76 HURST 50TH ANNIVERSARY

[the427king]

DOE ANYONE KNOW THE VALUE OF A 1976 50TH ANNIVERSARY TRANS AM BLACK ON BLACK SE LE 455 4 SPEED W HURST ODS[TTOPS] IN #1 CONDITION??

[Tracker1]

Auction results for that car over the last 4-5 years vary from 35K-50K depending on condition, paperwork and originality. Tough to find a nice one - especially the W-code with T-tops. I have heard of a private sale of 58K for a very sweet one last year.

[StealthBird]

Prices vary wildy, as with any collector car, but if it's truly a #1 condition and restored properly, then $50K is not out of the question. If it's an older resto or in need of restoring, then $15K-$20K.

The 1976 50th Anniversary Trans Am's are quite rare, with 2,590 total being produced, but only 110 were 455 4-speeds with t-tops.

These cars were quite unique. They were the first Firebirds to receive t-tops (not all 50th Anniversary cars had them), and in the next few years, t-tops proved to be an incredibly popular option. The 1976's also had special gold headlight bezels, a special gold hood bird, gold pinstriping, special gold honeycomb wheels, gold bird emblem on the front fascia, special gold sail panel birds, a gold engine turned dashboard (replacing the silver version), and gold spokes for the steering wheel. There were also a small number of these cars that came with black chrome exhaust splitters.

Prices have skyrocketed in the past 5-7 years, thanks to a new appreciation of the "Smokey And The Bandit" movie, and baby boomers looking for what was the best performance car of the 1976-1981 time period. They sold a boatload of Trans Am's, so it was inevitable that one day collectors, longing for that car they used to have in high school, would start to grab them up at auctions.

The 76-81 Special Edition cars have become iconic as a symbol of American style and excess, closely associated to "disco", plus it was the best performance car of the era.

[Tracker1]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: StealthBird</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

The 1976 50th Anniversary Trans Am's are quite rare, with 2,590 total being produced, but only 110 were 455 4-speeds with t-tops. </div></div>

I didn't think all of the 110 W-code cars were T-tops? here's one I snapped at MCACN last year, No Ts:

[StealthBird]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Tracker1</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: StealthBird</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

The 1976 50th Anniversary Trans Am's are quite rare, with 2,590 total being produced, but only 110 were 455 4-speeds with t-tops. </div></div>

I didn't think all of the 110 W-code cars were T-tops? here's one I snapped at MCACN last year, No Ts:

</div></div>

Well, I meant 110 were 455 4-speeds with t-tops, which is what the original thread (and car) was about. I didn't get into all the production numbers, but here goes! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

With t-tops:

110 were 455/4-speed
533 were 400 powered
643 TOTAL

Without t-tops

319 were 455's
1628 were 400's
1947 TOTAL

They made 2590 total 50th Anniversary Trans Am's. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[the427king]

Does anyone know the time frame of when the cars were sent to hurst. I bleieve it was april time frame?

[StealthBird]

Not too sure when they were sent over, but they had issues with the Hurst hatches, which is why many 76's were sold without t-tops. The Hurst hatches leaked, squeaked, and rattled, giving t-tops a poor reputation. Pontiac was soon selling so many t-top Birds that Hurst couldn't keep up, so Pontiac made the wise decision to switch over to Fisher Body and have t-tops factory installed. Quality went up, along with sales.

The black chrome exhaust splitters were not on all the 50th Anniversary cars, but I've never seen an official breakdown on the number built. The black chrome splitters were not an option, they were part of the Y82 package in 1976, but I believe they had a supply problem during the year, so many received the chrome splitters.

-- Mike

[the427king]

reason i aksed was that one person made a claim as to having one of the earliest ttop cars sent to hurst in april 76 and my vin is 3000 less than his.

[StealthBird]

OK, gotcha now. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

Production began in the last week of March 1976. The first few hundred all had Hurst hatches, up until sometime in May 1976, when they realized there were some problems with the Hurst hatches. The bare bodies were sent to Hurst, which used another facility to cut the roofs and add a structural panel, then the bodies were shipped back to the plant. It was around May 1976 when the quality control guys, and those responsible for overseeing structural integrity, put a stop to the Hurst hatch conversions because of all the issues. After that point (May 1976), Pontiac began building them without t-tops, but a few more orders were accepted, with the t-tops now being an option. Originally, t-tops were supposed to be available on regular Trans Am's and Formulas after the initial build out of the 50th Anniversary cars, but the issues with the Hurst hatches negated that plan.

One little known trivia item (aside from those cool black chrome exhaust splitters) was that these cars were originally supposed to have gold lettered Goodyear tires, but that plan was nixed because of cost.

So in summary, since the production of these cars began in the last week of March 1976, I would say that your car may be one of the earliest.

[the427king]

Thanks. Is there any info on the pontiacs such as last vin produced each month for the plant , like most of the chevrolets have? IE to try and come up with a build day as well as month based solely on vin and monthly production?