1969 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am project or parts car

What you are now bidding on is a rare factory original 1969 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am basket case.  Yes, 69 T/A, you read it right.  Now this car has a story to it.  And let me tell you, that is the strangest TA   story I've ever come across.  I bought this car not too long ago from a guy in Montreal.  Here is the story this guy told me, which makes sense to me and probably will make sense to you if you take the time to read the whole text, which I know is long.

The guy I bought the car from first saw this car in the driveway of an appartment building in 2002.  It was far from perfect, but was complete and running.  There was a Ram Air IV sticker on the hood, which caught his attention enough to write down the VIN (this is a car guy).  The owner came out and said it was not for sale.  With the vin number in hand, he ordered the info package from GM of Canada Vintage Services which is the Canadian equivalent of PHS.  The info he received from them showed it was a real TransAm with RA III motor and automatic transmission, along with other nice and desireable options.  So that confirmed it was not a RamAir IV like he thought it might be.  Time goes on, he loses track of the car, car gets stolen at some point, stripped of some of its parts (VIN still on car at that point), ends up in a junkyard, gets bought from the junkyard by a guy who sells it to another guy with no paperwork, this guy wants to do a resto so he partially strips the car to start the resto.  Before going any further and sinking a ton of money in the car, he has the police come over to verify the VIN so he can get the car on the road again with proper paperwork (standard procedure in Canada for cars no longer in DMV records).  Next thing he knows, the cops tell him that car's stolen and seize it from him.  Car ends up in Laval's police impound lot (Laval is right next to Montreal and is the 2nd largest city in Quebec, Canada).  In 2006, the cops remove the VIN and release (sell) the car with the mention that it is now "for parts only" and can not get back on the road in Quebec anymore (again, standard procedure).  The guy who buys it from Laval's cops sells it to the guy who then sells it to me a few years later.  I do have that Laval police release form, with written VIN number that was removed from the car.  

Now when the guy advertised locally this car a few months ago, it was advertised as being a real Trans Am with missing VIN and a lot of missing parts.  First thing that came to my mind when he told me that was that somebody took the VIN and trim tag to do a rebody since this one is quite rusty. When I went to see the car, first thing I wanted to check was if the hidden vin numbers were still there.  I checked on top of the cowl.  Sure enough it was there but one could see right away that it had been tampered with.  We can clearly see 9N1045xx  and just on top of the two "missing" numbers, 17 was restamped.  So this matches the VIN from the police release form (223379n104517) and the GM Vintage Vehicle Services' 2002 document stating that 223379n104517 is indeed a Trans Am.  But why did someone want to conceal the last two numbers ???  Well let me tell you they didn't do a good job concealing them because they can clearly be seen.  I then procedeed to check the "other" hidden vin under the heater box.  Now this one has not been tampered with and it is not 9n104517.  It is 9n1045xx.  At first, I didn't think much of it because what I was after were the specific T/A parts still left on the car as well as the diserable options like U30 gauge and tach, etc etc..  But after some research and PHS info from the other VIN, I found out that the "other" hidden vin is from yet another 69 T/A and a very rare and desireable one a that !  Now, I know which car everyone is thinking about.  But my car came with black Deluxe interior and it can clearly be seen, as the dashpad, dash face, grab bar and rear quarter area still sport the original black paint, never redone.  Even part of the original black headliner is still there, black as well.  My car came with auto, floor shift and console.  The shifter is still there, as well as the console bracket.  The body that is here is definitely  a Trans Am body, no doubt about it.  Telltale signs like original paint scheme under the flaking repaint, oem paint where quarter and rear panel meet showing white-blue separation line, fender extractors with factory cut opening behind, not hand made cuts, 1" sway bar that is unique to the T/A,  trunk lid rods that are unique to T/A (D80 spoiler package) are still there. The dash sports the ultra rare U30 gauge package, complete with tachometer and stacked gauges.   The car was a Power disc brake car (although the spindles and caliper brackets were removed at some point by previous owner, and he put drum spindles to keep car a rolling chassis).  The brake hose brackets on subframe and upper control arms are still there to prove this.   The 3.55 Nodular posi rear end with 9795107 casting, big N cast on top is there.  I did not open the cover but sure enough, 3.5 turns of the pinion yoke equals one turn of wheel, equal on both sides.  I can't find the ZH stamping, although I tried real hard.  Three of the 4 wheels on the car are JK wheels.  The automatic shifter is the ratchet type TH400 unit.  The TH 400 crossmember is still there.  The car has a fuel return line (400 cubic inch specific). 


Now if someone would have taken the VIN on that car to make a rebody, they would not have left T/A specific items behind like fender extractors, 1" sway bar and trunk rods, would they ?  And they would not have left behind valuable items like the Nodular posi rearend, JK wheels, ratchet 3 speed shifter and let alone U30 stacked gauges and tach, would they ?  So that, in my opinion rules out the rebody option.

The "restamping" over the last two digits and NOT ALTERED HIDDEN VIN under the heater box makes me think it's a GM mistake.  How and why would one rebody a 69 Trans Am with another 69 Trans Am ?  And how lucky can you be "finding" a car that is only a few digits away from the initial car ?  That is what makes me think it's a GM mistake as the two cars were at one time in the same room at the same time while being built.  One worker didn't know there was another Trans Am being built a few cars behind the one he was working on and stamped it with the other car's vin number ?  Maybe some expert on early f-body assembly procedure and VIN assignement could chime in on that ?   

If you read carefully the GM of Canada documentation (by the way, you can reach them right away http://www.gm.ca/gm/english/shopping/parts/vintage and have them fax this same info package to you withing hours ) you will see that every option listed is on that car except (1) the rear defog, which is there and looks totally original, but my guess is that it was installed at the dealer and/or at a later date.  Not surprising for a car driven in Canadian winters. And (2) the power steering box which has been replaced by a manual one.  Oh, one more thing, did you know they only made a handful of Black Deluxe interior 69 T/As ?  I read only three were made.

Whatever happened down the road changes nothing to the fact that this car here is the remains of a very rare and desirable musclecar with still lots of valuable and rare parts, as well as run of the mill 69 Firebird parts.  Can it be saved ?  I've seen people starting with worse.  In the never ending search for  69 Trans Ams missing in action that story at least explains what happened to 223379n104517.  It can now rest in peace or raise from it's ashes...   It could at least give some of it's organs to help another Trans Am in need.  But that will be somebody else's mission because I certainly don't have the time nor the resources to go thru all this, as I have plenty of other projects to keep me busy for years to come.

If,  for any reason,  you need any specific picture and/or close-up of certain areas of the car, feel free to ask, I'll be glad to assist in any way I can.  Please don't ask what the hidden VIN is, as I will not go public with it.  I know that all interested parties know what it is and I think I made it clear that even though that number is stamped on my car, it possibly can't be the same car since mine was born with black Deluxe interior,  floor shifter and console, and the rear on it is a 3.55.  The car can be seen by appointment, I am available most nights and week-ends.  This is a pick-up only deal, I will not ship this anywhere, buyer will have to make all arrangements if he wants to have it shipped.  All bids from ebayers with less than 20 feedbacks will be cancelled, no exceptions,  way too many deadbeat jokers.  I reserve the right to end auction at any time if the right offer comes along.  An immediate deposit of $1000 is required at end of auction, the rest in cash upon picking up.

I've received requests from people with less than 20 feedbacks asking if they can bid on the car.  Just wanted to let people know that it's ok as long as you contact me before.  Thanks.