Test Drive 1980 Pontiac Trans Am Indy 500 Pace Car SOLD FAST $24,900 Maple Motors

[@mannyzunigazuniga8863]

Damn. I remember seeing these when I was a kid. Thought they were so cool.

[@tonytrumble]

These are beautiful cars that are way underpowered. This could use a well built 6.6L 403!

[@clee47ford]

With a real TA hood and shaker...

[@KetchLambier]

A boat anchor in a cool body.

[@stevenbullock9276]

Absolutely. Used to have one. Gorgeous car that couldn't get out of it's own way. Before getting this one used, I had a 1980 TA- pretty base- I bought new for $7700. I remember a couple of these sitting next to it for around $11K new.

[@Tank70Torino]

About 99.9% that this was mine from 1995 to 1999, I still have the original title and paperwork from the original owner that I bought it from. Just the imperfections on it was the same as mine which is crazy.😮

[@markboyce1001]

Every single one I seen of these cars , were either rust buckets, interiors all tore up , engines were wore out, this is one very nice, and I think the price is right, another nice car Maple Motors.

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

I agree Mark

[@brianbishoff]

will sell fast.

[@DavidClark-vu3dw]

How many did they make? I just watched the beginning of the 1980 Indy 500 and there were three on the track pacing the field. Did they make more than three pace cars?

[@mountainskys]

Was the least desirable TA ever made. ☹

[@stevenlindsey2056]

​​@@DavidClark-vu3dwIt was a package that you could order. This isn't one of the actual pace cars. They made over 5000 of these.

[@artierosesmithie9191]

We had a 1976 Buick Century Bicentennial Edition for the Fourth of July Parade loaned from the local dealership for promotion. We detailed it for the parade. It had The T-tops and was loaded. And in 2014 I saw the once beautiful American muscle car sitting in some greedy old fool's yard overgrown with weeds, grass, and a fucking tree growing out of the engine bay. It was rotted out decaying. It broke my heart to see the image of our Bicentennial and our country turning to junk. There were no other Buicks like that, that I know of here in New England. So, to see it made me sick. In 1976 I believe the Buick Century America's 200th Independence Day edition was just under $20K. I can only imagine the price for a factory produced 1976 Buick Century Free Spirit Bicentennial edition. Thanks for the thumbs up Nick. Love your selection of classic cars, makes me feel good to see them not junk somewhere in a field, or in the woods rotting away. I' am a lover of classic rides.

[@ScottBleck]

OMG what a gorgeous car!! Those wheels look great on it. Awesome. Grab it, it won't last long!

[@kevinpolk1991]

I can't say that this generation of TAs is my favorite 'bird, but if I get back to buying a muscle car... I could see buying a '77 or '78 TA. My father had a '78 and it was fun to drive. But I'm not sure I can grow a suitable mustache at my age.

[@wildbill7081]

Yep the 78 TA was great

[@catnahat420]

I literally want to cry that I missed this one. I try to log in to the site every day especially Mondays and I missed this beauty! I would have bought this absolutely!

[@ironmule5200]

I bought one of these new back in the day. It was such a fun car. Sporty but able to be a daily driver too. Cornered like it was on rails. The aftermarket wheels on it are pretty close to original ones. Just keep fresh oil in it with the turbo...

[@stevenbullock9276]

Original wheels were the "turbo dish" wheels

[@MrPetjam08]

Love it! These cars are getting hard to find in good condition like this, get’em while you can!

[@patriotrising6214]

No good deed goes unpunished 😮 stay good do good and good will come to you 💯❣️

[@aarongarcia1101]

We thrashed so many of these cars in high school late 1980s. Raced them, wrecked them, modify them😂

[@nealhardin6869]

Couple things to remember this car has a small V8 great gas mileage, a highway running gear probably 273 gear ration, abd there was no such thing as an intercooler for these turbos. Abd if memory serves me correct the 84,85, abd 86 grand nationals weren't very strong until 87 when obviously they had intercoolers. It being a pace car abd a trans am it will burn that highway up! I guarantee if you stand in it on a long stretch it will go plenty fast enough too end..I'm not suggesting that anyone do that just saying she's a highway honey and a nice car too! Later on yall

[@PatandDoopypoopy]

@nealhardin6869 you about nailed the gearing. The car we played with had- get ready for it- 2.42 gears. Our very first change was gearing to 3.55. Keeping CA smog legal, we did get a mid 16second quarter mile down to 14.20's at 95mph. Tuning(ignition advance and qjet carb), bigger exhaust pipe(still had cat but a bigger 1, legit cold air intake tract, water injection and setting valve lash(from factory preload was 2 turns and we set them to 1/4 turn preload. Finally, I added a shift kit. (It alone was worth .15 in quarter mile).We could of got down to mid 13's by adding boost and custom cam. Our goal was 13.7 at atleast 100mph being smog legal and zero internal mods and be happy on freeway. It ran so much better a friend bought it before we reached our goal. We intended on electric fans, muffler deleate and a quality torque converter(not for higher stall speed. We wanted less overall slippage). And a few pulleys to not overspin accessories. We gave the parts with sale of car. Final number was 13.82-13.85 at 102.5-103 consistently in cool CA sea level air, with darn near a full tank of fuel and 2 big dudes in car( along with crap in trunk, etc)

[@eldorado1830]

T tops were prone to major leaks, but cool looking ride.

[@JJAAZZMan]

Just don't drive it in the rain and you'll be okay!

[@JamesCrisp-iq4cs]

Another ball torque converter😂

[@cards2599]

T-Tops from that era leaked from the factory. But you're not buying this now to drive in the rain. I wouldn't have one without the t-tops.

[@grand73am]

The factory Fisher tops from 78-1/2 thru 81 actually don't really have leaking problems, since they're much better, with the roof designed, engineered, and built by GM/Fisher Body to specifically be a t-top roof. The earlier Hurst tops were problematic since GM would send hardtop cars to a Hurst facility where they would cut into the hardtop roofs and install a t-top conversion kit, which didn't seal all that well. I have 2 79 TA's with Fisher tops, and no leaking problems still to this day.

[@davidlairson7998]

I must have been lucky during the course of my life then. I've had over a handful of sports cars with T-tops. Most of them way less than perfect condition. None of which that I remember having leaks.

[@ptrckcoughlin]

301 dog of a motor!!!

[@haroldbirge6881]

😎I remember seeing these 👀✌️

[@davidforte964]

The new owner may have questions about the 301 turbo. Just call Joe at TTA Performance, he is the expert 👍

[@bigskychevyguys8842]

Yes Joe knows these turbos well at TTA PERFORMANCE. They can make decent power with minor mods.

[@kevinmulvey8759]

Clock & horn work !!

[@autk]

LS swap and you've got a banger

[@blaisepalermo1743]

yep ^

[@AmyMays-c7k]

Beautiful trans am ❤

[@davidpiccolo3039]

My friend had that same car. He was a hustler he used to sell bootleg DVDs and fake polo shirts out of his car and saved enough to buy that trans am and a week later it got stolen. A year later they found it but it was trashed.

[@jammer96]

Love this car ❤. I'm jealous you get to drive this one. Consider it sold😂

[@iamtking9607]

I don't have any money, but I can shake a mean tailfeather 😂😂💯💯💯

[@chrischalkley8571]

Beautiful car

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

🏁Great looking TA 🏁

[@russellgill8449]

Nice car too cruise around in.

[@Maxmfp7043]

Who am I supposed to make the check out to? Be best if we took care of the details now

[@GweedoSRT-4]

Better get it now

[@kevinhamblin951]

Well ….. me 😊

[@jeff-ds2pr]

The turbos in these were known for issues when they came out, many owners would blow them out by the time they had 50k miles or less on the car. You were supposed to let the turbos cool down (idle) before shutting it off. Many owners would ignore this, and the oil feeding the turbos would coke up in the lines, which would lead to premature failures. This was before synthetic oils became common, not sure if switching the oil to full synthetic now would fix that problem or not.

[@PhilipKicelemos]

MY AUNT HAD THAT EXACT T/A IN PENN WHEN I WENT TO VISIT 1980 .

[@classiccorvettesmusclecars5846]

Cool car.. Just saw a 1989 turbo Trans Am pace car.. Has the GN V6…

[@glennjarvis2672]

That's an impressive car!

[@DaleBlice]

Has a good look dont see many of these needs AC put back in and a few small items repaired but could cruise it now

[@ALFAJERKBFH]

Can't wait to see this in action

[@ericzinck714]

You brought this Trans Am from someone in Atlanta, Ga. I looked at it 3 months ago. The man was asking $18,500. I passed on it then because the speedometer didn't work. The same car has the same deflectors on the car.

[@MapleMotorsNickSouthgate]

well I bought it from ohio sooo I dunno if someone else bought it and sold it to us but thats a long ways from Atlanta. Also a better price than we got too but hey to each his own I assume. You should have bought it if it was the same one. Thats a great deal

[@ericzinck714]

@MapleMotorsNickSouthgate No A/C in Georgia, no way I will pass. If you paid over 18,500. I know where there is one for 17,000 in Georgia, no A/C car with 80,000 original mile car, and look better too. Just brought a Nascar Edition 1981 Turbo Trans Am with 52,000 on it for 16,500.

[@mountainskys]

​@@ericzinck714Yup. Was the least desirable TA ever made.

[@marcathens2951]

Dammit when do these post ? Id have made an offer. Ive been looking for that exact car ☹️

[@edwinsantiago7165]

you need to get a door hinge at the driver's side

[@MichaelWagner-o3i]

I had the301 non turbo, that thing would smoke the tires like crazy.. .when I held the front brake and my 2 buddies would get outa the car and lift up the ass end

[@randylenart9674]

Look at that tork converter spin lol

[@kevinhamblin951]

The new car smell back in the 1960’s was heavy on fresh paint and interior smells like you bought a new sofa 😊 No Plastic !

[@ricksandlin4446]

I owned a 80 T/A exactly like that except mine was a hard top and had zero T/A stickers or bird on it. White with red leather interior, ss craigers and G.Y. Eagle 60 gt's all around it and I loved that car...well .. Lacked on power I will say but not the appeal

[@justinstiff5641]

I've got a 2023 TRD off-road Tacoma in white. I want a trans Am / Golden Eagle theme. Phoenix on the hood and I'm in search of a similar wheel. I got old school style KC lights on a chase bar/ stainless Westin brush guard. Like a crazy Marty McFly/Smokey and the bandit/and the white Jeep from dukes of hazzard's all mashed up together. Yeah I'm a confused 80s baby it's okay to laugh 😂

[@kc0lif]

nice muscle car

[@BillyBob-jb3yy]

Is it gone yet ? Dont want to drive to Tennessee to see if if it’s gone

[@MapleMotorsNickSouthgate]

Call us up 615-822-4444

[@jonathansongco4302]

Classic.

[@BobSmith-cw4fe]

Nice car, but I just can’t deal with that. No AC part.

[@anthonynapier4668]

Very nice Trans Am 👍 👍 👍 👍

[@keithharms2783]

Sweet car won't last long

[@LC-nr9vo]

Clean and nice!🧐

[@craigknight4836]

Funny these cars are slow and built like shit. I love them because I grew up during that time but the prices are ridiculous. People couldn’t get rid of these for $3500 when I was a kid. Which I could’ve bought a few then.

[@PaulPringle-y8p]

Nice TA. But with that year came. Low compression and no need for dual exhaust. Lol, but it only takes money to make it what you like.

[@mikemcmutry326]

Nice

[@roberteast4160]

Did anyone see the turbo lights on the hood ever lite up? Remember people changing out the 301 for Pontiac 400. Clean car should of had a V8.

[@grand73am]

a 301 is a V8

[@roberteast4160]

@@grand73am if you put the gas pedal on one of these turbo cars. It felt like a v6 back then. Huge difference from the 77-78. Trans Ams. 403 olds was better than this under powered, over weight body's.

[@mountainskys]

The white looks really nice, but it is a turbo edition. That makes it one of the least desirable Trans Ams ever produced. Sad but true.

[@PinkAndOrangeAndGold]

Beautiful car, engine could run a bit better I think.

[@Mr.Bojangles12]

Hate to say it,these were clogged motors, turbo doesnt boost, just no power

[@edwsal59]

I remember when these came out. The reviews weren't good.

[@olskool3967]

it has the turbo 350 transmission,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[@chasbuchanan4195]

301? No thanks!

[@mikewcw316]

Nice car but not worth more 10 k sorry way over priced

[@MapleMotorsNickSouthgate]

But it sold instantly , people showed up today with cash too but it’s already gone. Anyone that comments on our page over priced gets that reality check pretty instantly. We are underpriced according to the national average by $2,000, we do that on purpose. That is exactly how we sell 60+ cars a month. When I go to the big shows dealers come up to us asking how in The world we find these cars for the prices we do. Most of them try to buy our inventory

[@norton2757]

The wheels are wrong….. after market.

[@grand73am]

He said it, 0:55

[@JamesCrisp-iq4cs]

Another bald torque converter😂

[@andrewsmith4310]

Love this car wish I could come up buy it smf it back t Cartersville 30121l Recommendation soon I as I get out of rehab from sdtrplr ot spilf br gone fast good price. God Bless ysll Tjx for ynr videos

[@BillyBob-jb3yy]

Is it gone yet ? Dont want to drive to Tennessee to see if if it’s gone