Platinum Firebirds Lot#1

The Platinum Club
(under 10k miles)
Lot#1
To qualify for this section of the site your Firebird must be at least 10 years old and must have less
than 10,000 miles on it and it must be in near perfect, unrestored, unmolested condition. I tried a
section similiar to this before and it just never took off. This is a slightly different format and I hope
it will see more success. The intent of this section of the site is to showcase those special cars that
have survived over the years without racking hardly any mileage as well as giving the restorer a
chance to see them as they were originally. I will make every effort to keep heavily restored
cars and those that may have had the odometer modified out of this section.

1979 10th Anniversary Trans Am

Owner: John O'Neill

3,110 Miles

It won't surprise some people that the first Firebird to gain entry into this section of the site is a 10th. It seems a lot of them were bought and stored over the years as there are a number of low mileage examples in the hobby. Regardless of that this Trans Am is amazing and its more amazing that its 25+ years old. You can also see John's Trans Am over in the Anniversary Lots in Lot#4.
John writes:

"Hello, I have been enjoying your site for years! I finally have a Pontiac of my own that is worthy (much more than worthy, actually) of appearing on your site. Could you please post these pictures? The car is a survivor (not restored) 3,100 original mile 10th Anniversary Trans Am. It is one of only 1,817 built with the high-performance T/A 6.6 Pontiac 400 V-8, Borg-Warner Super T-10 4-speed manual transmission and 3.23 posi-traction rear. It has never had any paint work and appears brand new. The story behind this car is a neat one.
When I was 19, my dad helped me to buy my first new car, a '79 Trans Am. It was not a 10th but rather, a low option white WS-6 car with blue interior, 403 Olds and automatic, A/C, stereo and not much more. It was not exactly what I wanted (the 10th Anniversary 400 4-speed was!) but how could I complain? Few 19 year olds were cruisin' in a brand new T/A! Anyway, the desire for my dream car never subsided. About ten years ago, I started looking seriously. After many flights to far away cities and multiple disappointments, I finally found my dream car in a climate controlled museum in Georgia sitting next to a 4 million dollar Duesenberg!
The car was virtually flawless with only 2,400 miles and still sported its original Uniroyal white lettered radials. The climate controlled environment preserved the car beautifully; I had never seen one that looked as nice as this one, not even when they were new. No door dings, no faded spoilers, no flaws of any kind! Even the A/C blew ice-cold. A deal was struck and I flew home to Maryland and anxiously awaited the delivery of my new T/A. Upon arrival, I changed all of the fluids, tuned it up (it still had the original plugs, wires, rotor and cap), changed the tires and gave it a good detailing. It runs better than any '79 I have ever driven and looks even better. When I drive this car, I am 19 all over again! Thanks for letting me share my story and keep up the good work."

John O'Neill

1978 Trans Am

Owner: Larry Neyens

5,500 Miles

Martinique Blue is reportedly the second most popular color for Trans Ams sold in 1978 second only to Starlight Black. Larry writes:

"I ordered this T/A back in the spring of 1978. It was the first new car for both my wife and me. Though it almost never came to be, as it was a late order and the availability of the W72 engine that I wanted was in question. One dealer told me I couldn't order the W72, while another dealer told me I could - but I would have to place an order ASAP - so I did. On May 13th I placed an order for a Martinique Blue 1978 T/A with the WS6 Performance Package, W72 engine, 4-speed transmission and 3:42 Safe-T-Track. Back then I rarely used air-conditioning and hesitated to include it in my order, but did so for resale purposes only. The car was ordered to suit my "performance cravings". There weren't too many domestic cars during that time period that put out any real power, but my choice (220 HP) if I recall was second to the Corvette (225 HP) in horsepower. I've owned this car a long time and because it's rarely driven, I typically would just change the oil and oil filter each year. The car still has the original brakes, air filter, spark plugs, tires and belts etc....
I suppose it would be easier to list the items not original, and they are: mud flaps, oil filter, antifreeze, test tube in place of the catalytic converter (the original one has about 600 miles on it), battery and about 12 inches of rubber gas line hose. The car was undercoated and had a paint protection process applied to it when new. The original paint protection process lasted for years and years and years - mostly due to the car always being sheltered and driven very little. I've only waxed the car once since new and that was in 1999, around the time some of these pictures were taken. The car looks as good today as it did back in 1978. The T/A rarely gets dirty and when it does, all I need is a clean sponge and a little water (I never use soap) to make it look good.
One last thing, I never bought the car with the intention to store or preserve, it just happened. I admit I'm very protective of all my cars, and since this was my first new car and my wife doesn't drive a manual transmission, I bought another Pontiac with an automatic for us to drive during the winter months. During its first year the T/A was driven about 600 miles, more miles than any year since. The car currently has under 6000 miles. It seemed as each year passed the car became more precious to us and got driven less and less. Throughout the years we have enjoyed other Pontiacs - many have come and gone - but this one is here to stay!"

Larry Neyens