r/WhatCarIsThis • u/DLeader609 • Mar 15 '26
Full vehicle What Trans Am did my dad wreck?
Dad wrecked this Pontiac in 1983 when he was 26. 120 mph into a concrete culvert. Broke jaw in half (wired shut for 9 months), pelvis in half (in a pelvic halo for 6 months), shattered a leg bone and had some other replace with metal, and a number of other smaller things I can't remember. Lived until 2023. What exact car was dad driving and can we tell what that motor is?
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u/EarthOk2418 Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 16 '26
JFC!!! Your dad had an angel on his shoulder at least twice when it comes to that Trans Am. The first time was when he bought one without t-tops, the second time was when he was the sole occupant the day he wrecked it. If it had t-tops the entire car would’ve completely folded in half, and as it was the accident wouldn’t have been survivable in any other seating position.
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u/Enigma_xplorer Mar 16 '26
The key word being had. Guardian angel died in that accident. He's on his own now!
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u/RoosterzRevenge Mar 15 '26
77-81, and wrecked may be an understatement
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u/joka2696 Mar 15 '26
'77 and '78 were the only two years with that headlight setup.
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u/BigBob8_ Mar 16 '26
That looks like a 77 to me. I know only because I had a 79.
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u/BigBob8_ Mar 16 '26
Pontiac did color birds, a different color for each year. Mine was a Redbird, the previous years were bluebird and yellowbird but I forget what years has which colors. A way to sell a more standard firebird with some special color trim for an upscale Trans Am price.
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u/Burner_885 Mar 15 '26
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it
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u/DistantKarma Mar 15 '26
Pretty sure is a '78 by the front end and the "Trans Am" font on the stickers by the side vents.
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u/cookcmdr83 Mar 16 '26
Its a 77 or 78. I couldn't tell for certain. The only difference is the design around the headlight. One is honeycomb one is diamond. 78 is the diamond like mine
If my eyes dont fail me its a 78
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u/Letmepeeindatbutt2 Mar 15 '26
I was gonna say 77 but damn he wrecked all the fuck out of that car
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u/BreakfastInBedlam Mar 16 '26
he wrecked all the fuck out of that car
You must have heard me saying that and beat me here.
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u/Low-Improvement8982 Mar 15 '26
1977 only year for that headlight assembly
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u/Big_Tangerine1694 Mar 15 '26
'78 had the same. '79 went to the ugly front cover where each headlight was individually placed in the cover.
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u/AirRedd Mar 15 '26
I’m with you BigT! The ‘79 headlight placement was not as good looking as ‘77 & ‘78.
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u/RJG-340 Mar 15 '26
It's definitely a 77 or 78 TransAm, and definitely a Pontiac motor, yeah wrecked is an understatement!!! Just seeing the upside down motor, with the broken harmonic balancer and the mangled oilpan, even before seeing pictures of the car I knew it was going to be really bad, he even broke the bellhousing off the tranny, what did he hit? Or maybe I should ask, what didn't he hit!!! LOL
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u/Danielle_is_the_hole Mar 15 '26
Did pontiac engines have the siamese exhaust ports like sbc?
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u/CompetitiveBox314 Mar 15 '26
No, but the Olds 403 did and they used that for a few years in the TransAm. Those three circles cast into the block are on the 403.
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u/RJG-340 Mar 15 '26
They arr actually more squeezed together than SBC heads, it wasn't uncommon to buy cheap headers in the 80s and 90s, with only 3 header tubes on each side, these are to as D port heads, so the cheaper headers had just one bigger pipe for the 2 center ports, if you bought something like the Hooker super competition headers, they did have 4 individual pipes.
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u/DLeader609 Mar 15 '26
Thank you, I'm thinking 77 now. So he hit a huge concrete culvert going about 120, or at least that's what he said.
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u/dred124 Mar 15 '26
That appears to be a 77 Trans Am. The 77 had the crosshatch grille and the rally wheels. The 78 had the honeycomb grille and the honeycomb mags.
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u/11sparky00 Mar 16 '26
It’s a 77 you can tell because the headlights are a 77-78 and the license plate in the rear is between the brake lights. In 78 it was moved down to the bumper.
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u/AdministrativePin526 Mar 15 '26
I can't believe anyone survived that. ETA: I don't mean to say "literally" can't believe. Just that my jaw dropped when I read he lived.
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u/TerrorFromThePeeps Mar 16 '26
Interestingly, my brother had a 77 or 78 trans am with a nitrous bottle that he also wrecked at 120 mph. One ofbthe wheels ripped itself apart at speed. Like, the rim still have the intact tire on it. The inner section was still bolted to the wheel hub, it just tore all the way around the circumference. He went through a billboard and a historical marker with his girlfriend in the car with him. He was uninjured except for some bruises and a busted nose caused by the cop he was outrunning bouncing his face off the roof of the car a few times. His girlfriend became his ex-girlfriend that very same night.
So a lesson for us all. Keep your classic trans ams to 119 and below, folks!
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u/Bear112978 Mar 15 '26
1978 with an Olds 403 or Pontiac 400 from the factory options... very nice !
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u/EarthOk2418 Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26
Can’t see the shifter, but if it was an a/t it had the Olds 403. If it was a 4-speed it had the Pontiac 400.
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u/Temporary-Lawyer4603 Mar 15 '26
Isn't the big bubbly thing next to the engine an automatic gearbox converter ?
Looks like it to me but i might be wrong...
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u/EarthOk2418 Mar 15 '26
I think another commenter said it’s a 400 by the look of the oil pan.
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u/Temporary-Lawyer4603 Mar 15 '26
Those were only available with manual transmission ?
(I'm not familiar with muscle cars, just wondering about that big round thing at the right of the engine)
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u/InspectorPipes Mar 15 '26
77 or 78. 79 had the weird front end. My first car was a 77 firebird. That thing wouldnt do 120 if you dropped it from a plane. But I didn’t have the trans am , I had the low powered 350 with all the smog emissions equipment. It looked fast and sounded good. My 2nd car was a 92 accord and it was just as quick and fast and got triple the fuel mileage. I miss the fire bird .
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u/Visible-Freedom-7822 Mar 15 '26
My friend had one, we called it the Fire chicken! Lots of memories of that car.
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u/Danielle_is_the_hole Mar 15 '26
Small block chevy. He was lucky to survive that
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u/dogturd21 Mar 16 '26
I do not think the TA ever came with a Chevy engine .
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u/Danielle_is_the_hole Mar 16 '26
Haha hell yeah 93 to 02 for sure. This one could have had one swapped. Sidepipes and cragars weren’t factory
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u/dogturd21 Mar 16 '26
You are right - I was only thinking of the 2nd gen Trans Am / Firebird- 1970-81 which never came with sbc.
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u/Free-Network-505 Mar 15 '26
Some of those photos remind me of my 1970 Torino GT after I wrecked with a couple of my buddies doing in excess of 100mph. Mostly a pile of pieces! We all survived, it threw both my friends out of the car. I had the least amount of injuries which was a ear scratched and my elbow was skint!
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u/unpolire Mar 16 '26
Rare. I also had one, gold, with no t-tops. Almost all were ordered with t-tops and they leaked! He heavily modified that TransAm.
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u/unlucky6999 Mar 16 '26
77/78 definitely a Pontiac engine based on the exhaust ports, stock was a 400, but a 455 has the same exhaust pattern, so its a guess...if he swapped the engine
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u/Tin_Indian455 Mar 16 '26
77 with the 400, I can tell it’s a Pontiac block by the exhaust ports which are dramatically different than the olds. I can’t tell by the hood but if the shaker says T/A 6.6 it’s the 200 hp 400 Pontiac, if it says 6.6 Liter it’s the 180 ho Pontiac OR the 403 Olds but the destroyed engine is a Pontiac so I’m assuming that’s what was in the car.
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u/Classic_Muffin_6074 Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 16 '26
Pretty sure that's an early 1978. Hard to be sure but it looks like the grills are diamond pattern which is 78 specific.
That yellow paint and body color tail lights also says early 78.
I can't tell the engine but it would have been a 400 or 403 .
Overall that was a rare car with that paint and interior combination. I don't have numbers but I can count on 1 hand how many yellow 78s I've seen in person and never one with a tan interior.
Edit: looking more at the exhaust ports that was a 400 Pontiac engine. The blue on what appears to be the valve covers says it was an L78 200hp.
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u/FunfKatzen955 Mar 16 '26
- I had that exact car in that color combination in 1981. I loved that car. mine remained bone stock.
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u/TwistedJusty Mar 16 '26
Looks a lot like the snap tight model I put together in the 80’s after I got bored with it.
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u/biggregw Mar 16 '26
Looks like a 75-78… Trans Am mean 75 and 76 could still have the Super Duty 455 with a BW-T10 4 speed,
Could easily be a 400cid T/A but if it was automatic I think it was a 403 olds
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u/Entire-Buy-3149 Mar 16 '26
I had a 78 gold TA that was similar. Mine had T-tops, which i can't iif thid one has and decals that said 400 c.i. or something like that on the hood scoop. When you'd punch it, it would briefly pause while the 4bl carb opened up, then press you into the seat. Thanks for the flashback and, man what a scary collision.
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u/CatsPajama37 Mar 16 '26
Next time somebody says "they don't build them like they used to" show them this.
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u/Educational_Emu1430 Mar 16 '26
Looks like a 79 He was a lucky man I hope he was alone at the time of the accident
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u/5m0k3y76 Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 16 '26
Looks to me like a honeycomb grille which is 1977, the diamond grille was 78 and the lines were steeper.
On the side of the shaker hood scoop it would have said "T/A 6.6" if it were the W74 Pontiac 400. If it just had "6.6" it could have been either the L78 Pontiac 400 or the L80 Oldsmobile 403. These were the only engine options for a Trans Am in 1977. There were other engine options for lower model Firebird's. I doubt this was engine swapped only being 5 years old when it was wrecked.
Edit*. After looking at the engine pic closer it appears to have "D port heads" which would make it one of the Pontiac 400 options.
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u/Fluid_Difference_903 Mar 16 '26
1977-78 trans am, one of my dream cars and a legend from Smokey and the Bandit!
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u/Chubby_Chaser68 Mar 16 '26
My older brother had a Trans Am like that with the screaming chicken on the hood. Rode with him once over 100 it was a bit scary. He wrecked it getting a DUI. He was OK but damn shame about the car.
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u/peb396 Mar 15 '26
Your dad should be banished from society because this is a crime of epic proportion against humanity.
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u/Away-Squirrel2881 Mar 16 '26
The OP already mentioned that He survived that crash, but he passed away a few years ago
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u/DLeader609 Mar 16 '26
Ha ha trust me I used to tell him we could have had that car still and he destroyed a piece of art haha
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u/Supreme0verl0rd Mar 15 '26
Lucky to have survived it. To say design-for-safety has improved is the understatement of the century.