1981 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

1981 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am The last year of the Firebird's second generation saw a marked decrease in sales, down 34% from 1980, and Esprit had no Skybird, Redbird, or Yellowbird options this year. A new Trans Am, the Daytona Pace Car Edition was released and came with special black graphics, a blacked out roof, black striping, and new Recaro seats with red inserts. The seats were the only second gen to ever offer reclining buckets. The pace car was limited to only 2000 units and had a standard Turbocharged V8. The Black and Gold Special Edition was again available. All Trans Am graphics were changed this year using a two color, hollow design which easily distinguishes the '81. Thx Tran-zam.com For consignment, a 1981 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am with 1,132 original miles. This is a one owner, bought new, garage kept and covered time capsule sporting the 305ci V8 and 15-inch snowflake wheels from Year One. The original Pontiac Rally II wheels come with the car and so does the window sticker! Exterior Thirteen colors were available in 1981 for the Trans Am and five different graphic colors. Here we have Nightwatch Blue in single stage coverage, adorned with a light blue bird, sometimes referred to as the screaming chicken, eagle, or Phoenix. The light blue is also used on wording TRANS AM on each front fender under the iconic fender vent, on the rear facing side of the spoiler, and on smaller birds perched on the C-pillars. Finally, it's used to delineate the engine with 5.0 LITRE on the shaker hood scoop and between the scoop, the vents, and the wheel opening flares, this car represents GM's boldness in design just before the Firebird would be completely redesigned for 1982. Dark window trim, door handles with color matched stripes, and the amazing smoked tail light bar help make this car a standout among F-bodies and the cars of 1981 in general. Imperfections include some exposed seam sealer between the rear bumper cover and body, chips, paint runs, paint on the door latch, some wavy paint in the jamb, chipped paint and correction on the corner of the Endura nose piece, uneven paint on the rocker, drips in other places, various other random minor intrusions. Interior Dark blue vinyl door panels are clean and trimmed with a silver line above the carpeted kick panel and this car has manual windows. Cloth seats are not dissimilar from previous years however the insert is more of a striped design rather than the hobnail configuration in '79 and '80, and each, including the 2+2 in back, are in great condition in dark blue. Up front, the foam backed and leather wrapped sport steering wheel is minty mint, the column is showroom fresh, and the spun aluminum faceplate to the instrument cluster shines like new. Standard gauges are on board and two vents mirror the size and shape, falling in line with centrally located gauges. An embedded A/C panel and cigarette emblazoned lighter live over the AM/FM radio down below. In the center console, the shifter rises from a pit like a cobra from a basket, dressed in a rubber accordion boot and surrounded by the blue vinyl casing that covers the center hump. Plush blue carpet flows over the floor and is protected by carpeted mats while the perforated headliner shows some minor wrinkling. Charcoal colored mats cover the trunk where a space saver spare and jack are found looking untouched. Drivetrain The engine bay is a clean and crowded place with partial visual obstruction caused by the shaker scoop on top of this, a 305ci LG4 V8 with a 4-barrel carburetor and rated at 145 horsepower. A numbers matching T10 4-speed manual backs the powerplant up and sends power to a 10 bolt rear axle with 3.08 gears and Positraction. Power brakes are supplied as front disc and rear drums, while power steering and air conditioning are also on board. Undercarriage A black undercoating dominates the clean underside where surface rust is minimal, knuckles are clear, and only a single drop