bossbird ta
Well-Known Member
sounds good Walt. i did see those first pix that were posted. you got quite the find there! congrats. to you!!!!!
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Theeeee Barn find from michigan
- Thread starter walt
- Start date
sounds good Walt. i did see those first pix that were posted. you got quite the find there! congrats. to you!!!!!
Brother Al
Member
Brother Al
Member
I just posted all of the pics that Walt has sent to me... they are awaiting Moderator approval.
bossbird ta
Well-Known Member
their up now on the original site....just seen em......
bossbird ta
Well-Known Member
pics look great and the car looks to have cleaned up real nice....just AMAZING!!!!
jarredsoon
Gold Member
Somebody post a link please, I can't find the pics DontKnow:
bossbird ta
Well-Known Member
kymmee
Silver Member
Loss for words............Car has cleaned up to an amazing shine!! Walt, you are a very very lucky guy. I know you are planning on listing the car for sale, but you, at the present time-have a special car. An extremely important part of the TTA history. Thanks for sharing the pix Brother Al to all of us enthusiasts!
bossbird ta
Well-Known Member
i know the story......original female owner was a GM employee......
Brother Al
Member
You're All Welcome... she truly is an incredible piece of Pontiac History!
And a Big Thank You to those of you on here that have helped in this process...
And a Big Thank You to those of you on here that have helped in this process...
Cleaned up nicely; engine pictures and undercarriage pictures would be nice to see.
And does it run?
With the enthusiasts and all the knowledgeable people on this site why not post the pictures over here specially if planning to sell it ....
And does it run?
With the enthusiasts and all the knowledgeable people on this site why not post the pictures over here specially if planning to sell it ....
Thanks for posting on here Walt. I love the TTA pics in front of the big red barn....nice touch....
Can't wait to read the whole story in Hemmings.....that will be great for the TTA for sure...
Hopefully there is more to the story in Hemmings.... like how Walt found it and bought it and for how much, must be too hard to type two or three more paragraphs on here or Big Al's website. Maybe Big Al or Bossbird could share some more details if they have them.... I don't understand why everyone is being so secretive. It is Walt's car now and he can sell it for $1 dollar or $1,000,000 dollars. Still has to find a buyer....and no better audience than here to find one.
Can't wait to read the whole story in Hemmings.....that will be great for the TTA for sure...
Hopefully there is more to the story in Hemmings.... like how Walt found it and bought it and for how much, must be too hard to type two or three more paragraphs on here or Big Al's website. Maybe Big Al or Bossbird could share some more details if they have them.... I don't understand why everyone is being so secretive. It is Walt's car now and he can sell it for $1 dollar or $1,000,000 dollars. Still has to find a buyer....and no better audience than here to find one.
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Brother Al
Member
No secrets... yes it does run... and I have "posted" all of the pictures here, along with the details, but each time I have, the site says that my post is awaiting moderator approval... I have reported it each time in this thread. I did post most of what you are looking for, along with pictures on my site "The Birds Nest", NECF, and on The 82-84 Firebird Zone, and again, on here in this thread...
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NO WAY?? In an actual barn too??:worthy:
Start a new thread and tell us the story of both...with pics...that would be awesome...
Brother Al
Member
Because my original postings on this site are in limbo, I will repost this.. I was also planning to do a full story on this car, however, Walt's Wife wants to write-up the story so I will defer to her... further, with the current media attention building around this car, I do not want to spoil anything either... so here is a basic breakdown.
Here is the Original Post on NECF: http://www.necamaro-firebird.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7554
Now some Back story..
...like all GM Festival Cars and these TTAs, they were offered for sale to all GM Employees. The owner of this car was a secretary at a GM Engineering Lab that worked on the GNX and the TTA. She, along with a couple of her co-workers bought these and stored the trio in another Co-worker's garage, an engineer who still works at GM to this day... one TTA was owned by a young GM engineer who drove it hard and it eventually went MIA, the second was owned by another engineer who babied it and sold it to someone in Chicago.. it too is MIA, this car was driven in 1989 by this woman. She was in her late 30's/early 40's in 1989.. she too babied it, and bought it to store away as a retirement plan ($$$).
Unfortunately or Fortunately, the car sat relatively untouched and un-started since late 1989 with roughly 3/4 of a tank of gas... fast forward.. Walt stumbled across the car through a friend. Apparently, the owner had passed away several years prior, and her son, (guy with woman by the trailer), really had no use for the car, no way to go through it properly, and wanted to sell it.
Walt, a former Dodge employee, is a true gearhead. (pic of him with the TTA on a lift). He owns an original V12 Lincoln, has a Nova that he drag races, and even raced a Turbo Buick for some time.
Thinking that the car might be a fun cruising car or something worth reselling, he looked into it further. Upon seeing the car, he realized it was absolutely mint, but very dusty. She still had her original tires, which surprisingly still had air in them, albeit a little low... in the rear was a bunch of GM parts boxes and paperwork. They struck a fair deal and Walt bought the car.
He brought her home, cleaned off many years worth of dust, and went through everything with a fine tooth comb. Everything is in working, minty shape, but he did need to replace the fuel pump... after draining the gas tank, replacing all of the filters, changing the fuel pump, pre-lubing the Turbo, fogging the cyls, hand turning the engine, and changing-out all of the fluids... he added some fresh gas and gave the key a twist... nada.. tried again and she came right to life.... oil pressure came all the way up, he walked her through a longterm storage re-break-in period, she stumbled a little, every so often... but after about 5 minutes of idling she was running perfectly...
I forgot the MOST important part.. she is TTA #113 and Indy Festival Car #108, as seen on the rear license plate area..
that's how Pontiac marked them.. with a sharpie.
Over the last few months, we reached out to a bunch of people in this hobby and...
Here's his latest post:
We spoke the other day, (been in regular phone contact), "Smoke Signals" will also be featuring this car very shortly... and YES, the car is for sale... he turned down an offer for $40K.
Some here may balk, but I'm confident it would fetch something closer to $50K. Others in the hobby feel the same... how many under 1,000 mile Festival Car TTA's are out there with this much back story history?
Here is the Original Post on NECF: http://www.necamaro-firebird.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7554
Now some Back story..
...like all GM Festival Cars and these TTAs, they were offered for sale to all GM Employees. The owner of this car was a secretary at a GM Engineering Lab that worked on the GNX and the TTA. She, along with a couple of her co-workers bought these and stored the trio in another Co-worker's garage, an engineer who still works at GM to this day... one TTA was owned by a young GM engineer who drove it hard and it eventually went MIA, the second was owned by another engineer who babied it and sold it to someone in Chicago.. it too is MIA, this car was driven in 1989 by this woman. She was in her late 30's/early 40's in 1989.. she too babied it, and bought it to store away as a retirement plan ($$$).
Unfortunately or Fortunately, the car sat relatively untouched and un-started since late 1989 with roughly 3/4 of a tank of gas... fast forward.. Walt stumbled across the car through a friend. Apparently, the owner had passed away several years prior, and her son, (guy with woman by the trailer), really had no use for the car, no way to go through it properly, and wanted to sell it.
Walt, a former Dodge employee, is a true gearhead. (pic of him with the TTA on a lift). He owns an original V12 Lincoln, has a Nova that he drag races, and even raced a Turbo Buick for some time.
Thinking that the car might be a fun cruising car or something worth reselling, he looked into it further. Upon seeing the car, he realized it was absolutely mint, but very dusty. She still had her original tires, which surprisingly still had air in them, albeit a little low... in the rear was a bunch of GM parts boxes and paperwork. They struck a fair deal and Walt bought the car.
He brought her home, cleaned off many years worth of dust, and went through everything with a fine tooth comb. Everything is in working, minty shape, but he did need to replace the fuel pump... after draining the gas tank, replacing all of the filters, changing the fuel pump, pre-lubing the Turbo, fogging the cyls, hand turning the engine, and changing-out all of the fluids... he added some fresh gas and gave the key a twist... nada.. tried again and she came right to life.... oil pressure came all the way up, he walked her through a longterm storage re-break-in period, she stumbled a little, every so often... but after about 5 minutes of idling she was running perfectly...
I forgot the MOST important part.. she is TTA #113 and Indy Festival Car #108, as seen on the rear license plate area..
that's how Pontiac marked them.. with a sharpie.
Over the last few months, we reached out to a bunch of people in this hobby and...
Here's his latest post:
We spoke the other day, (been in regular phone contact), "Smoke Signals" will also be featuring this car very shortly... and YES, the car is for sale... he turned down an offer for $40K.
Some here may balk, but I'm confident it would fetch something closer to $50K. Others in the hobby feel the same... how many under 1,000 mile Festival Car TTA's are out there with this much back story history?
Brother Al
Member
I have.. but there is quite a bit of interest around this car at the moment, and he has a bunch of people testing the waters, so to speak, offering more than 40K, so we shall see. When it does sell, I will post up the actual amount it sells for.
Awesome...:worthy:
Thanks again Brother Al. Great story... Can't wait to read the articles and the pub on the car. Just great news for the TTA and what we need to bring attention to this car. This definitely help that value continue to grow past $40k. I have no doubt he will get it...some day..with the right buyer....I think all we were saying is if he got an offer of $40k to buy it today and he wants to sell it today...to take it....because that would be top dollar in today's buyers market.
Keep us updated when and where the stories are published so we can buy some copies.
Thanks again Brother Al. Great story... Can't wait to read the articles and the pub on the car. Just great news for the TTA and what we need to bring attention to this car. This definitely help that value continue to grow past $40k. I have no doubt he will get it...some day..with the right buyer....I think all we were saying is if he got an offer of $40k to buy it today and he wants to sell it today...to take it....because that would be top dollar in today's buyers market.
Keep us updated when and where the stories are published so we can buy some copies.
Cool. Don't forget to add what he paid for it too....
Mike Arrigo
Well-Known Member
I like the fact that he is not accepting the first offer of $40K and the Buzz that this car can create would dramatically help the TTA get it's day in the spotlight finally. The more that is publicized about this story, the more people will understand and appreciate what these cars have to offer in the way of their rarity and value. So let's keep this story going and get it out to everyone. 
