This 1969 Trans Am is a very special car. It hasn’t been restored and it is very rare. 1969 was the first model year of the Trans Am and Pontiac made only 697 of them. 8 of them were Convertibles and the remaining 689 were hardtops. As you can see this is 1 of those 689 hardtops made in 1969. This car was found in a barn in Georgia.
There are plenty of ways to decode a 1969 Trans Am. One of them is the D80 code on the cowl tag. The 1969 Trans Am had 2 engine options. One was the Ram Air 400 V8 engine and the other one was a Ram Air IV 400 V8 engine. If you wanted more power, you would choose the Ram Air IV. It made around 345 horsepower, however, most car enthusiasts say that those ratings were conservative. The Ram Air IV package cost $1,083 and it featured a special handling package, Formula steering wheel, side vents, and blue stripes. The owner says that the engine is numbers matching and original to the car. The interior of the car appears to be in very good condition. It is highly original and it’s in black color. The engine is hooked up to a 4-speed close-ratio M21 manual transmission. The exterior of the car features the original paint which is worn out and faded. It does look cool tho.
I always liked the first Trans Am. It had the muscle car design and it was a very fast car. This particular car can be an example of how fast and loud was the 1969 Trans Am. Though it will need work to get it to that place.
So, would you restore this rare beast or drive it like it is?
I would personally restore only the engine and leave the rest of the car like it is.
It has an A/C vent in the center of the dash, but no A/C under the hood. I don’t see a power steering cooler, I think that was standard on the T/A. The hood seems correct, if it’s all steel. I know repops have been available for a few years, but not long enough to have that patina. The fenders look correct, T/A’s were the only fenders that were not drilled for the Pontiac script where the Trans Am decal is. A VIN would be nice, then there would be no doubt.