Build Sheet Bingo Illustrations

This bird's eye view of Joe's old 1977 Special Edition is a good illustration of:

• Y82 Special Edition - This is what most people call a "Bandit Trans Am". These cars featured black paint with gold decals and gold pinstripes (which are missing on my car), gold grilles, gold wheels, steering wheel with gold spokes, a gold dash, and gold horn button and gearshift emblems. Y82 cars had black-framed Hurst T-tops. The same car without T-tops was called a Y81 only in 1977, but a lot of people use term for other years. Y82 was changed to Y84 on some 1978 cars and all the later ones to 1981. We've added a number of web pages about Special Editions on Hoghead's Bandit Page.
• AK1 Color-Coordinated Seat Belts. - Black seat belts were standard equipment. This option was not part of deluxe interior, nor was it part of any other package EXCEPT the 1979 10th Anniversary Trans Am, 1980 Indy pace car, and the highly color-matched Skybird, Redbird, and Yellowbird.
• B77 Black windshield reveal molding - This was powder coated black. In 1976-78, it was used on Special Editions and Limited Editions only. Beginning in 1979 it was used on all Trans Ams and Formulas.
• VK1 Front Tag Bracket Delete - My car originally came with the front tag bracket deleted, and after all these years, it's still gone. The front bumper has 3 little dimples that show where the screws would be.
• T48 or WX3 Shaker Hood - All normally aspirated 2nd Generation Trans Ams and 73-74 Super Duty Formulas received the shaker hood. 1970-72 shakers had opening flaps that faced rearward. Later shakers were nonfunctional. The shaker hood was not really designed for effective cowl induction (hey, the shaker's nowhere near the cowl). SCCA racing rules required a stock hood, and this hood was originally intended to allow a really tall intake in SCCA Trans Am racing. 1970-76 shakers and shaker hoods had nice rounded lines that complemented the shape of the nose. The 1977-81 hoods were flat. The "early" 1977 shaker (shown here) was only used for about 10 months before it was replaced by a taller, smoother version. You can find some more shaker photos on our shaker page.
• D80 Rear spoiler - Here's another (not very good) view of the rear spoiler. This is the 1970-78 version.
• CC1 T-tops - Pontiac used two kinds. The Hurst, shown here, was put in with a saw. My car has black t-top frames, which is a feature of Y82 Special Editions. Later, Fisher Body build t-top cars on the assembly line. The Hust T-tops are smaller and leave over a foot of the roof intact. Brian's Car has the Fisher Body t-tops, but his are the special gold mirrored ones made just for the Y88.
• D53 or WW7 Hood Applique - This is a legendary Trans Am item that became optional in 1973. It was designed by John Schinella. GM's head of styling, Bill Mitchell, hated the big chicken and would not allow it put into production until they sold it to him with a gold foil decal on a black pinstriped car. This 1977 Special Edition bird is very similar to the other early designs. The decal was changed to 5 colors on gold 1978 Trans Ams and all 1979's. Later the decal was simplified to two colors again in 1981.
• A01 Tinted Glass - My windshield doesn't look very tinted, but that's all you got from the factory in 1977. This is a new one; the old one was faded even lighter. Listed first on my build sheet is the TGA code for a tinted windshield with antenna.