Exciting day,a new toy arrived !!!!

[69 OUR/TEA]

Hi guys,as some of you might know I'm into Buicks as well as Mopars,have an 87 GN that I have owned now for 21 years,a 69 Special streeet/strip car I bought 2 years ago,now selling,and a 75 Regal with 16k orig miles,cruiser.I had sold my 70 GS 455 Stage1 project car back in Oct 11,and decided to try and find one that was basically done to take a project off my plate.Well,after it was gone,as I started searching,you know how it goes,you end up startting to look at other collectable cars as well.I started eyeballing the late 70's Z28's and Trans Am's,I know,you're saying what the heck !!!If you follow those,for nice clean orig low mile examples they have rapidly went up in value,then I was aware of the 79 10th anniversary T/A and thought that was cool looking ride,not a powerhouse as it only had 180 hp,but def collectable.When I started seeing these ,in what I would want for myself,they were $20k and up !!!
Then a friend had mentioned a car that I was well aware of since owning my GN for all that time but really never gave them much thought to own.So,started poking around at those,and again saw a car that was def a collectable,low production number,historical significance,modern with all the bells and whistles,A/C,great MPG,and some power to back it up !!! Then was bit by the bug to own one,so since Dec started looking,and as of last week from searching every online place to search,a forum for these cars,craigslist,etc found one,actually on Ebay.So immediately started the contact with seller,turned out to be a real good guy,reputable,and ended it with a buy it now for me to hit.

So with that,the car that I had chose some of my friends did'nt even know what this was ,a 1989 Pontiac Trans Am 20th Anniversary Official Pace Car.
If most of you don't know what it is,it was a car much like the Buick GNX,it was outsourced to an outside company to build for GM.This time it was to be built for them to insert for the 73rd Indy 500 as the pace car.They came down the line as a GTA,then shipped to Ca to PAS Inc without drivetrains.GM then sent PAS a mass of the 87 turbo Buick 3.8 V6's and trannys.Which they had to modify to fit into the GTA's strut tower eng bay by removing the production 3.8 heads and instal the FWD,much smaller heads.Which turned out to be a blessing in disguise,as those outflowed the standard heads they removed ,jumping up the power.They also used the GNX intercoolers which had 12 fins per inch vs. 10,and set the computer for 16.5 psi of boost vs. the GN's  factory 12 psi.Also changed the fuel delivery.This pushed the HP from the GN's 245 to over 300.They in turn however had to underrate them for warranty issues on the tranny,somehow it was said that if they claimed the 300+ the trannys would'nt make warranty,as were told they would not hold up.
The claim to fame on this car for Pontiac  is that this was the first car in GM's history that DID NOT need any motor work to make enough power to be able to pace @ 176mph out in front of the Indy cars.The three actual pace cars made were randomly pulled out of the cars being built and sent to be outfitted with the strobe lights,decals,etc.
There were 150 as they called them,Festival Cars,that had cloth interior instead of leather and were delivered to Indy that week for parades and persons from the press arriving to cover the race as their cars for the week.
Total cars made were 1,555, 150 being Festival cars,another 36 had cloth,and 24 hardtops.The rest were all identical,leather,T-Tops,loaded.These cars were not numbered per say on the dash,but released form PAS is the build orders,so you can see what your cars number is,and most do know the number they own.
The car I was looking for was 10-15k orig miles,must be orig paint,all orig,no mods,no front plate screws into the bumper cover,etc.
The one I found has 15k orig miles,totally stock,and everything I described .Car #255,tons of paperwork,documents,memorabeilia,orig window sticker,which in 1989 was $35k !!!Pics to follow

[69 OUR/TEA]

pics.....

[69 OUR/TEA]

some more...

[69 OUR/TEA]

The Festival car delivered to Indy....

[jdiesel33]

Very nice! Always liked that body style. Nice score.

[Aero426]

Nice car.  I think I have a brochure for one of those. 

[RIDELIKEHELL]

  Cool..I never knew they had a 3.8 turbo in those cars....Love the GN's!

[Ghoste]

I remember them as a pace car but didn't know about the 3.8 or outside contractor either.  Cangratulations on the purchase.

[Back N Black]

Very nice and clean! 

[kokxville]

Nice Bird 
I knew they had 3.8 turbo's.First i didn't know why,but i found out it was the same engine as the GN's had.Fast car indeed.
Good luck with it 

[bill440rt]

Looks like a super-clean car, Paul!   
Congrats on the new ride! 

[68 CHARGER R/T]

Wow Iooks amazing. Fast toys for its time period !

[TUFCAT]

I LOVE IT!!

[69 OUR/TEA]

Thanks guys,I know it's not a Mopar but figured some might think it's a neat car.

Also,have to give a big thanks to Tom (tufcat),there was one 10 minutes from him that I was very interested in,and he offered to go check it out for me,pick me up at the airport if I was going to fly in,a stay with him while I was there,store the car in his garage until the trucking Co could pick up,etc.But unfortunately another interested party on that one while I was in the planning stage,jumped on it and it sold.Buying the car would have beeen half the fun,hanging out with Tom would have been a great time I'm sure!
This is why I like this forum the best out of any I am on,the people here are stand up people willing to give others a hand .

[RJS]

Good buy Paul!!!  There's a member on Moparts that has one also.
I remember a co-worker taking me with him to a dealer in Jersey back then to buy one.
When I saw the sticker I did everything I could to stop him, that was big money for a firechicken in 89!
Can't remember if he ended up getting one later or not after I left the company.
Drive it like you hate it!!!  They are fun.  Ron

[Budnicks]

Nice score, I had a couple of SLP/Firehawks & a few Trans Ams in the mid 90's & late 70's

[68 Bullitt Charger]

Hi Paul, I see you found one!!!!!   Congrat's. Look's like mine! LOL   As you know I have my original 89 TTA from the Dealer, Car#932

[General_01]

 

[69 OUR/TEA]

Good buy Paul!!!  There's a member on Moparts that has one also.
I remember a co-worker taking me with him to a dealer in Jersey back then to buy one.
When I saw the sticker I did everything I could to stop him, that was big money for a firechicken in 89!
Can't remember if he ended up getting one later or not after I left the company.
Drive it like you hate it!!!  They are fun.  Ron

Hmmmmm Ron,maybe you looked at my car,it came from Brielle Motors in Manasquan,NJ. Yeah,expensive for 89,the window sticker on it was $35k !!!

[68 Bullitt Charger]

I paid $41K, this was $5K over the sticker. When I went to the dealer they were $5-10K over the sticker new.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Great timing as well because I just got my issue of Hemmings Muscle machines and its all about the Pace Cars!

[SRT-440]

Awesome!!! I'm very fond of theses cars and their GN bloodline!
Congrats!!

[hatersaurusrex]

Very cool car.  Wrap it up and one day it will bring crazy Barrett Jackson moneys   Please don't go messing it up by building a KITT out if it LOL.

I'm pretty fond of Pontiacs and Buicks myself.   Always loved the GSX and when I was younger, my three dream rides were a 68 Charger, 70 Trans/Am, and 72 Riviera.   In fact, that's still my list and I've been lucky enough to land the first one

Some of us love our Mopars first, but can't turn our backs on all the big block mclovin that's out there hehehe.

[myk]

Niiiiiiiice car!  And...I can't believe my '99 F-bird has the same seats and pretty much the same interior as its predecessor from 20 years ago!  Lol...

[skip68]

Wow!   What a score.     
Those 3.8's are fast.  Congratulations and enjoy it.   

[kidsixpack]

Congrats on the purchase!  I'm the Moparts member that Ron mentioned.  I bought My TTA  about 3 yrs ago and I've really enjoyed it.  Gets 22 mpg on most outings.  Only car that I ever sat in at the Detroit Auto Show and said:  This is what I want.  Took me a while, but I really do have my two favorite cars!  Not to many around.  With the thousands of cars that Cruise Woodward there I've only seen a couple of TTAs that weren't there to meet up withthe Buick guys.   I've wanted to get a GN for years but the TTA has filled that void.
Anyway great to see some Mopar buys that can appreciate what cool cars the TTAs are!
KID

[TUFCAT]

AWESOME!!  AWESOME!!  AWESOME!!  

What a great picture....

Paul, if a 5-foot-8 cat ever knocks on your door asking for a ride in your T/A, please give him one...and a bowl of milk (with beer in it) .

[69 OUR/TEA]

LOL,no problem Tom !!!!

[Bob T]

Good score, well done , what a clean looking car 

Just an aside
I've been keeping and eye on the on-line ads for a Judge for a mate of mine, shocked at the asking prices