Dave Winter
My name is Dave Winter and my family and I live in Johnston, Iowa which is a small town near Des Moines. I bought my SE Trans Am brand new about 6 months after I graduated from college...as soon as I could after I got a real job that paid real money. I had my sights set on owning one for a long time. I started looking in March and the dealer in Des Moines had one on the lot he wanted to sell me but it was an automatic and it had vinyl interior... I had my heart set on a 4 speed and I wanted velour seats. He also told me it was too late in the model year to order one. There was a small Pontiac dealer in Ames, IA, home of my alma mater, Iowa State University. The salesman there guaranteed me he could still get one ordered. I wasn't sure whether to believe him or not but we negotiated the price for quite awhile and in the end we split our last difference, down to the 50 cents! If you look at my Purchase Agreement you'll notice the final price was $7462.50 cash. I ordered it on April 22nd, got word on May 7th that the car would definitely be built, and I took possession on June 9, 1977 - what a day that was!!
Some of you may not know that their was one recall on the 77's. It was in 1979 and it was to install an improved seal design in the Hurst hatches. The originals leaked like a sieve when it rained and the new GM design was a big improvement. In 1992, when the car was 15 years old, I had it repainted. The original paint on the car was not very good, as was typical for stuff coming out of GM in the 70's. I used all NOS decals and the new paint job itself is many times better than the original. Other than the paint and tires, the car is all original. I saved all the documentation as well as all the magazines of the times with articles about Trans Ams. There was even a short time in the early 80's after our first son was born when the TA was our main car. Believe it or not, we actually could fit a child car seat in the back of the TA!
Nowadays it only comes out on nice sunny days. I can tell you for an absolute fact that the car was quite a "chick magnet" in its day. These days it seems to attract more old geezers like me reliving their wild days than it does "hot young Sally Field look-a-likes" but that's OK cuz I've got my own "Sally Field" and my passenger seat is already occupied.
Best regards,
Dave
Regards,
Dave Winter
I
