While surfing Ebay, I don't know what gets into
me but I find myself looking at third gen Pontiacs again. How I got from
C4 Corvettes to F-bodies is a mystery to me but there I am, looking at old Trans Ams. I
hit upon the mother lode with a 1986 low mileage all original Pontiac Trans Am, black with tan Recaro
interior. The asking price was kind of steep but for a low mileage,
meticulously maintained LB9 / auto TA with rare Recaro interior and T-tops, sporting
just 48,000 original miles and flawless mechanical operation of every option, it
wasn't that hard a choice to make. The car is located in North Carolina, a fair
piece to drive but it should be an adventure if this works out.
I'd really like to have a black and gold third gen TA but if I win this car, I
can always paint the ground effects gold and add the fade stripe to the body.
I print out the entire auction from Ebay and send the link to my father. We are looking for
a car we can campaign at local car shows and work on together and it is our
mutual opinion that the '89 Formula is simply too far gone for anything other
than parts or salvage. Or, to put it another way, I could spend the same
amount of money that I intend to spend on purchasing the '86 Recaro TA in
restoring the '89 Formula and I still wouldn't have the same grade of car as the
'86 TA appears to be.
My initial misgivings on the auction center around the fact that the 1986 TA does not appear to be a WS6 car.
This
concerns me somewhat since WS6 cars are more desirable and I'm not getting the
basic heavy duty hardware, from the factory, that I would like. However,
even this minor misgiving is not
a problem since I have access to a 3.27 geared 9 bolt Borg Warner posi rear end
and 16x8 inch aluminum wheels with almost brand new tires on them courtesy of
the '89 Formula 350 I have in storage. I might
have to swap in a quick ratio steering box but since I plan on ripping out the
entire factory suspension and replacing all the parts with heavy duty
aftermarket parts in the not too distant future, what size sway bars this TA
currently has on it now makes little difference to me. Still, it's just
strange that you would find a TA that was optioned with the high dollar stuff
like the TPI engine, the mandatory automatic overdrive transmission, the Recaro
interior and T-tops. Why this TA isn't a WS6 car eludes me but that one
fact alone won't keep me from acquiring this car should I decide to do so.
Currently,
the car is selling for $7495.00 instant buy and there are 8 bids on the car
totally just shy of $1100.00. The reserve has not been met. I play
around with owning the TA in my mind and set up several scenarios for acquiring
it, all of them feasible and easy to implement. I go to bed as my mind
starts to work out the details.
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