To answer that question we took out a new Trans Am GTA and one of the 697 ‘69s and compared them. Getting Pontiac to loan us a new one was easy. Convincing Editorial Director Jim McGowan to “volunteer” his all-original, never-been-touched, Ram Air III, air-conditioned ’69 with Turbo 400 automatic was a bit tougher.
By the time Pontiac introduced the Trans Am, the Z/28 was already a street legend and Ford had been through Shelby and was proceeding on to Boss Mustangs. The Trans Am was not only late, it came into the market just as sales were slumping and insurance rates were rising. There couldn’t have been a worse time to introduce the car.
But the Trans Am presented a unique personality. Despite its racing name, it was never developed for competition in the same sense as the Z/28 and Boss Mustangs. The Trans Am was like the larger musclecars. It was a GTO shoehorned into a Firebird body, a ponycar with the soul, character, and engine of a mid-size. While the Z/28 and Boss 302 came with specially developed, barely disguised, and hardly tamed racing small-blocks, the Trans Am was equipped with the GTO’s relatively civilized 400-cubic-inch “Ram Air” III as standard, with the more rambunctious, but still manageable Ram Air IV as an option. The Trans Am handled better because of a special suspension and wider tires. The Trans Am was a mature, masculine, and intimidating performance car in a class dominated by adolescent rowdies.
Through the years, the Trans Am has remained more sophisticated than other ponycars and perhaps truer to its original conception. Through the Seventies, it developed into the best handling American car and was often considered (nominally) a four-passenger alternative to the Corvette. Even when it had a screaming chicken on its hood, it was one of the few cars available with four-wheel disc brakes. While the Mustang was downsizing; and the Z/28 left production temporarily, the Trans Am soldiered on, for a while at least, as the only musclecar available to the new car buyer.
The big, heavy V-8 sitting in the front of both Trans Ams is partially responsible for both cars’ natural understeer. In the GTA, the understeer is moderate, most noticeable under extreme conditions….. and a joy to overcome with throttle. According to testers who drove the car in ‘69, the understeer of the original Trans Am was hardly so benign. If the first Trans Am had any more front-end plow, farmers would seek them out during spring planting.
The difference in handling is where the current car has the clearest advantage. The most important element in that advantage is tires; the relation between today’s P245/50ZR16 Goodyear Gatorback radials and the F70-14 Polyglas bias-plys doesn’t extend much beyond color, a shared manufacturer, and a general similarity of shape. The new car’s more advanced chassis helps, but we’ve driven leaf sprung cars that handle better when equipped with modern rubber and have yet to drive a modern car that improved with bias belted tires. On the skidpad, the GTA pulled a commendable 0.87g. Testing in ‘69 wasn’t able to get the original Trans Am past 0.70g.
If the chassis dynamics are in the new car’s favor, then the engine’s dynamics should work in favor of the old one. With a power rating fully 95 hp greater than the current car, a Ram Air III Trans Am should theoretically be able to devastate the current car. On the day we went to the track, the carburetor on McGowan’s car sucked — which is not to imply it was doing its job. So, while waiting for his E.T.’s to be carbon-dated, we went back into the files and found that Hot Rod was able to coax an original four-speed Ram Air IV Trans Am to a 14.1 at 100.78 mph. An automatic would have been about two-tenths slower. Then add, maybe, another two-tenths for a Ram Air III.
The new car — with its automatic and 350 — effortlessly knocked back a 14.86 at 96.07 mph. That’s obviously slower than what the ‘69 accomplished 22 years ago, but it’s closer than a nearly 100 hp difference should produce. The explanation lies in the difference between yesterday’s gross and today’s net horsepower ratings. For the most part, the outputs of today’s net-rated engines are closer to the outputs of the classic musclecars than legend and nostalgia would want us to believe.
It would be easy to catalog all the advantages the decades of progress have conferred on the current GTA over yesterday’s Trans Am. But, what’s the point? Of course, the GTA’s a better car and far better suited for daily commuting than the old Trans Am. But the GTA will never inspire a recollection like the first Trans Am or ever be remembered as the first anything.
What does matter is that the current GTA carries on the idea of the first Trans Am proudly and deservedly. It’s still the most mature and sophisticated ponycar. It still has character. It still has muscle. And it’s still worthy of the name."
GENERAL
Vehicle Mfr:.......... Pontiac Motor Division, General Motors Corp., Pontiac. Mich.
Body type:.......... 4-passenger, 2-door
Drive system:.......... Front engine, rear drive
Base Price (1969):.......... $3,887
Price as tested (1991):.......... $20,000 (est.)
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase:.......... 108.1 in.
Track, f/r:.......... 60.0/60.0 in.
Length:.......... 191.1 in.
Width:.......... 73.9.in.
Height:.......... 49.6 in.
Weight distribution, f/r:.......... 58%/42%
Curb Weight:.......... 3654 lb
Fuel capacity:.......... 18.5 gal.
Weight/power ratio:........... 10.91 lb/hp
ENGINE
Type:.......... 90-degree V-8, cast iron block, cast iron heads, liquid-cooled
Bore x Stroke:.......... 4.12 x 3.75 in.
Displacement:.......... 400 cu in.
Compression ratio:.......... 10.75:1
Valvegear:.......... Pushrods, 2 Valves/cylinder
Fuel/Induction system:.......... 4 bbl. Quadrajet 750 cfm
Horsepower (gross):.......... 335 @ 5000 rpm
Torque (lbs-ft):.......... 430 @ 3400 rpm
HP/cubic inch:.......... 0.8375
Fuel:.......... Leaded premium (vintage 1969)
DRIVELINE
Transmission type:.......... 3-speed automatic
Gear ratios:.......... (1st) 2.48:1
(2nd) 1.48:1
(3rd) 1.00:1
Axle ratio:.......... 3.23:1 (with A/C)
CHASSIS
SUSPENSION
Front:.......... Ball joint independent, upper and lower control arms mounted on rubber bushings, coil springs, hydraulic shocks, anti-roll bar
Rear:.......... Solid axle on multi-leaf springs, anti-roll bar
STEERING
Type:.......... Recirculating ball, power assist
Ratio:.......... 16.0 - 12.4:1
Turns (lock to lock):.......... 2.5
Turning circle:.......... 41.1 ft
BRAKES
Front (type/diameter):.......... Disc/10.94 in.
Rear (type/diameter):.......... Drum/9.5 in.
Anti-lock:.......... Not available
WHEELS AND TIRES
Wheel Size:.......... 14 x 7 in.
Wheel type:.......... Steel disc
Tire size:.......... F70-14
PERFORMANCE DATA
ACCELERATION (sec.)
Standing Quarter Mile:.......... 14.1 sec. at 100.78 mph (with Ram Air IV, test by Hot Rod 1969)
Speed:.......... 95.8 mph
HANDLING
Lateral acceleration:.......... 0.695 g (average of left and right, tested by Sports Car Graphic 1969)
FUEL ECONOMY
EPA, City/Hwy:.......... Not Available
GENERAL
Vehicle Mfr:.......... Pontiac Motor Division, General Motors Corp., Pontiac. Mich.
Body type:.......... 4-passenger, 2-door
Drive system:.......... Front engine, rear drive
Base Price:.......... $24,530
Price as tested:.......... $25,596
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase:.......... 101.0 in.
Track, f/r:.......... 60.7/61.6 in.
Length:.......... 195.2 in.
Width:.......... 72.4 in.
Height:.......... 49.7 in.
Weight distribution, f/r:.......... 55%/45%
Curb Weight:.......... 3300 lb
Cargo capacity:.......... 31 cubic ft.
Fuel capacity:.......... 15.5 gal.
Weight/power ratio:........... 13.72 lb/hp
ENGINE
Type:.......... 90-degree V-8, cast iron block, cast iron heads, liquid-cooled
Bore x Stroke:.......... 4.00 x 3.48 in.
Displacement:.......... 350 cu in.
Compression ratio:.......... 9.3:1
Valvegear:.......... Pushrods, 2 Valves/cylinder
Fuel/Induction system:.......... Tuned-Port fuel injection
Horsepower (gross):.......... 240 @ 4400 rpm
Torque (lbs-ft):.......... 340 @ 3200 rpm
HP/cubic inch:.......... 0.69
Fuel:.......... Unleaded
DRIVELINE
Transmission type:.......... 4-speed automatic
Gear ratios:.......... (1st) 3.06:1
(2nd) 1.63:1
(3rd) 1.00:1
(4th) 0.70:1
Axle ratio:.......... 3.23:1
CHASSIS
SUSPENSION
Front:.......... Modified MacPherson struts, lower control arms, coil springs, anti-roll bar
Rear:.......... Live axle, coil springs, lower control arms, torque arm, panhard bar, anti-roll bar
STEERING
Type:.......... Recirculating ball, power assist
Ratio:.......... 12.7:1
Turns (lock to lock):.......... 2.14
Turning circle:.......... 38.5 ft
BRAKES
Front (type/diameter):.......... Drilled vented disc/10.5 in.
Rear (type/diameter):.......... Drum/9.5 in.
Anti-lock:.......... Not available
WHEELS AND TIRES
Wheel Size:.......... 16 x 8.0 in.
Wheel type:.......... Cast aluminum
Tire size:.......... P245/50ZR16
PERFORMANCE DATA
ACCELERATION (sec.)
0-30 mph:.......... 2.59
0-40 mph:.......... 3.68
0-50 mph:.......... 4.87
0-60 mph:.......... 6.36
0-70 mph:.......... 8.43
0-80 mph:.......... 10.60
0-90 mph:.......... 13.27
0-100 mph:.......... 16.34
Standing quarter mile:.......... 14.86 @ 96.07 mph
BRAKING
60-0 mph:.......... 136 ft.
HANDLING
Lateral acceleration:.......... 0.87 g (200-ft skidpad, average of both directions)
FUEL ECONOMY
EPA, City/Hwy:.......... 16 mpg/24 mpg
