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An 86 Trans Am with an unusual history.
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gcsprayjr



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 47
Location: Western North Carolina

1986 TransAm

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 9:16 am    Post subject: An 86 Trans Am with an unusual history. Reply with quote

Her name is Amanda, and was named for her original owner. Amanda is a completely stock mostly original 1986 Pontiac Trans AM WS6 with 29,800 actual miles on her. Amanda is not a rare car in the actual meaning of the term rare, as there were 44,000 Third Generation F-Body cars built and sold in 1986. The car does sport some nice options, such as the 215HP version of the 305 Tuned Port Injection engine, WS6 performance suspension package which includes the Borg Warner 9 bolt diff with 3:27 positraction gears, the RPO code PW7 GTA style wheel option which was offered on late production Trans AM's. Another notable option is the RPO code AQ7 Pontiac Performance Sound package, which inculdes a Delco AM/AM Stereo/FM/Cassette with a graphic equailzer. The system included a remote mounted Delco sub-woofer amplifier with gain control mounted in the dashboard. The little 20 watt powerhouse amp feeds two 4.5 inch subwoofers mounted in the sail panels. The primary speakers were four 4 x 6 Delco units, two in the dash and two mounted above the subwoofers also in the sail panels. While not a rare car, the thirdgen cars were considered throw-aways by many, and as a result few original examples of thirdgen Trans AM survivor cars exist today.
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gcsprayjr



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 47
Location: Western North Carolina

1986 TransAm

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 9:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The car was ordered by Harry's Pontiac in Asheville NC for general inventory. Her build date was July 1986. On a Saturday morning in the fall of 1986 the car would be purchased by MS. Amanda Crowe of Cherokee NC. Crowe was shopping that day in Asheville, saw the car sitting in the showroom at Harry's and was initially attracted to the car because of its beautiful Bright Blue and Silver paint. Amanda test drove the car, and bought it on the spot. Amanda always said that she would not own a car that would not smoke the tires, and the 86 would certainly light up the 245-50-16 Goodyears. Crowe drove the car back to her home on the Cherokee Indian Reservation, and never returned the car for completion of the dealer prep. Consequently the car still wears many of the orange OK to ship stickers placed by inspectors on the Pontiac assembly line. The car would be serviced by a local garage in Cherokee for the next 20 years. All of the parts shipped loosely inside of the car intended to be installed by the dealership prior to sale would eventually be installed by the local garage. The air dam was installed when MS. Crowe complained that the car had a tendency to overheat at low speeds. The car would become Crowe's Sunday afternoon car, and would sit inside of Amanda's climate controled garage in the basement of her home on top of the mountain. Amanda was a car collector, and the TA shared space with her DD, a 1969 El Camino with custom paint, a 383 stroker engine, and a four speed trans. Also sharing space were a pristine 1957 T-bird, and a 1927 Model T touring car. I guess she broke her tire smoking rule at least once when she bought the tin lizzy.
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gcsprayjr



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 47
Location: Western North Carolina

1986 TransAm

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 10:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

More information about the original owner, Amanda Crowe

http://www.ncarts.org/artist_page.cfm?ser=33900&num=33400&
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gcsprayjr



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 47
Location: Western North Carolina

1986 TransAm

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sadly, Amanda Crowe passed away in 2004.

Her family sold most of her belongings during 2004 to 2006.

My wife asked me what I wanted for my 50th birthday in 2006, and I saw my chance to get the TA. I told her that I really wanted Amanda's car for my birthday present. Little did I know that later that day, my lovely wife would drop me off with a check in hand to purchase the car. Unfortunately the car had suffered some neglect during the time of Crowe's illness, and would require a minor restoration to bring it back to its former glory. The OE blue paint, a waterbased basecoat/clearcoat cracked and turned yellow. The car had been parked outside for a few weeks, and was leaking around the T- tops. The inside was wet and smelly. If that were not enough someone had left a bag of candy inside of the car. A mouse made a home in the car, and made the smelly wet interior problem worse.

First the interior was striped, cleaned, and stored. The car was sent to a local shop for mechanical repairs, and was brought back to new condition mechanically. The blue paint was striped, prepped, and repainted. Reproduction graphics were purchased from Phoenix Graphics and installed. The restored interior was re-installed, and looks perfect. The paint job was never intended to be a show quality job, however it is a good 10 footer, or a nice number 2. Originally, I planned to autocross race the car, however after completing the work, I could not bare to subject the car to that sort of abuse.

In 2009, we attended the F-Body Gathering in Atlanta GA, which is the longest running largest F-Body event in the southeast. It is held on Memorial Weekend each year. To my amazement we earned Class Winner for the 1982-87 Firebird stock class. We repeated the win again in 2010, and there was a bonus that year. Scott Settlemire, of General Motors picked the car as Best Firebird in show. We earned Class Winner again in 2011, and 2012.
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gcsprayjr



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 47
Location: Western North Carolina

1986 TransAm

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The F-Body Gathering


http://www.fbodygathering.com/
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gcsprayjr



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 47
Location: Western North Carolina

1986 TransAm

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Article from the Cherokee One Feather, the tribal news paper.

http://theonefeather.com/2011/06/amanda%E2%80%99s-car/
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gcsprayjr



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 47
Location: Western North Carolina

1986 TransAm

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 12:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote



On the Tail of the Dragon, US Highway 129, Tennessee
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gcsprayjr



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 47
Location: Western North Carolina

1986 TransAm

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 12:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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gcsprayjr



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 47
Location: Western North Carolina

1986 TransAm

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 10:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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gcsprayjr



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 47
Location: Western North Carolina

1986 TransAm

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 10:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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gcsprayjr



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 47
Location: Western North Carolina

1986 TransAm

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 10:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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jesse1963



Joined: 01 Dec 2012
Posts: 22
Location: Indiana

1963 Catalina

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 8:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The T/A came out very nice. My best friend had a red one just like it in high school. I always liked those cars. I wouldn't mind getting a formula 350, the late 80s early 90s model year. Very nice car you have. Great story also.
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"make it 300 and you got yourself a automobile race"
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gcsprayjr



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 47
Location: Western North Carolina

1986 TransAm

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks,

I need to post the story about the white 82 WS7 TA, seen in the background in that one picture. It is all original, and has 24,300 miles. The 30 year-old OE Goodyear Eagle GT's still on the ground. Yikes! They look fine, but ride like rocks. I plan to replace them with reproduction Goodyear Eagle GT tires this year.

The battery has been replaced, and the upper radiator hose was replaced last month. Everything else is factory.

Charles
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jesse1963



Joined: 01 Dec 2012
Posts: 22
Location: Indiana

1963 Catalina

PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I love the wheels on the white one. It reminds me of knight rider. How do you find them with such low miles? I looked at a couple of formulas online here by my house. They all have over 100000 miles but are pretty clean.
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gcsprayjr



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 47
Location: Western North Carolina

1986 TransAm

PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 1:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The first Knightrider was based on an 82. It was the same car as my 82 except in black with black interior. As the TV show progressed through the seasons they used later models, but added the 82 style bowling ball wheels to them. The bowling balls are becoming rare and expensive with a pristine set of 15 inch covers bringing $2500.00 on E-Bay. The covers are plastic with an aluminum skin. They are made so cheaply, it is a challange to keep them on the cars. I don't drive this car much, and if going any distance, will remove the covers to prevent loosing one.

As for the low mileage thing, the blue car sort of fell into my lap so to speak. I knew the original owner, and was familiar with the car for several years before actually getting a chance to own it.

The white one was the result of a a seven year search. I was actually looking for an 83 to replace the 83 that I bought brand new in 1983, and stupidly sold in 2003 with 46,000 actual miles on it. The 1983 as a model was a better car then the 82, but I could not find an 83 in the condition I wanted. 1982 was the first of the thirdgen models, and they were diminished from the previous Firebird cars. A 145HP 305 with a T200C tranny, does not make much excitement. The car is pretty lame as far as performance. For 1983 the 700R4 was introduced, and that bumped up the performance quite a bit. When this 82 became available, very clean, no rust, and it had the low miles, it became apparent that this was the one.

I purchase low mileage original Trans AM's because I don't have the spare time or the patience to do a full restoration on a car. 100 years ago I did paint and body work and can build a car from a box of parts. Than I went to nursing school, and now I work all of the time at the hospital on the Cherokee Indian Reservation. When I do have time off, I want to enjoy the cars rather then work on them. Original low milers mostly require maintanence, however repairs are minimal. I use a local mechanic for major repairs. I tinker with them a little, detail them a lot, and get to enjoy them more. I always work at least 70 hours a week, and often work 90 hours in a week. There is not enough energy left in me to get involved in anything complicated. Having low mileage cars allows me to enjoy the hobby when I am off.

My next project is going to be either an 87-89 IROC or a Formula. It will be a high mileage car with a clean straight body. I want a t-top body, however it will have a roll bar/half cage and subframe connectors. It will be a full street rod, and will be more aftermarket then GM. It will probably end up in the supermodified class. Planning a ZZ4 crate engine with an aftermaket tuned port injection, 6 speed stick, and a Mosier diff. I will be looking for a car that does not need a restoration, just mods.

Charles
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