Immediately, being Thanksgiving right here within the U.S., most of us are fascinated by one type of fowl: the turkey. I’ll give you another: the screaming rooster on the hood of at the moment’s Good Value or No Cube basic Trans Am. Between consuming, watching soccer, and naps, let’s resolve what this fowl is perhaps value.
In I Sing the Physique Electrical, Walt Whitman celebrates the human physique as nothing in need of a miracle. Whereas not fairly miraculous, the wagon physique on yesterday’s 2021 Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo 4 proved fairly handsome. The Taycan is also absolutely electrical. All of us celebrated the automotive’s $67,000 asking worth by giving it a stable 65 p.c Good Value win.
The story that Benjamin Franklin advocated for the turkey to be America’s nationwide fowl over the eagle is well-known however finally unfaithful. Franklin did reward the turkey as a “Hen of Braveness,” however fortunately, all of us take pleasure in them on the eating room desk and never as a logo of nationwide satisfaction.
One other fowl all of us would possibly take satisfaction in proudly owning is the flaming phoenix that historically adorns the hood of Pontiac’s basic pony automotive, the Firebird Trans Am. Launched within the Seventies as a approach to spruce up efficiency automobiles that have been sorely missing in precise efficiency as a result of emissions and gas financial system requirements, this type of tape and decal remedy is a pastiche of the period. As soon as producers found out how you can make automobiles muscular whereas on the similar time clear and environment friendly, such therapies largely fell by the wayside.
This 1975 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am is then a real denizen of its decade, because it has each the well-known “Screaming Rooster” decal and, as was par for the course on the time, a giant V8 that places out comparatively few ponies.
On this automotive’s case, that’s a 400 CID Pontiac V8 with a four-barrel Quadrajet carb sitting fairly underneath a shaker scoop. As fitted, the smog-strangled engine managed 185 horsepower and a extra significant 310 lb-ft of torque. On the plus aspect, that is apparently the sooner block which is stronger than these launched later in ’75, and there are many hop-up components obtainable to provide the Pontiac mill extra poop. In keeping with the advert, the TH350 mated to the engine (the TH400 received’t match within the automotive with cats) has a shift package put in.
Different factors of notice on this automotive embrace a contemporary paint job, new decals, and a totally redone inside. That is additionally the primary yr with the wrap-over rear window, so the again seats, whereas cramped, aren’t the previous darkish holes of despair.
Mechanically, the automotive has been gone by way of and options rebuilt suspension and brake parts, new seals and consumables, and wears new Cooper tires on its good-looking Rally II wheels. General, the automotive presents as good-looking and clear. Per the advert, the mileage is 84,937, however a changed odo reads 48K. Much less complicated is the title, which the vendor says is clear.
It’s not all turkey and gravy, although. Per the advert, the A/C is lacking the engine bay parts, which have to be sourced and put in. That lack of A/C means this automotive most likely acquired little use over the previous few months because it resides in Phoenix, Arizona, which masqueraded as a pizza oven for a lot of the summer time.
There are additionally a few minor leaks (gas pump, oil pan) that needs to be addressed. Then there’s the fiddly stuff inherent to proudly owning an previous automotive, comparable to a misaligned door and the specter of individuals speaking to you on the gasoline station. Maybe most egregiously, there’s a CD caught within the stereo. Nevertheless, nothing within the advert’s “Cons” record ought to show a deal-killer.
What would possibly, although, is the automotive’s $24,500 asking worth. That’s quite a lot of inexperienced to go along with our darkish and chicken at the moment. It’s within the vary for such automobiles of this age and situation, however is it a deal?
The place do you land on this Trans Am at that $24,500 worth? Does that really feel like a very good deal? Or does that asking make this Firebird a turkey?
You resolve!
Phoenix, Arizona, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.
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