressed:

 1. Brand new clutch installed May, 2014 ($1400)
 2. New Opti-Spark installed plus plug and wire change. 2010 ($1600)
 3. New struts, shocks, rear suspension bushings, Serpentine Belt,  Hotchkis trailing arms installed with alignment, Jan 2014 ($1772)
 4. Die Hard Gold battery installed - February 2012 ($125)
 5. New tires - 2012 ($1100)

I have the receipts for all of this work.

 Please note when comparing the price of this car to similar cars that I have spent nearly $6000 on these maintenance items in the last couple of years. Therefore you won't have to. If the car you are comparing to this one has not had these items updated, that car will likely be needing this work done in the not to distant future.

 Other component failures that have been replaced/repaired:

 1. A/C Compressor - Jan 2010
 2. Fuel Pump - May 2014
 3. Water Pump - 2005
 4. Factory speakers started to wear out and buzz. I replaced all but the sub-woofers in the back seat with Polk Audio coaxial speakers. They sound great.  - 2012
 5. Radiator replaced when side tank sprung a leak.  Probably around 2005 or so.

 This car has never failed a SMOG check. Registration is due in August and the car has already been checked and it passed. Due date on the SMOG/Registration is August 8.  If you buy the car after Aug 1, you will probably have to pay for another SMOG test for title transfer.  The title on this car is completely clean. 

 ISSUES: I will be honest. There are a couple of idiosyncrasies you should know about . The first is the head lights. The design of the pop up head lights in the 4th gen Firebirds and the same year Corvettes is not the best. The nylon gears in the motors tend to wear out quickly. Rather than keep replacing head light motors, I bought a kit and rebuilt the motors with replacement brass gears. Now they won't wear out but they do bind up sometimes which keeps them from popping up. If the lights don't pop up, you must raise the hood and turn the manual knob on the motors slightly to break them loose. Then they pop up fine. 

There is another issue with the right head light. There is supposed to be a pin that acts as a stop for the rotating links of the pop up mechanism. The pin on the right head light broke off at some point, I don't know how. The result is that the linkage over rotates when closing the lights down and the right head light pops back up partially. You have to raise the hood and use the knob to bring it back down. I usually give a little turn to the left headlight at the same time and that way they are ready to go the next time I turn them on.  It's a little bit of a hassle but installing a new stop will solve this problem. I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

The car report shows an accident for this car.  I was at a stop light and when the light turned green, the car behind me started forward and bumped me in the rear.  This resulted in damaging the low speed crash material under the bumper and scratching the bumper.  The Pontiac dealership that sold the car did the repair and repainted the bumper.  There was no structural damage to the car.  On one other occasion, I came out to the car in a parking lot and there was a dent in the right rear quarter panel where somebody obviously hit the car when backing out and of course, they did not leave a note.  Again, the Pontiac dealership where I bought the car did the repair and did a great job.  Those are the only "accidents" the car has seen. 

 So, why am I selling it? I bought it when I was 36 and now I am 54 and am more interested in gas mileage and comfort than how fast I can go. After 18 years of driving the car, I am just ready for a change.  That being said, I am going to miss this car.  I drove it home from the Fairgrounds today and this car is simply fun to drive.  Remember, there were only 2051 of the WS6 cars built in 1996.   If this is the vintage Trans Am you are looking for, you are likely not going to find another with low miles like this still in basically stock running form.  The WS6 only came in this style of body for 2 years, '96 and '97.  The body style changed for the '98-'02 cars and they made a zillion of the WS6 models in that style as evidenced by all of the ones for sale on Ebay.  This '96 is truly a rare car in great shape.  By the way, watch out for fake WS6s. Check the door sticker like the one in my picture. If it doesn't say WS6 on the sticker, it isn't one.

Sales Terms: I will take a check or cashiers check but I will not sign over the pink slip or hand you the keys until the check clears my bank which could take a couple of weeks. Cash would be best but even then, I will take the cash to the bank for inspection prior to finalizing the sale.  I am not trying to make things difficult for you but I must protect myself. If you want the car shipped, that will be up to you to set up.

Keywords: Transam Trans-Am Muscle Car Pony Mustang Camaro Trans Am WS-6  WS.6 Ram Air

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Looking back at Oprah's free-car giveaway 10 years later

Fri, 12 Sep 2014



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The New United Motor Manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, built Toyota-derived machinery — badged as Toyotas, Chevrolets, Geos, and Pontiacs— from 1984 through 2010, and some of the very last vehicles that left the assembly line were Pontiac Vibes. The Vibe, sibling to the Toyota Matrix, mostly served as a ho-hum transportation appliance and/or fleet car, but a factory-hot-rod GT version could be purchased. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of those rare GTs, complete with the nearly unheard-of six-speed manual transmission, found in a self-service yard in northeastern Colorado. The regular Vibe had 123 or 130 horsepower, depending on the number of driven wheels, but the Vibe GT got the same 1.8-liter 2ZZ engine that went into the Celica GT-S. 180 horsepower, which was enough to make the 2,800-pound Vibe GT keep up with the 3,108-pound/215-horse Chrysler PT Cruiser Turbo that year. Sadly, no race series pitting Vibe GTs against PT Cruiser Turbos and Chevy HHR SSs on road courses ever materializedÂ… but it's not too late. The Vibe GT has something you couldn't get in a PT Cruiser or Chevy HHR, though: a six-speed manual transmission as standard equipment. In fact, the six-speed was the only transmission offered in the early Vibe GTs (an automatic became an option later on). You'll find plenty of three-pedal econoboxes from this era, because they were significantly cheaper than their slushbox-equipped counterparts, but the Vibe GT had plenty of competition from sportier-looking cars with manual transmissions in 2004. Not many were sold. This car is covered with nasty dents from golf-ball-sized hail (all too common in High Plains Colorado), so it may have been an insurance total that nobody wanted at auction. Sold in Wyoming, will be crushed in an adjacent state. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Fuel for the soul. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The kids, they were crazy about the Vibe (well, maybe not). This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Toyota had right-hand-drive Matrixes brought over to Japan from Canada, but a NUMMI-built version of the Vibe could be purchased there for a few years as well. This was the Voltz, and its advertising seems notably frantic even by the standards of Japanese car commercials.

General Motors Recall List

Wed, Oct 22 2014

It seems General Motors can't go more than a few weeks without issuing a major recall. Since the initial ignition lock recall on February 10, over 25 million vehicles have been recalled for defects. It seems General Motors can't go more than a few weeks without issuing a major recall. Since the initial ignition lock recall on February 10, over 25 million vehicles have been recalled for defects. We used the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recall list to compile a snapshot of all the GM vehicles recalled in the last two months. NHTSA also provides a search engine that allows owners to search for recalls on their vehicle. An automotive company must do everything in their power to notify its customers when a recall is issued on a vehicle. If you own any of the following vehicles and you have questions regarding your car, you can contact Chevrolet at 1-866-694-6546, GMC at 1-866-996-9463, Buick at 1-800-521-7300 and Cadillac at 1-866-982-2339. Or check out General Motor's recall site. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) or go to www.safercar.gov. Here's a brief summery of the other vehicles currently under recall: July 26 – 414,333 cars affected NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V447000 Models under recall: Certain model year 2011-2012 Buick LaCrosse, Regal and Chevrolet Camaro, as well as certain 2010-2012 Cadillac SRX, Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles, equipped with power height adjustable driver and passenger seats. Problem: In the affected vehicles, the bolt that secures the driver's and passenger's power front seat height adjuster may fall out causing the seat to drop suddenly to the lowest vertical position. Consequence: If the driver's seat unexpectedly drops, the distraction and altered seat position may affect the drivers' control of the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash. Solution: Dealers will replace the height adjuster shoulder bolts, free of charge. July 14 – 16,939 cars affected NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V341000 Models under recall: Certain model year 2011 Cadillac CTS vehicles manufactured October 18, 2010, to June 2, 2011. Problem: In the affected vehicles, vibrations from the drive shaft may cause the vehicle's roll over sensor to command the roof rail air bags to deploy. Consequence: If the roof rail air bags deploy unexpectedly, there is an increased risk of crash and injury to the occupants.