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Automotive Lifestyle
AUTOS: Trans Ams Lead 70s Resurgence
Black-and-gold with screaming eagles on their hoods, iconic Pontiacs back in favor at Barrett-Jackson...
Four Pontiac Firebird Trans Ams stand ready for the auction block, all brought by one obsessed collector. (Photo: Bob Golfen)
One thing you’ll find plenty of at the Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas Auction is Pontiac Firebird Trans Ams from the late ’70s. The same black-and-gold, “Smoky and the Bandit,” screamin’ eagle Trans Ams that beguiled so many adolescent gearheads in their day.
These flamboyant muscle cars have enjoyed a resurgence of late, moving away from disco-era kitsch and into the realm of bona fide collector cars. Not too many cars of that stylistic- and performance-challenged time have made the leap.
“The styling has endured for a long, long time,” said admitted Pontiac addict Tom Knight of Albuquerque, N.M, as he eyed a 1976 Trans Am 50th Anniversary coupe. “I think there’s been a resurrection now that Pontiac’s dead.”
Four of the classic Trans Ams for sale at Barrett-Jackson’s three-day auction at Mandalay Bay were brought by one guy, Rick McLaughlin, who operates his own Pontiac Trans Am museum in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
“I bought my first new car when I was 21 years old, a 1978 gold Trans Am Special Edition,” McLaughlin said. “I was hooked. These were the best-performing, best-handling cars of their era. I bought another new one in ’79.”
Since then, he’s spent his life in the pursuit of primo-conditions Trans Ams, and he keeps a stable of at least 20 of them in his museum at all times.
“These are iconic cars, and we all know why,” McLaughlin said, referring to the famed Burt Reynolds action movie where a black-and-gold Trans Am played a major role. “Yeah, he did a lot for my business.”
All four of his Trans Ams at Barrett-Jackson – three 1979s and one 1980 – are very-low mileage, one-owner originals with four-speed manual transmissions. He picked them out for the auction, he said, because they were the last of their breed.
“This was the end of the era,” he said.
McLaughlin’s first car, an all-original 1979 Trans Am with just 8,444 miles, sold this afternoon for $33,000, including auction fees. The ’76 50th Anniversary model sold earlier for $18,700, including fees.
McLaughlin has seen the recent surge of interest in Trans Ams, which is one reason why he decided to sell four cars in Las Vegas.
“These are the next up-and-coming cars in the marketplace,” he said. “This is what people want to remember their youth.”
Bob Golfen, Automotive Editor for SPEED.com, is a veteran auto writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, who has driven and evaluated essentially every new vehicle sold in the United States. A lifelong car enthusiast with a passion for collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle, he annually attends and writes about Arizona's famous January collector-car auctions, focusing on Scottsdale’s monumental Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event and other Barrett-Jackson auctions. SPEED.com fans email Automotive Editor Bob Golfen at
These flamboyant muscle cars have enjoyed a resurgence of late, moving away from disco-era kitsch and into the realm of bona fide collector cars. Not too many cars of that stylistic- and performance-challenged time have made the leap.
“The styling has endured for a long, long time,” said admitted Pontiac addict Tom Knight of Albuquerque, N.M, as he eyed a 1976 Trans Am 50th Anniversary coupe. “I think there’s been a resurrection now that Pontiac’s dead.”
Four of the classic Trans Ams for sale at Barrett-Jackson’s three-day auction at Mandalay Bay were brought by one guy, Rick McLaughlin, who operates his own Pontiac Trans Am museum in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
“I bought my first new car when I was 21 years old, a 1978 gold Trans Am Special Edition,” McLaughlin said. “I was hooked. These were the best-performing, best-handling cars of their era. I bought another new one in ’79.”
Since then, he’s spent his life in the pursuit of primo-conditions Trans Ams, and he keeps a stable of at least 20 of them in his museum at all times.
“These are iconic cars, and we all know why,” McLaughlin said, referring to the famed Burt Reynolds action movie where a black-and-gold Trans Am played a major role. “Yeah, he did a lot for my business.”
All four of his Trans Ams at Barrett-Jackson – three 1979s and one 1980 – are very-low mileage, one-owner originals with four-speed manual transmissions. He picked them out for the auction, he said, because they were the last of their breed.
“This was the end of the era,” he said.
McLaughlin’s first car, an all-original 1979 Trans Am with just 8,444 miles, sold this afternoon for $33,000, including auction fees. The ’76 50th Anniversary model sold earlier for $18,700, including fees.
McLaughlin has seen the recent surge of interest in Trans Ams, which is one reason why he decided to sell four cars in Las Vegas.
“These are the next up-and-coming cars in the marketplace,” he said. “This is what people want to remember their youth.”
Bob Golfen, Automotive Editor for SPEED.com, is a veteran auto writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, who has driven and evaluated essentially every new vehicle sold in the United States. A lifelong car enthusiast with a passion for collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle, he annually attends and writes about Arizona's famous January collector-car auctions, focusing on Scottsdale’s monumental Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event and other Barrett-Jackson auctions. SPEED.com fans email Automotive Editor Bob Golfen at
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