Our Cars--1983 Pontiac Trans-Am
by Chris Hafner
on April 01, 2008
Submitted by Tass Sontag
I love the Trans-Am's looks, and now with a stroked 383 cubic-inch V-8 and other goodies, my Garmin GPS system clocked it doing 161 MPH before I got afraid to do more. It's a real testament to the body design.
Most of the interior pieces came from junkyard Camaros. Yes, it's badly in need of a paint job. It's all go, no show!
--Tass Sontag
Kurt Sonntag on April 03, 2008 at 06:22 AM
The fire chicken here, we call brutus, has yet to be beat by any import,and makes a joke of those sqeeky turbo cars. The fuel mileage leaves a bit to be desired, but 19 mpg aint all that bad.
you do the math, near 400 hp and what really counts, 475 ft lbs of
neck jerking torque with only 3200 lbs curb weight is pleasant.
I also add that with little suspension mods the 3rd gen f-body
will carv out well over 1g in turns. this one does! It's also a testament to quality, that after 24 years the car is still very road worthy and safe. when was the last time you saw a 24 year old import on the road? Not very often.
Abijohn, It has a modded 700r4 and a 3.42 full spool posi 10 bolt rear.Throw a rod? not with forged parts and a 7200 rpm redline! Chevy performance parts come very cheap compared to import
cars so building them tough is affordable.
Rob the SVX guy on April 03, 2008 at 10:37 AM
I see 24+ year old imports on the road all the time. I own two 19 year old hondas, one with over 263,000 miles on the original engine and transmission. There are plenty of them. They are the opposite of fast though.
on April 03, 2008 at 11:27 AM
in the city you don't need fast: responce, braking and then acceleration in that order--also ease in parking--are the heavy considerations.
scott on July 25, 2009 at 10:17 PM
im 15 ys old and just bought my first car, 1983 trans am, i believe its a recaro
its black with the gold trim and has the original gold wheels
i bought it with the ignition froze for $400 and fixed that in about 2 hours and it ran beautifully after sitting for years just needed a little clearing out
i love the car and really want to put money in to restore it
worth it for a first car? ( directed to people who appreciate older "real" cars not stupid little zing zings)