Reptarticle t1_j9n5rfi wrote on February 23, 2023 at 4:02 AM

Very cool. The equivalent today would be like having an 02 WS6.

GrumpyCatStevens t1_j9plhw4 wrote on February 23, 2023 at 5:48 PM

I dunno. Even though I know it's not fast, I'd still rather go with a '77 Trans Am SE.

Fun fact - my family at one time owned a '78 Buick Estate Wagon that had the same Olds 403 under the hood that powered automatic-equipped Trans Ams of that same year.

Reptarticle t1_j9s3h8g wrote on February 24, 2023 at 3:51 AM

Nothing wrong with that. Yeah, unfortunately nothing was fast in the late 70's really.

GrumpyCatStevens t1_j9s3xll wrote on February 24, 2023 at 3:55 AM

It was quite an eye-opener to look up a contemporary road test in C&D of a '77 Trans Am with the "high-output" 400 and a 4-speed manual - and find out it had a 0-60 time and top speed on par with my 1990 Mazda Miata (around 9 seconds and 115 mph, respectively).

Reptarticle t1_j9s4j60 wrote on February 24, 2023 at 4:00 AM

It must have been awful to be a gear head in the 70’s. You go from 13 second 1/4 mile running Camaros and Mustangs, to 15-16 second top of the line cars, IE the Corvette. That whole decade(minus 70-71) there’s only a couple cars that stood the test of time. The 76-77 Trans Am being one for sure. Smokey and the Bandit helped launch that car to still being sought after decades later.

GrumpyCatStevens t1_j9s54m7 wrote on February 24, 2023 at 4:05 AM

Yeah, I like the '77 SE just because Smokey & The Bandit made it a cultural icon - plus it sent Trans Am sales through the roof. If I were looking for a performance model, I'd pick either an LS-1 powered 4th-gen or a '73 with the SD455.

I can still remember when Ford introduced the 5.0 HO engine in the '82 Mustang, and the car rags were so excited that it made 157 hp (which to be fair was a big improvement over the outgoing 4.2L V8 that made about 120 hp and couldn't be had with a stick).

Reptarticle t1_j9s6155 wrote on February 24, 2023 at 4:13 AM

That front end of the 73 you mentioned took me a while to get used to. It’s grown on me now, but if I’d still choose the Camaro or the TA for 73.

The 82 GT was a big deal. First year of the GT moniker. The 2.3L turbo 4 cylinder nearly made the same power as the V8 until 1985 when the 5.0 jumped to 210hp. Wild to think a minivan has 100 more hp than that today.