There's no Going Back

 

                                                                                       

Certainly there are many fine Pontiac Trans Am web sites and, like you, I visit them often. Unlike some of you who have more than one Pontiac model, I only have my one lonely bird. So here we are. A place where we can admire and read tidbits about other enthusiast's 78 TA's and if you're new to the subject, a place where you can learn a few interesting things.

 

Sure, the early TA's are more rare and sought after. I'd have one myself if I could afford it. My dream muscle car, though, would be a 1970 GTO RAIV 4spd, no A/C.                                

 

There is a reason for this.                                            Zulu's Mayan       

                                                                                                                        

When I was about 13 years old, an uncle of mine owned just such a car. He bought it brand spanking new. I remember it well. It was red with a black interior and a hood tach. He put Cragar style, five spoke chrome mags on it. That was the only change he made to the car. But what I remember most was the sound when he started it up. That off-canter lope issuing from the tailpipes was like a symphony. I'll never forget that sound. He used to brag that he could, "shift faster than a hydramatic." His words.

 

I learned that he sold the car, several years later, for about $700 dollars. I don't know for sure, but I imagine that such a practice was not all that uncommon then. Cars in that 7 to 16 year old range are no longer new and exciting. On the other hand, they're not old enough to be thought of as collectible. When he sold it, I'm sure he viewed it as 'just a car'.

 

Anyway, because of his 70 GTO I became fond of Pontiacs. Of course that same year the Trans Am's body style changed. To this 13 year old kid they resembled a shark. A car that comes with a 400ci engine, ram air and a 4spd (like my uncle's GTO) AND looks cool like a shark. A 13 year old boy will drool until he dehydrates under those circumstances. I knew I had to have one. Well, when I was old enough I purchased one. Not a 1970. I bought the hottest NEW stock Trans Am that was available in 1978.

 

I didn't give my 78 TA much thought over the years. I don't mean that I no longer liked the car. I mean it just wasn't on my mind. It was in the garage with boxes, a weight lifting bench and other similar junk piled on top of it. I'd even climb on it from time to time to reach stuff I'd put up in the garage rafters. It was in that 7-16 year range where it was 'just a car'. I used it as a storage shelf and a ladder for quite some time.

 

I went through a divorce but was able to keep the car. After moving out of the house and into an apartment, the TA sat in the complex lot for five years uncovered, baking in the summer sun or propping up winter snow. Just a car. And you know, the only thing stolen off of it during that five year period was the rear license plate. The plate went missing for about a week when, while driving home from my job as a police officer (now retired), there it was on the car directly in front of me. I digress.

 

After those five years, I moved into another house and had the TA towed from the apartment complex lot to the driveway. It ran fine but the battery was dead and it was not insured or registered. The tow truck driver, who knew me as a police officer, asked why I hadn't just driven the car to the house. The entire trip (about 3 miles) would have been completely within the jurisdiction for which I worked. That was a chance I was not willing to take. While I feel confident that the trip could have been made without incident, it just didn't sit right with me.

 

When the tow truck dropped the car off in the driveway, I jump started it, backed it into the garage and piled junk on top of it again. It sat that way for 3 more years.

 

In August or September 2003 I got to looking at it - what little bit of it I could see anyway - and I got a strange urge to drive a manual shift. I pulled all the junk off of and out of the car. There was so much fine dust on the car that it looked like it had been parked on the moon during a mild wind storm. Out came the water hose. Oddly enough there was no grime on the car just the dust coat. It all rinsed right off. The paint, however, was badly oxidized as you might imagine red paint would be. I called my insurance agent and told her to reactivate the insurance on it. I received the insurance card two days later. I took it for its emissions check. It failed. I took it to a dealer. "It won't pass emissions," I told them. They worked on it and told me that it now passes. Off I went back to the emissions station. It failed. Back and forth I went.

 

Long story short, it eventually passed emissions and was registered.  I started giving the car special attention after it was again legal to drive. Believe it or not, the TA I have posted (Zulu's Mayan) is the car. After all the abuse, the car waxed up nicely. That is the original paint. Now I'm into Pontiacs again, especially my own.

 

I set out on the internet looking for any info I could find on 1978 Trans Ams. I found plenty as you might have guessed. During my search I learned that my 78 TA is not such a lack-luster car after all.

 

My interest in what I had really began to grow. And here we are. A basic site for other 1978 TA owners who may have similar stories about how they came to appreciate a car that may have been, at one time "Just a Car" but is now something special and something from which much pride can be had.

 

Put a few pictures of your pride and joy 78 TA here. In the space provided for picture captions, say a few words about your car and how she came to be yours. Or just post your pictures for others to enjoy.

 

I'm no Pontiac wiz. I appreciate a well kept car and I look forward to learning more. There's no going back into the past to pick up one of these gems NEW! So cherish your Bird.

 

Visit Trans Am Country's 2nd Generation forum site:  Trans Am Country.com  The BEST place to ask difficult questions about 70-81 Trans Ams, Formulas, Esprits and Firebirds.

 

 

Thanks for having a look,

 

Zulu

 

 

 

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