Do you miss it?

[SS4Real]

It was a big deal back then too. Always made the local news plus there was usually a full color picture on the front page of the Denver Post or Colorado Springs Gazette. The class before me had a huge spread on it as their cars were lined up in the staging area to look like a giant jet fighter. Way cool. The vast majority of the cars were Trans Ams and were bought through Colvin Pontiac in Denver who was the lead on this deal and arranged the factory pickup. They had a young rep from Colvin come out to the Academy all decked out in Pontiac Gear with a Pontiac Racing type jacket on and he got us all pumped up about the 400/4 speed versions. Sometime during the order period, we found out that was no longer possible so we split between the 301/4 speeds and the 403 Olds with the automatic. I think we got them for like $50 over cost which was unheard of back then before the internet. I'm guessing Colvin got between 75-100 of the orders and the rest were done by local Pontiac dealers across the country as many guys got them through their hometown dealers, but we all picked them up at the factory at the same time. It was like a big party and Pontiac was all over it. I think the year we did it (May, 1979) was the biggest selling year for the Trans Am. I remember we ran into a pack of my classmates driving new Z/28's on the way home on either I70 or I80 and we had a hell of a time. The Academy would inform all the highway patrols in the different states that we were coming to deter us from racing on the highway, but we did not care. Young guys with fast new cars. Yeah, we lit them up for sure.

[dustinm]

I only miss my first car whenever I see a 70 Chevelle. I wasnt allowed to keep mine because my dad wasnt running a junkyard and it was "never going to be a cool car like his 63 Impala". I was in high school, driving 60 miles per day between school, work, and home and needed something that got 30mpg.

[EZ Nova]

YES I do miss my first car. I'm 55 and bought a Black on Black, red interior 1968 GTX convertible, 440 4sp Dana 4.10!! Well came to find out it was a clone. This was in 1983 that I bought it. I was 17 in high school. Man I had fun in that old Plymouth. Here is the car from back in 1985:

[EZ Nova]

I always kept in touch with the 3 owners after I sold it. But the last guy died and gave it to his daughters. I didn't have any way of getting ahold of them. Then in 2016 the car went up for sale, and sold to a guy in Maine. I'm in Ontario Canada. Well I was able to go through Lost Musclecars on Facebook and they located the car and I have been talking to the current owner. Not sure what he want to do yet, he knows it was my FIRST CAR. First picture is the for sale add. The 2nd is what the current owner sent me last month:

[dustinm]

Originally Posted by EZ Nova

I always kept in touch with the 3 owners after I sold it. But the last guy died and gave it to his daughters. I didn't have any way of getting ahold of them. Then in 2016 the car went up for sale, and sold to a guy in Maine. I'm in Ontario Canada. Well I was able to go through Lost Musclecars on Facebook and they located the car and I have been talking to the current owner. Not sure what he want to do yet, he knows it was my FIRST CAR. First picture is the for sale add. The 2nd is what the current owner sent me last month:

At least its still around!!

[EZ Nova]

Originally Posted by dustinm

At least its still around!!

Yes it is. It's not like I was going back to the 60's as it was only 1980's. Still it's actually a long time. AND it might make it's way back to me as I will be in the market in the next 12+ months. Will offer to buy it, or a real numbers GTX rag top.

[L72Biscayne]

Originally Posted by EZ Nova

I always kept in touch with the 3 owners after I sold it. But the last guy died and gave it to his daughters. I didn't have any way of getting ahold of them. Then in 2016 the car went up for sale, and sold to a guy in Maine. I'm in Ontario Canada. Well I was able to go through Lost Musclecars on Facebook and they located the car and I have been talking to the current owner. Not sure what he want to do yet, he knows it was my FIRST CAR. First picture is the for sale add. The 2nd is what the current owner sent me last month:

Looks like it's registered in Massachusetts.

[JRC99]

I'm quite a bit younger than most of the folks here, so my first truck was a 1996 Dakota. I sold it to a buddy, and he blew it up. I miss it a lot.

However...

Before that, when I was 9, my father bought a 1995 F-150 XL. This was 2008. In 2011, he bought a 2005 Ranger FX4, which actually ended up inspiring me to buy one a few months before I sold the Dakota. But I loved that F-150, and so he was going to keep it for me initially, but I let him sell it.


Fast forward to 2017, I'm a senior in high school, and I found out a classmate's mom ended up buying it from the man my dad sold it to. I immediately begged my dad to let me buy it, but seeing the rust, and knowing I had my Dakota but not a job, he said no way.

Then this spring, another friend tells me the classmate is wanting to sell the truck, do I still want it?

Well, dad's gonna kick my ass if I do this, so let's see if Darren wants it (he's the one I sold the Dakota too). He and his fiancée bought it, and had it for a couple months.

Then it happened. The trans started acting up.

At this point, it got away when I was 12, it got away in High school, and it kept popping up. It was fate. I was not letting it get away again.

I've got a long way to go, but ten years later, it's back home.

So, the first that wasn't actually the first because I never got to drive it*? I don't miss it because it's sitting right outside!

*Except for one time, when I was 9 or 10, dad let me wheel it around in an empty parking lot so it's actually the first car/truck I ever drove)

The trans? I've dropped the pan, popped a new filter in, and filled it and added Lucas Trans Fix. The only issue seems to be a rough 1-2 shift, and I think it's a sensor and I have a specific one in mind. Other than that and the rust it's every bit as good as it was when dad had it.

(long winded but I like to tell a story- sue me! )

[RPOLS3]

Fortunate to still have mine as well.

[SS4Real]

Originally Posted by PeteLeathersac

Love to hear more of the Factory Drive-away story also see any pics you can share.

This picture is from Checkpoints Magazine which is published by the Association of Graduates for the US Air Force Academy. Latest edition March 2023 that a classmate sent me today. The picture is for the class of 1977 so I think those are '76 Trans Am's etc. as you always got your car in May in the year before you graduated. I was the class of 1980 hence we got 79's which I believe was the highest year production numbers for Trans Am's. We had a catered lunch in the Pontiac building and then, at the end, given a map to locate our car in the formation. None of us could eat as we were pretty excited, we slowly walked out to our cars and then ran to them! My own pictures are stored away but you get the idea. I think the class of '79 had a similar picture on the front page of the Denver Post or the Colorado Springs Gazette newspaper back then. Lots of Pontiac press every year we did this. The buses in the background were used when they picked us up at the airport and took us to the corporate HQ for lunch. We had a full-on police escort out of the city like a parade with lights and sirens.