Dennis Collins Featured: 1976 Pontiac Trans Am
The last year for the Pontiac Trans Am to be produced with the 455 cubic inch V8 engine was 1976. This project car is located in Belton, Texas south of Dallas. It is listed here on Craigslist for $7,500. The ad states that it was featured on the #174 episode of Dennis Collins Coffee Walk YouTube Video and was discovered in North Carolina. In the video, one of his helpers busts out the broken windshield to unlock the car. Collins mistakenly identifies it as a SE which was not produced until 1977. The windshield in the car has been replaced and the car has only been listed for one day. Many thanks to Rocco B for finding this listing.
This Trans Am left the factory painted Code 19 Starlight Black. In 1976, Pontiac built a limited edition Trans Am in black and gold to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pontiac. They are known as “LE” cars and was the first year for gold pinstriping. This car is not an LE but is still special because it is one of 7,528 Trans Ams built in 1976 that was equipped with the L75 455 cubic inch V8. There were 46,704 Trans Ams built in total in 1976. The L75 455 cubic inch V8 was only rated at 200 horsepower but it was more powerful than the base L78 400 cubic inch V8 engine rated at 180 horsepower. The L75 could only be produced with a 4 speed manual transmission and a 3.23:1 ratio rear end.
The black vinyl interior is as you would expect and shows someones handiwork to cut speaker holes in the door panels. The car was heavily optioned from the factory with power windows, rear defrost, power locks and air conditioning. The Trans Am has a cracked dash. There are two companies that restore Trans Am dashes. With shipping, it costs about $1,000 to $1,500 to have a Trans Am dash restored if you remove and reinstall the dash yourself. The Trans Am is said to have a Texas title but the seller states that an explanation is needed.
The body has rust issues and it is obvious that the car needs but is worthy of a complete restoration. This car is riding on factory 15×7 Rally II rims. Good luck to the person who decides to restore this Trans Am. It will be a lot of work but deserves to be back on the road. Check out the Dennis Collins video and the five cars that Collins saved from the woods of North Carolina.
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Comments
Ad says Texas title, but requires an explanation on it ? What does that mean..
He never titled it in his name so there’s back taxes on this in the state of Nebraska if you let a car sit you just can’t play it you have to play it for all the dead time
Title should read “Texas Toast”
Strikes me as I sure don’t want “Dennis Collins” near anything I own.
Really. Who the hell is Dennis Collins?
A junkman, it looks like.
Dennis who? YouTube star = someone that’s a legend in his own mind.
Parts?
Maybe. Except for the windshield.
Mr Fancy Pants
For those that don’t know, Dennis Collins was the money guy behind Gas Monkey Garage. I’m pretty sure he owns a Jeep dealership in Dallas. Now he’s got a Youtube channel.
Only in America.
Don’t know, don’t care.
Seen some of his videos. He finds some really interesting stuff. I think he’s into all sorts of stuff but really likes Jeeps and Shelby stuff.
They own Collins brothers Jeeps not sure it’s a dealership but not sure.
Dennis collins is a very smart business guy that knows his stuff about cars and has the ability to present information about cars in a very useful way. Cool guy!
South of Dallas? I live just outside of Belton and I’ve never heard someone describe the area as south of Dallas. I mean, it’s not incorrect. Belton is also south of North Dakota. Just “South of Waco” or “North of Austin” or “Smack Dab in the Middle of Texas” seems to be much more accurate.
There were two 400 engines available this year.A 185hp “Z” code which was federal emissions and the “S” code rated at 180hp was California emissions.For 1975 and 76′ this was the only way you got a 455,with a 4spd only as 1974 was the last year the TH400 was used in the Firebirds.
which tells you something about the durability of the smaller turbo 350 trans that could squeeze in next to the wide cat conv.
There’s something too tragic about a 455 ci engine with such lifeless horsepower.
Welcome to the 70s.
Torque numbers like a turbodiesel for those engines. Smooth to 2000 rpm – no cupholders needed. At least Pontiac was trying, kind of.
Dennis Collins buys, restores and sells countless numbers of classic cars. He has saved many vehicles that would have never been saved if it weren’t for him. He is a good friend of Richard Rawlins on fast and loud and has earned my respect just from the work he does in the classic car industry. Problem here is if he passed on this one then there’s probably something wrong. Better look close.
He flew all the way to Alaska and bought a Ferrari from my brother, its on his channel, type in his name and Alaska
The dash “pad” is cracked, a new one can be had for less than $400.
The engine turned gauge cluster is what costs $1000-$1500 to restore. For those on a budget, you can buy a fairly decent “crack and peel” silver or gold engine turned applique for 70-81 Trans Am’s from Phoenix Graphix for about $40. Phoenix also has woodgrain appliques for standard and Formula Firebird dash clusters.
This TA looks pretty rough, and I don’t like getting involved with any car with title issues that’s being sold on a Bill of Sale.
There was a 76 S/E edition, not as popular as 77 obviously. Cars in Smokey and the Bandit were 76’s with 77 nose cone.
& ’77 flatter hood & the much shorter squarer ’77 shaker scoop!
When I first met my wife she had a 1976 trans am 350 automatic no t tops .
I had a 79 ya no t- tops 403 in High school when I met my Ex wife man I sure miss that car 😂