why did you buy a trans am

**brendan.9** · 12-03-2009, 05:44 PM

where, when, and why did you buy you a trans am?

**MrKid** · 12-03-2009, 06:20 PM

The 4th gen's came out when I was in High School, and I thought it was best looking TA to date. There was no way I could afford them, so I had to wait a good number of years. I finally got a great job, my own house, and paid off every bill I had. I finally had the ability to buy a "toy". My wife actually spotted the car when she was driving to work. I stopped by, droveit, and bought it on the spot.

**Jholdener** · 12-03-2009, 06:21 PM

Because I couldn't afford a C5 vette, lol

**croslod** · 12-03-2009, 06:33 PM

A few months ago the wife and i were driving my jetta (which she hated) to a coworkers party and saw it sitting there beside the highway in a parking lot and on the way back she made me stop. There it sat a 2000 TA black on black, t-tops and in above average condition for 105k mi asking 8500. I had one year left to pay on the jetta and then was gonna get my dream car a 05-06 GTO black on black with a 6 speed manual. Not to be. She bantered back and forth on the price and offered 6800 and he said SHOW ME THE MONEY so she did and she even got to drive it home(jetta was a manual and she refused to drive it,

) So i had to give up the jetta at 30 mpg and drive her ta 22 mpg 100 mi a day to work. Granted i have 4 more cyls now that sound awesome at 6000rpms and get lots more looks from hot chicks but it's not a GOAT! Just one more way wives control us.

**Smokaholik** · 12-03-2009, 07:17 PM

Originally Posted by MrKid

The 4th gen's came out when I was in High School, and I thought it was best looking TA to date. There was no way I could afford them, so I had to wait a good number of years. I finally got a great job, my own house, and paid off every bill I had. I finally had the ability to buy a "toy". My wife actually spotted the car when she was driving to work. I stopped by, droveit, and bought it on the spot.

^ +1 the 4th Gens came out when i was highschool to and i thought they just looked amazing still do and back then nothing could really touch em speed wise. No way i could afford one back then but 9yrs later, look at me now. searched for bout 2-3 months until i found one worthy n then drove 600 miles to Kentucky to buy her.

**justinmc978** · 12-03-2009, 07:28 PM

when i was 7 or 8 i saw the 'hungry' commercial at my nieghbors house on my birthday, i was PSYC'D. i had to have the evil car...

ever since i have been obsessed with them, i had dreams during my mid teens centered around them.. but i could never afford one.

last april i had saved up enough to buy one as a 'graduation' gift for myself since my dad wasnt going to get me anything,

that drive home was the most peacefull i have ever felt, no movie, themepark ride, life accomplishment, or even any girl made me feel the way i did driving home that night, my T/A is my pride and joy, any bad day i have can be relieved with her, just makes me feel whole,

i have made so many good friends with that car, and also met a few girls for no other reason but.

i love my Pontiac

**Siciliano15** · 12-03-2009, 07:57 PM

like many people here said..... i was in high school when the 1998 ws6 commercial came on. from there i fell in love i was thinkin dam this has got to be the best looking car of the decade. i wanted to buy one brand new but they were around 30 grand which was way too much for me and the insurance was even higher. so i went a different route...... found what i think is the best looking truck ever made in the '02 dakota r/t reg cab. ended up getting one of those for around 22 grand and spent the past 7 years building it into a pretty mean machine. best of all the insurance was cheap because i got a utility discount for it being a truck and it wasnt noted as a performance car since the 5.9 r/t package was more of an option and not an actual trim level so it came up as dakota sport to the insurance people.

then 2 years ago i got a job at Infiniti selling cars and got a free demo to drive so i got used to the better gas mileage so i would only drive the r/t once in a while but then the economy downturned and the dealer almost went under so lots of costs were cut and no more demos for anyone except managers so i was like hell of im gonna drive the 10mpg big cammed r/t every day.

so last october instead of going out and getting some beater that id be miserable in i looked around for a while and found what would soon be my '98 ws6 trans am with only 50k on the clock and in great condition located in Long Island. it was an auto and i wanted a stick but i was like watever its fast and looks unbelieveable so i picked it up. now i drive it about 4 days a week and the truck about 2-3 days a week. the trans am has turned into a new hobby for me and even though im probably not gonna go crazy on the heads and cam with this one i still did all the bolt-ons and suspension stuff so its a real fun car to drive and is very liveable while being almost as fast as the r/t so its a great compromise.

**TempleU_WS6** · 12-03-2009, 08:44 PM

A bit different for me but I never remembered seeing the commercials for them nor do I remember ever seeing one till I was looking to buy one.

For me it started with my love of cars and my involvement with them through my Uncle and cousin. My uncle has a mid to high 10 second Pinto and my cousin has a 93 fox body that runs 10.29 N/A.

My first car was a practical 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee and it was great but I just had a longing for a sports car and it had to be manual. I just wanted to DRIVE!!!

So in thinking what could be a possible option I saw the first season of Bull Run and Mike Alsop and his daughter in their red WS6 had me drooling (for two reasons

) But that car looked like no other car I have ever seen. I was in love. I started doing all kinds of research and looking day and night for the right one.

I got into third gens for the price but the WS6 still had me. During this time my friend got a new LS2 GTO and that pushed me even further.

After endless searching I found one that was close by at dealer. I convinced my parents to come out there with me to check it out. It was the first one I had seen in person and my parents test drove it. (I couldnt drive standard at the time). They were both impressed by it and I was just drooling the whole time.

With some support from my parents and a trade in of one of our other cars it was mine!!! Just a few payments left and it will be official too.

This was about a month before I graduated high school so it was a semi graduation present and I got to show it off in the school parking lot. Thank god I'm not too dumb and didnt wreck it! So now 3 years later and I still love it as much as the day I got it if not more. With the D1SC procharger going on in the spring I'll fall in love all over again and it'll be a whole new monster!

**Sas** · 12-04-2009, 07:27 AM

I liked knightrider as a kid, and picke dup my first TA when I was 19ish and it was an 89 GTA, hated working on it, but fell in love with the power they offered. The transmision went out on it, so I ended up trading it in for a new 2001 Cougar, paid that off in 6 months, then traded it in for a 97 TA, then Autozone sold me a defective motor for it, so when that was fixed, the mechanic hooked up the fuel rail wrong and it caught on fire while I was driving it home. I used the insurance money off that as a down payment on the Firehawk and now I pray that nothing happens to this one, since I seem to have bad luck with Pontiacs and learned a valuable lesson. Don't let other people work on your cars, and don't trust Autozone for $hit.

**SAGGIN** · 12-04-2009, 07:59 AM

I don't own a T/A but I'm sure those that do own only bought because they were unable to get an SS...lol.

**98T/Aformula.** · 12-04-2009, 08:14 AM

I just turned 17 and wanted something a bit quicker then my 96 S-10 Blazer so I thought to myself what can I buy with quite a bit of hp for a low amount of money.....Then I found the TA I payed 11k for a car that was way quicker then anything at my high school so I was happy haha. Had for five years and sold it for 9.7k and only had one speeding ticket in that car! I miss it.

**JohnnyBs98WS6Rag** · 12-04-2009, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by SAGGIN

I don't own a T/A but I'm sure those that do own only bought because they were unable to get an SS...lol.

LOL, sure. Admit it, you REALLY would rather be driving a T/A.

For me, quite the contrary. During my search for WS6 (I've posted my 2000 word epic before, not going to do it again), I nearly had to "settle" for an SS since back in '98 you couldn't hardly find ANY LS1 f-bods on dealer lots, let alone a WS6 'vert w/ a M6. Fortunately for me, I avoided the temptation of the SS and eventually found my WS6.

**NavyTATwo** · 12-04-2009, 08:39 AM

Originally Posted by SAGGIN

I don't own a T/A but I'm sure those that do own only bought because they were unable to get an SS...lol.

Ah......No.

Actually, my first car was a white 1973 Trans Am, which I bought after I got of high school in '81. It was rusty but would bark 2nd gear like a champ with four people in the car and not even work up a sweat doing it! I was hooked on Trans Am's and Firebirds at that point. After it was stolen in 1983, I bought another '73 (Green with a 4 speed) and kept it for a year then got rid of it to get something that got better mileage and wasn't nickle and diming me to death. Big mistake! I had the worst feeling as it was driving away and told myself I would buy a new one someday. Fast forward to 2000, I bought a new Trans Am that summer and drove it until 2006 when I traded it in on my Goat. My goal at the time was to buy another TA and this summer I picked up a black WS-6(possibly the meanest looking car of all time!) with 26,000 miles on it. I am pretty happy to have another F-Body sharing my driveway with the last year GTO.

Scott

***SMWS6TA*** · 12-04-2009, 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by MrKid

The 4th gen's came out when I was in High School, and I thought it was best looking TA to date. There was no way I could afford them, so I had to wait a good number of years. I finally got a great job, my own house, and paid off every bill I had. I finally had the ability to buy a "toy". My wife actually spotted the car when she was driving to work. I stopped by, drove it, and bought it on the spot.

^^^^^^
The same for me word for word

**tep98ws6** · 12-04-2009, 09:26 AM

question is why not?

they're absolutely gorgeous, raw cars with lines very, very few cars today have. i fell in love with them once i saw the commercials in 6th grade (

) and i've wanted a white one since i was 13. i looked at many black ones along the way but nothing really ever got to me the way mine does. to me, they're an icon of hard work, american muscle and speed ... which is everything i hold dear to me

**NavyTATwo** · 12-04-2009, 09:28 AM

Originally Posted by tep98ws6

to me, they're an icon of hard work, american muscle and speed ... which is everything i hold dear to me

Roger that!

Scott

**Archaelas** · 12-04-2009, 10:02 AM

Well the real question for me is, which T/A?

My first was a 1987 GTA hardtop with the 5.7. I bought that just before graduating high school in '98. I bought it for one reason only, I was 18 and wanted to pick up chicks. When that car was totalled (*grumble grumble*) I waited until I could find another T/A and landed on a 1988 GTA Notchback Edition, black with t-tops, black interior and the 5.0L. Unfortunately, a little old lady in a Crown Vic decided I didn't need that car and ran it over (well, pushed it into a tree actually). Not good luck on the f-body front when I was under 21 lol.

After that, I went to the dark side and drove a 1989 Mustang LX 5.0 for a solid 2 years, using it to reposess other vehicles and generally being stupid. I met my wife, got married, had kids and never had the $ to get my dream car back. Then, this past Feb. my wife saw me eyeing this beautiful '98 T/A convertible and told me to make an offer... Thanks to her, I have my baby back and am loving every minute of it.

As a side note, I too was in HS when the last gen birds came out and my introduction to the Firebird world didn't start with the '87 GTA. It began with the first car I ever bought with my own money, a 1969 Firebird. It was primer grey, had no A/C but it had one hell of an engine and I loved it.

**justinmc978** · 12-04-2009, 10:05 AM

man i love you guys, tep98, and this thread,

**NavyTATwo** · 12-04-2009, 10:17 AM

My first new car was a 1989 Mustang LX 5.0. It was the nearest thing to my '73 TA that I could find new in 1989. Great car but when I looked at my '95 Firebird Formula, I knew I was back in the Pontiac camp again so I traded in the 5.0 that night, November 13, 1994. Biggest impulse buy of my life.

Scott

**Redphoenix1998** · 12-04-2009, 11:18 AM

I have always loved T/A's and I was looking back in high school at a 1994 LT1 Trans Am GT. It was a pretty cool car then I saw the commercial for the new 4th gen. Well in 98 when they came out I went to a local Pontiac Dealership with my family and started drooling. Went home and apparently my grandparents had snuck off to another dealership and low and behold there was a cherry red 1998 Pontiac Trans Am WS6 M6 sitting in my driveway and my grandpa waiting to toss me the keys as a graduation gift for high school. One of the best days of my life