History
Purchased new on April 16, 1988 with 43 miles showing on the odometer from Courtesy Pontiac in Longwood, Florida.
My mother wanted a "sports car" after many years of driving small compact cars. Many years ago, she had a late 60's Firebird and GTO. She could not remember if it was a 1967 Firebird and 1968 GTO or a 1967 GTO and a 1968 Firebird. She just has the memory of breaking the transmission on one of them and the other one being too fast.
We had looked at both Camaros and Firebirds. My mother found the interior of the Firebird more ascetically appealing. So, back to the Pontiac dealership.
Budget was a factor in the search. However, there was aI was color preference, the car had to be black. The first consideration was a base model Firebird. If memory serves correctly, it was optioned as little as possible. A black car with a silver and orange stripe around the bottom. Small 14 inch or 15 inch steel wheels. Powered by a V6 with a manual transmission.
As salesmen always try to upgrade you, he led us to an all black Trans Am. Again, very few options. However, this one was powered by a V8 and equipped with a manual transmission. A black car with black diamond spoke mesh wheels.
Again, we were led to more cars. The price increased and so did the equipment. Up for consideration, a black Trans Am GTA. Black with gold diamond spoke mesh wheels. This one had an automatic transmission. The GTA package and many power accessories.
The test drives reveled all my mother wanted to know. The V6 Firebird was generally unimpressive. The Trans Am was much more entertaining. Torquey V8 coupled with a manual transmission and aggressive handling. The GTA should have felt fast, but an automatic transmission can be detrimental. It should have been noticeably quicker, but the manual transmission equipped Trans Am seemed faster. It is possible the GTA had the 5.0 TPI motor as a credit option.
Three cars to choose from. A base V6 Firebird, V8 Trans Am, or a V8 Trans Am GTA. The Firebird was stickered around the mid-thirteens, the Trans Am was a little over eighteen thousand, and the GTA was around two-thousand dollars more (may have been closer to three thousand dollars more). It was decided the Trans Am was much nicer then the Firebird, but it just was not possible to justify the extra cost of the GTA. The paperwork was completed and we left in the Trans Am.