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1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Special Edition Y88

Location: Parkville, Maryland, United States
Condition: Used
Make: Pontiac
Model: Trans Am
Trim: SE
Year: 1978
Mileage: 34,000
VIN: 2W87Z8L187397
Color: Gold
Engine size: 400
Number of cylinders: 8
Power options: Air Conditioning, Cruise Control, Power Locks, Power Windows
Fuel: Gasoline
Transmission: Automatic
Drive type: RWD
Interior color: Tan
Vehicle Title: Clear

1978 Pontiac Trans Am SE Description

This is a 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Special Edition, a true gold Y88 car with a 400 V8, automatic transmission and a shaker hood. After the popularity of Smokey and the Bandit and the black '77 TA SE, they decided to try reversing the colors and making gold the main color instead of black for the '78 Special Edition. They designated these Special Editions with the Y88 designation to determine which were really Special Editions and which were simply gold colored. The SE also had a blacked out tail panel, special tan steering column, custom gold wheels (NOT the standard yellow wheels) and exclusive gold tinted T-tops instead of the standard dark ones.
Unfortunately there were problems with the special gold paint on cars that came out of the Van Nuys California paint causing it to turn a green hue, resulting in them cancelling the package and reverting back to the black Special Edition package. Thus the Y88 was only available to order from November 1977 to February 1978, making it one of the rarest Trans Ams.
This is a real original Y88 car with the original build sheet and Pontiac Historical Service paperwork. This one was built in Van Nuys and started life in Washington state before being sold to a gentlemen who moved to Florida. I purchased it from him and had it shipped to Maryland. The car is rust free underneath and the only visible rust is some bubbling in the lower rear quarters, and some bubbling and cracking of previously performed body work in the driver's side lower rear quarter. The rest of the car appears rust free and exactly how you expect a Florida car to be.
Loaded with power windows, A/C, cruise control, both original Gold T-tops as well as a much less rare regular dark set of T-tops for driving around.Unfortunately as this was a Van Nuys car the original paint had to be repainted, and the original graphic stripes were not reapplied.
The car has also had some miles put on her and presents as exactly the way you would imagine a Trans Am in the late 80's and early 90's to be.I think the mileage has rolled over, but I am not sure.She has been tuned up and gone over and just had a front end rebuild, and can be reliably driven. It does need to be restored and has issues such as the driver's side window not working and cruise control turn signal stalk needing to be installed.
The car does have a well worn feel and does deserve a restoration to fix problems such as a loud aftermarket muffler, although the original exhaust tips are still hooked up to the original exhaust which was simply disconnected. The drivers door needs the hinge repaired and the door does sag when opened. This is a known Firebird problem and I do have the repair kit to install. The original stereo was removed and a cheap cd player and some aftermarket speakers have been installed and will need to be removed to authentically restore.
Car also comes with almost $5k worth of extra parts to aid in the restorationsuch as heads and headers, gaskets, valve covers, et cetera. The car is tagged and any interested party in the Baltimore area is welcome to come by and go for a test ride.

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