1978 Pontiac Trans Am Special Edition: “Trans Am! What’s Your Pleasure?”

WHEN JACKIE GLEASON AS SHERIFF Buford T. Justice in the 1977 hit Smokey and the Bandit drawled, “What we’re dealing with here is a complete lack of respect for the law!” he might as well have been speaking of the black 1978 Pontiac Trans Am SE that Burt Reynolds’ character, Bo “Bandit” Darville, was driving. A relic of the muscle-car era, its screaming-chicken shaker hood, gold detailing, aero mods and 15×8-inch gold snowflake rims stood out like a Christmas tree in the late 1970s landscape of bland, emissons-strangled sedans and economy cars. To drive one on America’s federally mandated 55-mph highways was akin to waving a red flag at “Smokey.”

The 1978 Trans Am Special Edition, a beneficiary of the Firebird’s 1977 restyling, is perhaps the best known of the second-generation T/As. While the Rockford Files may have brought the Firebird publicity, Smokey and the Bandit made the Trans Am an icon, driving sales of the 1978 car up by almost 25,000 units over the previous year, to 93,341. Conversely, the power output of Trans Am engines had been declining since the early 1970s. The days of optional Ram Air 400-cid engines and Super Duty 455 lumps with as much as 500 hp were long gone. Pontiac’s offerings for the ’78 model included the standard 400-cid L78 engine that made just 180 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque, and the W72 400 that put out a more robust 220 hp and 340 lb-ft. An Oldsmobile 403 producing 185 hp was the only engine available in California.

Power was sent to the rear wheels via a three-speed automatic or a four-speed manual, optional with the W72 engine. An option the Bandit could not have done without was the WS6 package, a suspension upgrade that bolstered the car’s front unequal-length control arms and rear multilink setup with larger stabilizer bars (0.25-inch front, 0.75-inch rear). In the movie and in real life, the Trans Am’s rubber melting lockups were enabled by a combination of front-disc/rear-drum brakes. Contemporary reviews of W72-powered SEs indicate the car could reach 60 mph in a little more than seven seconds and run the quarter-mile in the mid-15s.

Pontiac made a gift of a 1978 Trans Am SE to Burt Reynolds, but Charlottesville, Virginia, resident Frank Robertson had to pay for his. A fan of the movie car, “the prettiest Trans Am ever made,” Robertson had to wait 24 years before finding a restored example in Indiana. One of more than 3000 starlight black and gold Trans Ams built in 1978, Robertson’s SE sports goodies including the W72 400, T-tops and special gold badging. The car’s loaded interior features the special edition’s gold-plate dash complete with full instrumentation, comfortable black velour bucket seats, cruise control, air conditioning and a rare combination Delco AM/FM stereo/CB radio.

Getting behind the wheel is more fun than a “Diablo Sandwich.” Just about everyone over 30 recognizes the car and believe us, they notice it. Robertson reports frequent thumbs-up from fellow motorists. Put the pedal to the metal and the 3600-pound SE responds briskly, pulling strongly above 1500 rpm. Stability is decent and handling is better than expected, although the T/A’s heavy front end induces understeer when carrying speed into corners. At lower speed, nail the throttle and you can kick the tail out like the Bandit fleeing a pack of Texas county mounties. The movie car’s axle-hopping skids look great on film, but real-life braking is adequate at best.

The 1978 Trans Am’s popularity carried over to the revised 1979 model, which peaked Trans Am sales at more than 117,000. Performance and sales suffered thereafter, and by 1982 the second-generation Trans Am was gone. Like Smokey and the Bandit, the 1978 Trans Am is a classic. Makes you want to throw “Frog” into the velour buckets and go jump a bridge. Now that would be a pleasure.