The second generation of Pontiac’s pony car, which was produced between 1970 and 1981, was hugely popular. Some of the demand was stimulated in the late 1970s from the success of the Smokey & The Bandit movies that “starred” a Pontiac Trans Am (oh, and Burt Reynolds, too). The seller is offering a 1978 Firebird Esprit for $5,000 and throwing in a 1979 Trans Am for free. Both cars look to have been sitting idle for quite some time in Temple, Pennsylvania (northwest of Philadelphia) and available here on Facebook Marketplace.

Let’s break down the two cars separately.

1978 Pontiac Esprit

First off, we’re not sure if this car is an Esprit because the decal on the rear deck spoiler clearly says “Trans Am.” However, the car doesn’t carry a Trans Am hood, so perhaps the spoiler was added later from another car. Second, the Esprit was not available in 1978 with a 455 cubic inch engine, so if there is one under the hood, it would have to have been added later. The biggest engine you could get in a 1978 Esprit was a 350. There is no indication if it runs.

The car is faded and rusty, with most of the visible rot being around the back glass and trunk area. We can’t tell much about the interior because there is a bunch of stuff inside the car, which may or may not have anything to do with the car. There is a sticker on the windshield that suggests the last time the car passed a Pennsylvania state inspection was in 1992.

Pontiac sold about 37,000 Esprits in 1978.

1979 Pontiac Trans Am

The Trans Am is gold in color and was probably a sharp car in the day. However, we can’t determine much about its condition because it has become a shelf for everything else in the garage. At least it’s been inside whereas the ’78 looks to have lived in the Great Outdoors. The seller tells us the motor is bad in this car, but it does have the desirable T-Tops. Like the other car, the seller says it’s mostly complete.

Pontiac sold a minimum of 38,000 Trans Am’s with T-Tops in 1979, but that number could be higher because of all the special editions Pontiac added that year.

So, both cars are clearly projects with more unknowns than knowns. But when was the last time you saw a Firebird Esprit or Trans Am in any condition for the equivalent of $2,500 a-piece? I’d be more inclined to get more excited about the gold one because it might actually be the better car. There is no indication whether the seller would release the cars separately, so it looks like $5,000 no matter how many cars you haul away.