I bought a 82 SE with a 2.8 V6 in 1985. I drove for over 10 years put over 200.000 miles on it. I sold it two months before I went to basic training. I loved that car. 23 years later after I retired from the Army. I bought a un-molested, numbers matching 84 Trans Am. Such a fun car. This one I’ll keep a bit longer than the first one. I get asked all the time if I would sell it. Nope.
Glad to see this car has such a big following. I've wanted one since September of 82. I am lucky enough to have own several 3rd gens (so far!). I'm not sure how this video found it's way to me, but I'm glad to share it!
I can't state this enough, but in '82 this was THE car to have. Most of the cars in the day were boxes on wheels, and then this came out. It was out of the 21st century. People now debate the HP numbers but that wasn't important then since the shape was so outstanding.
Especially when every other car made in 1982 was severely restricted too (people forget this).This 82 Trans am's performance was up there with the best for those cars manufactured that year.Even the 82 Corvette wasn't much more. This car still has one of the best aerodynamic and slippery body shapes ,even today. I love mine.
@ostatnidryjaz81 I can only hope that when the Baby Boomers kick off they'll start catering to the Gen X types and gives us some retro-80s styling. I've been debating on whether or not to get a new Camaro but considering every 50-60-something yuppie woman and 16-year girl in my town has one, kid you not, there are at least 3 in metallic pink, I'll keep my 1982 KITT!
Just put a new exhaust on my 82 and got a good 15-HP boost. Gave it some new life! I still get a guy or gal in a new Camaro complement me at least once a week. Met a fellow Army vet just last week that stopped by while I was washing it, had a sweet new all black 2012 Camaro. His 322hp V6 would trounce on me, but I still got the class! He was a pretty cool dude, now the 50-somethings in their BMWs always get pissed when they pull up on me. Some'll get froggy, and they will get shut down!
i just got an 89 se myself the greatest car i have ever seen it has timeless style and a design that stands out in the parking lot a fun car that lives up to the firebird nameplate i love third gens and to people that think that they are ugly can just shut the fuck up because these cars have style and i do not care about your bad opinions and childish attack comments i only listen to people that own one of these cars not some punk on the internet who thinks that these cars are shit. great video.
@ZombieFBody Just noticed that when they mention the 4-speed manual on the Trans Am the guy is working an auto! Just like in Knight Rider when they show the car shifting into drive and then it backs up!
That was a real beauty loaded, T-tops etc. I'm sorry I ever traded it in for a 79 Z-car that blew up on me 6 months later! And I would have probably still had that Firebird now..
I got an 89 firebird TPI 350 with money my grandmother handed me for my birthday for my first car. The car was sold to me for $1700, the outside is in great shape and the engine runs like new. Sadly interior is trashed though (still a fun car and I'm restoring slowly). Like FirebirdDude said, they new what the were doing back then!
Thanks for the kind words (KITT thanks you, too!). It was just a quick video I shot to show the gentleman who built the scanner how well it was working, I used it as a quick test upload. I have no idea why it brought about all the hate, but after a dozen or so "you suck," "I wish the car would run you over" posts, I locked it up. There's a lot of childish hate in the Knight Rider car community these days...
I remember when this car was a target of auto theft a friend of mine caught some one trying to steal his and snuck up behind the per; and clocked him in the back of the head with a 2x4 I told him he did the right thing
Unfortunately in road tests trans am always accelerated slightly slower than z28....makes one wonder why...more aerodynamic of course...some think the air intake being more restrictive on efi models..
Even the base model deserved a rear spoiler. A friend of mine bought an SE new and he ordered the rear spoiler. Said the car looked unfinished without it. I remember Pontiac boasting .28 on wind drag. Maybe I remembered wrong 🤔
the 301 was more expensive to modify, and there was a lack of parts.. I have a rebuilt one and I can't give it away. I do agree that the 305s were sickly underpowered though. Mine was originally a v6 with a 3.08:1 gear ratio behind a 200c trans. even with the 3.08:1 gears it was still at 3100 rpm @ 120kmh/75 mph. 107 hp....lol.
wow, back then, they knew what they were doing with cars. They had their heads on their shoulders for what was cool and what was not, I hate all new cars, go 80's!!
I've heard rumblings of a 40th anniversary model for 2009. I've also heard it will be a worthy successor and not just appealing to the boomers like new Camaro. Apparently John Delorean's "Corvette killer" concept from the Banshee days is the inspiration. God I hope those rumors pan out.
I never had a 301. The 3rd gen firebird was only available with chevrolet small blocks in the v8 cars, and the 301 was a pontiac motor. my car was a v6 2.8l. Just to answer the question though...not much power at all.. the 301 was a boat anchor. judging by the way they felt the couldnt have made much more than 160 ftlbs, but Im not sure of an exact number.
I just bought an s/e for a parts car...It has t tops lg4 305, t5 trans, posi disc brake rearend, ws-6 suspension, and every option there is on the inside. Except for the exterior styling stuff, this car was a full loader. I've seen alot of t/as without ws-6, and disc brake rear so you could have opted out an s/e better than a t/a
@@Joesmusclecargarage That car was a 1985. Super loaded up! I’ve never seen one before that or ever again. My guess is that not many people would have checked that many of the boxes when ordering the se and not just gone with the trans am.
yeah all of the bells and whistles made them heavy though. Im just finishing mine up right now. I swapped in a 350 from the same year truck. It should make a significant amount more torque than the Lg4 305 that my car would have came with had it been a v8 originally. What color was yours?
pontiac is gone.its sad its gone. for me its was between 1982 and 1992 for me only 2 best appear mucle cars iroc and trans am gta.evry day i watch a pontiac or chevy third generation so between 1982 and 1992.
I have seen three of these, one in the back lot of a dealership, one on the road, and is my dad’s, which, in a few years, will get passed to me... Kinda afraid of wrecking the machine, it’s been from Guadalajara to all over the US.
Yeah, I had both an 83 Camaro and Trans Am. The T/A had the CFI and was a total turd. The Camaro had the carb and was a sporty little car. Wish I had kept it. I currently have a 92 with the MPFI V6. Out performs the 305s from either of my 83, though!
Imagine, shooting guns in an automobile commercial. What in the world !!!!!!! Folks acted like human beings back then, gangs were virtually unheard of, video games weren't full of gore and violence, FAMILIES raised children, and God was still welcome in schools, businesses, and on television. We call moving past these things PROGRESS..... BTW, L.O.V.E. 3rd gen Firebirds.
Yes, I was born in 1961. Many great things in my life. Drugs, Sex rock and roll. Fast cars, live concerts, smoking on airplanes. A whole different world.
Yes there were video games before Nintendo. However it was in 1973 that Nintendo appeared in Japan. It wasn't until 1975 that it was first released in the United States. FYI.
82 was a horrible year. All that shit in the engine making it clean. to bad. the 4 cylinder had 90 horses the 8 cylinder on that had about 130. Love the firebirds tho, my favorite car
These were really sharp looking cars in there day,its just too bad the quality was abysmal.my sister had an 86 firebird.trim pieces came loose,the door panel felt like they were gonna fall off in your hand when you shut the doors,fit of the body panels was poor,the trunk was a joke.its too bad GM's quality control was so bad,they might still be around today
One trouble with them was having sex in them. It was easier to screw in my Chevette then in my Firebird. You couldn't even flip down the back seat because it was not level and the girl would get the under-body in the back. The only way was for me to get into the passenger seat and have the girl get on top. The center console was also so big that you couldn't even let your fingers do the walking at the drive-in.
I own one... 89 formula. But it's funny that even back then they were performance dogs ,even the Trans Am model. The older muscle cars were kicking their ass and nowadays the third Jen's getting are getting their ass kicked by modern v6 cars.
i like the video, but hate to disappoint; the 80's car-wise were pretty terrible..this firebird could only get the 305 for a few years..they made these in 4 cylinders..LOL..even my lame 2001 park avenue has more power than this car with a V8..tho i know the past is cool..go back about 20 yrs..then say "wow"...lol
The 3rd gen Firebird is one of the best looking cars of all time. Timeless, it still looks awesome today.
beautiful styling , it's really eyecatching
Love the the 3rd gens'
the 3rd gen was the best looking model they made still looks good 25 years on
I bought a 82 SE with a 2.8 V6 in 1985. I drove for over 10 years put over 200.000 miles on it. I sold it two months before I went to basic training. I loved that car. 23 years later after I retired from the Army. I bought a un-molested, numbers matching 84 Trans Am. Such a fun car. This one I’ll keep a bit longer than the first one. I get asked all the time if I would sell it. Nope.
Glad to see this car has such a big following. I've wanted one since September of 82. I am lucky enough to have own several 3rd gens (so far!). I'm not sure how this video found it's way to me, but I'm glad to share it!
The good ol' Iron Duke 2.5
They used that motor a lot in Can-Am cars IIRC.
I have a 92 tram am and let me tell you I love this cars they are a trill to drive!
I can't state this enough, but in '82 this was THE car to have. Most of the cars in the day were boxes on wheels, and then this came out. It was out of the 21st century. People now debate the HP numbers but that wasn't important then since the shape was so outstanding.
Especially when every other car made in 1982 was severely restricted too (people forget this).This 82 Trans am's performance was up there with the best for those cars manufactured that year.Even the 82 Corvette wasn't much more.
This car still has one of the best aerodynamic and slippery body shapes ,even today.
I love mine.
@ostatnidryjaz81 I can only hope that when the Baby Boomers kick off they'll start catering to the Gen X types and gives us some retro-80s styling. I've been debating on whether or not to get a new Camaro but considering every 50-60-something yuppie woman and 16-year girl in my town has one, kid you not, there are at least 3 in metallic pink, I'll keep my 1982 KITT!
It has a clean and timeless look if you ask me. The 2nd gens and 4th gens haven't fared so well, though.
Then KITT was born !!!
Still a beautiful car.
i wish someone can upload a "series" of this kind of videos
Just put a new exhaust on my 82 and got a good 15-HP boost. Gave it some new life! I still get a guy or gal in a new Camaro complement me at least once a week. Met a fellow Army vet just last week that stopped by while I was washing it, had a sweet new all black 2012 Camaro. His 322hp V6 would trounce on me, but I still got the class! He was a pretty cool dude, now the 50-somethings in their BMWs always get pissed when they pull up on me. Some'll get froggy, and they will get shut down!
i just got an 89 se myself the greatest car i have ever seen it has timeless style and a design that stands out in the parking lot a fun car that lives up to the firebird nameplate i love third gens and to people that think that they are ugly can just shut the fuck up because these cars have style and i do not care about your bad opinions and childish attack comments i only listen to people that own one of these cars not some punk on the internet who thinks that these cars are shit. great video.
@ZombieFBody Just noticed that when they mention the 4-speed manual on the Trans Am the guy is working an auto! Just like in Knight Rider when they show the car shifting into drive and then it backs up!
I've never seen those wheels cover of the base version at 1:18 how out of question them were🙈
That was a real beauty loaded, T-tops etc. I'm sorry I ever traded it in for a 79 Z-car that blew up on me 6 months later! And I would have probably still had that Firebird now..
Thank you for sharing this video! I lwhen people post GM videos like this on this website. I added it to my favorites.
And knight rider AKA KITT was born..
I got an 89 firebird TPI 350 with money my grandmother handed me for my birthday for my first car. The car was sold to me for $1700, the outside is in great shape and the engine runs like new. Sadly interior is trashed though (still a fun car and I'm restoring slowly). Like FirebirdDude said, they new what the were doing back then!
I love the Firebird and the Camaro 82. These were released in late 1981, am I right?
Cool to see this! Thanks for uploading!
I have an '86 TA and I love it dearly.
Thanks for the kind words (KITT thanks you, too!). It was just a quick video I shot to show the gentleman who built the scanner how well it was working, I used it as a quick test upload. I have no idea why it brought about all the hate, but after a dozen or so "you suck," "I wish the car would run you over" posts, I locked it up. There's a lot of childish hate in the Knight Rider car community these days...
I would love one of these,it would beco.e KITT from Knight Rider
I remember when this car was a target of auto theft a friend of mine caught some one trying to steal his and snuck up behind the per; and clocked him in the back of the head with a 2x4 I told him he did the right thing
trans am is my favorite car in the world. the last generation more specifically
thank you for this, that's allll i'm going to say
its fueling my dreams
Unfortunately in road tests trans am always accelerated slightly slower than z28....makes one wonder why...more aerodynamic of course...some think the air intake being more restrictive on efi models..
@TheNorthernSoulKing Word!
Even the base model deserved a rear spoiler. A friend of mine bought an SE new and he ordered the rear spoiler. Said the car looked unfinished without it. I remember Pontiac boasting .28 on wind drag. Maybe I remembered wrong 🤔
HELL YEAH!!! im dieing to get one. i see them but nobody is selling.
modding is bad, the original is a work of art from the gods.
Please, bring back the T/A!!!
'82 Trans Am almost got the Pontiac 301 4.9L V8 with turbocharger. Hence the hood bulge. It ended up instead with Chevrolet's 305 5.0L V8.
the 301 was more expensive to modify, and there was a lack of parts.. I have a rebuilt one and I can't give it away. I do agree that the 305s were sickly underpowered though. Mine was originally a v6 with a 3.08:1 gear ratio behind a 200c trans. even with the 3.08:1 gears it was still at 3100 rpm @ 120kmh/75 mph. 107 hp....lol.
wow, back then, they knew what they were doing with cars. They had their heads on their shoulders for what was cool and what was not, I hate all new cars, go 80's!!
I've heard rumblings of a 40th anniversary model for 2009. I've also heard it will be a worthy successor and not just appealing to the boomers like new Camaro. Apparently John Delorean's "Corvette killer" concept from the Banshee days is the inspiration. God I hope those rumors pan out.
I never had a 301. The 3rd gen firebird was only available with chevrolet small blocks in the v8 cars, and the 301 was a pontiac motor. my car was a v6 2.8l. Just to answer the question though...not much power at all.. the 301 was a boat anchor. judging by the way they felt the couldnt have made much more than 160 ftlbs, but Im not sure of an exact number.
@Camman010 yup, the center console and shifter is very, uh, inconveniently placed!
I just bought an s/e for a parts car...It has t tops lg4 305, t5 trans, posi disc brake rearend, ws-6 suspension, and every option there is on the inside. Except for the exterior styling stuff, this car was a full loader. I've seen alot of t/as without ws-6, and disc brake rear so you could have opted out an s/e better than a t/a
What year?
@@Joesmusclecargarage That car was a 1985. Super loaded up! I’ve never seen one before that or ever again. My guess is that not many people would have checked that many of the boxes when ordering the se and not just gone with the trans am.
What I want to know is, where the hell is the pizza guy!? This is the wrost 80's porno I've even seen.
already put them on...lol. for when it makes more power. I really don't need them for 200hp, but it does stiffen up the chassis. cheers
yeah all of the bells and whistles made them heavy though. Im just finishing mine up right now. I swapped in a 350 from the same year truck. It should make a significant amount more torque than the Lg4 305 that my car would have came with had it been a v8 originally. What color was yours?
pontiac is gone.its sad its gone.
for me its was between 1982 and 1992 for me only 2 best appear mucle cars
iroc and trans am gta.evry day i watch a pontiac or chevy third generation so between 1982 and 1992.
R.I.P. Pontiac.
NEVER MIND.
I JUST REMOVED MY POST.
I have seen three of these, one in the back lot of a dealership, one on the road, and is my dad’s, which, in a few years, will get passed to me...
Kinda afraid of wrecking the machine, it’s been from Guadalajara to all over the US.
Yeah, I had both an 83 Camaro and Trans Am. The T/A had the CFI and was a total turd. The Camaro had the carb and was a sporty little car. Wish I had kept it.
I currently have a 92 with the MPFI V6. Out performs the 305s from either of my 83, though!
Premier firebird has a 2.8 liter V6 Engine? just like the delorean!
Anniversary 30 years
People pay attention to S/E, and remember it for a long time....HA!
I got the firebird last year. Mine chugs on gas, but I also drive fast so it my fault :)
Does anyone know which engine gets the MPG ratings shown in the video?
Imagine, shooting guns in an automobile commercial. What in the world !!!!!!! Folks acted like human beings back then, gangs were virtually unheard of, video games weren't full of gore and violence, FAMILIES raised children, and God was still welcome in schools, businesses, and on television. We call moving past these things PROGRESS..... BTW, L.O.V.E. 3rd gen Firebirds.
Yes, I was born in 1961. Many great things in my life. Drugs, Sex rock and roll. Fast cars, live concerts, smoking on airplanes. A whole different world.
Yes there were video games before Nintendo. However it was in 1973 that Nintendo appeared in Japan. It wasn't until 1975 that it was first released in the United States. FYI.
I'm glad I own one :)
I know in 1988 the Trans Am GTA was $18k and the Trans Am was like $12k
82 was a horrible year. All that shit in the engine making it clean. to bad. the 4 cylinder had 90 horses the 8 cylinder on that had about 130. Love the firebirds tho, my favorite car
These were really sharp looking cars in there day,its just too bad the quality was abysmal.my sister had an 86 firebird.trim pieces came loose,the door panel felt like they were gonna fall off in your hand when you shut the doors,fit of the body panels was poor,the trunk was a joke.its too bad GM's quality control was so bad,they might still be around today
just bought a 85 s/e
One trouble with them was having sex in them. It was easier to screw in my Chevette then in my Firebird. You couldn't even flip down the back seat because it was not level and the girl would get the under-body in the back. The only way was for me to get into the passenger seat and have the girl get on top. The center console was also so big that you couldn't even let your fingers do the walking at the drive-in.
I own one... 89 formula. But it's funny that even back then they were performance dogs ,even the Trans Am model. The older muscle cars were kicking their ass and nowadays the third Jen's getting are getting their ass kicked by modern v6 cars.
lol, what were you doing? street racing?
90 HP 2.4l Inline 4
A.k.a.
Iron Duke
question do base firebirds go spoiler rear???????
No.
I'll take the red one
william stands relieved
letter from home was received
a creelman pet peeve
"...Impressive economy & performance."... Yeah, if you consider 22mpg-city & 90bhp(Net) from a 3500-3800 car impressive.
What car in this video weighs 3500-3800lbs? 😂🤣
watch the 1980 redesigned lincoln promotional video. its so corny, its hilarious
i like the video, but hate to disappoint; the 80's car-wise were pretty terrible..this firebird could only get the 305 for a few years..they made these in 4 cylinders..LOL..even my lame 2001 park avenue has more power than this car with a V8..tho i know the past is cool..go back about 20 yrs..then say "wow"...lol
Pontiac is gone.
but never forgotten