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In 1979, to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the Trans Am, Pontiac built the 10th Anniversary Special Edition.<br />
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Pontiac built 7500 Special editions to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Trans Am. There were 1817 built with the Pontiac 400ci engine and a 4 speed manual gearbox and 5683 built with the Oldsmobile 403ci engine and the 3 speed automatic gearbox.<br />
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This car was restored in the US during recent years before being shipped into the UK late 2014. It was imported by a private individual and spent the next 7-8 months in his private museum before being sold. I purchased the car in June 2015 with the intention of building a pro-touring style Trans Am, but my desires have changed.<br />
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The car is a genuine 10th Anniversary Trans Am. The VIN decodes correctly and the original build sheet is present. It is an Oldsmobile 403ci with the TH350 gearbox. It is a WS6 with rear disks.<br />
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Firstly, there is no rust anywhere on this car. A magnet sticks everywhere! The paint is great with just a few stonechips and minor blemishes to show use.<br />
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The car had the correct bird installed when I bought it but the pinstriping was incomplete. I purchased a complete decal kit from Phoenix graphics and had them installed at a cost of over 1000 installed! Expensive but really finishes the car off.<br />
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As part of my pro-touring plans, all the suspension has been gone through and everything has been replaced, every ball joint, every bush, the front coil springs, the rear leaf springs, the shock absorbers .. everything. <br />
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I used the GT-Pro kit from a company called Pro-touring f-body. The kit still uses coil springs front, leaf springs rear but at vastly improved springs rates whilst lowering the car by approx. 1.7 . I also added anti-roll bars from the same supplier. The front is the same size as the stock WS6 bar but significantly stiffer. The rear is bigger and adjustable to suit your needs. The only other big modification are the front control arms. I switched to tubular control arms from BMR. These are significantly lighter and stronger than stock and were outrageously expensive. The body bushings are solid aluminium and the car has sub-frame connectors welded in both these items are also from Pro Touring F-body. There is over 2500 in the suspension/chassis alone!<br />
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The tyres are virtually new 255/60x15. These are almost the same height as stock whilst providing a bigger footprint for better grip. The wheels are the original Turbo wheels in 8 width but would benefit from a re-furb. The original wheels did not feature in my plans otherwise I would have had them done.<br />
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So how does it handle? Fantastic probably on an equal footing with a stock 4th gen f-body and having owned a 4th gen for 10 years previously I can compare!<br />
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The rear lights have been converted to LED (simple plug in conversion). This conversion can be had with either sequential turn signals or the non-sequential version. This is the non-sequential version. It also still features the American spec red turn signals you might want to change that?<br />
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The 403ci is factory stock with all emissions equipment present and correct. I went through and changed all the vacuum lines with silicone. If originality is your bag you would go through them again and change back to rubber. <br />
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I had lots of issues getting the car to run right and eventually diagnosed a warped air horn on the Quadrajet carburettor. I replaced the Quadrajet with a remanufactured item from Uremco bought from Summit Racing. It starts on the button and doesn t miss a beat. The factory original carb will be included if you prefer to rebuild for complete originality.<br />
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The original cruise control module is present but non-functioning. The original factory A/C is all there and working!<br />
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The dash lights have been replaced with LED s for better lighting and looks good with the 10th Anniversary red filters in place. It does mean you can t dim the dash lights but replacing them with standard t-10 bulbs is not hard.<br />
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All the fluids have been gone through and changed, and I do mean all. The posi-track even has the factory additive and fresh oil and yes it does work.<br />
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The interior is very tidy, right down to its original 8 track stereo, and features the silver faux leather seats with the embroidered birds on the door panels and rear seat. There is a burn on the drivers seat. Not me, I don t smoke and was there when I purchased the car. The car was missing its rear safety belts and the fronts were non-inertia type when I purchased. It now has the correct rear belts and inertia type front belts installed and in the correct colour too! <br />
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The stereo lights up but doesn t receive much, but then the fender mounted electric antenna isn t connected. A job I had planned for over the winter but not got around too!<br />
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The mirrored t-tops are correct for the car and the leather storage bags are in the boot.<br />
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All in all, this is a very nice example that benefits from sensible modifications that are easily reversible if complete originality is your thing. It has had much money spent and it would not take much to make it perfect just a little tidying here and there. <br />
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It had a fresh MOT in March.<br />
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The 10th Anniversary Trans Am is a rare bird, certainly more rare than the typical black n gold Bandit editions. <br />
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Any questions just ask. <br />
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Please note I am away between 4th - 11th June. I will still be checking emails but responses may be slightly slower and viewing is not possible during this time, sorry!<br />
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Date written: 01-Jun-2016
Price: £16000 Or near offer
More about this vehicle on carandclassic.co.uk
ID: 3682
