The History of the Bandit: I defy all the stereotypes

"Bandit" (2bandit) 01/23/2014 at 22:20 • Filed to: History of the Bandit, emma

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When I was 11 I saw a rusted-out straight-piped gold 1978 Trans Am idle past me in a parking lot of the local diner. I realized then I needed a 2nd gen. I needed one so much I looked on craigslist, ebay, forums, newspapers, etc. for several years until I was 15 when my parents said I could finally buy my first car. I used the best method possible to find the right car for me, print out all 2nd gen ads within 500 miles and judge them based on price and quality.

Eventually I got to an ad that featured no punctuation, poor spelling, and lists of things that aren't really things. Seriously, en-biggen the photo you will feel smarter. It sounded like the stereotypical Trans Am owner

I called the lady (Missy) and asked for some pictures and she directed me to her Facebook (she had a friend on her page named Bubba-Ray - see I told you she was a stereotypical T/A owner). Some glances at poor resolution pics and many conversations about the lack of rust later and I decided to negotiate. I thought I hit her low with a price $1000 less than the already low asking price. She accepted my $2500 bid immediately, I knew should have gone lower. I sent my dad to go test drive and potentially buy the car because it was 3 hours away and I had school. He came home with it on a trailer and I had my first car.

I now owned one hell of an abused Trans Am. The interior was a mix of 3rd gen parts, camaro bits, cigarette smoke, cracked plastic, and some JC whitney chrome; the exterior was a hideous shade of purple, complete with mosquitoes in the paint; the original engine was long gone and a smog era SBC was in its place, it was running on only 6-cyl; and I didn't get to drive the car for 3 months because as soon as my dad drove the car off the trailer, the steering column broke (I'd never even driven a 2nd gen before I got that column replaced). As soon as I looked at the cowl tag I was suprised. The lady who sold it had no clue the car was a real Special Edition like the one used in Smokey and the Bandit. Score! I bought my dream car without even realizing it. The car was used as a parts car sometime during its life and thus had very little gold trim left.

I worked and worked and worked on getting the car up to a drivable standard, removing the tons of crap from the trunk along the way.

I did get it driving and my god was it beautiful. They say don't drive your dream cars because of the fear they might let you down. Even with all of its faults this car brought a smile to my face every time I started it up. I haven't driven her since July 1st when my engine swap and paint prep started and I miss her dearly.

I am a teen. I DD a muscle car. I (not my parents) pay for my stuff. I defy all the stereotypes.

Current Build Thread: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Brian Silvestro > Bandit 01/23/2014 at 22:24

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Goddammit that car is the shit.

JR1 > Bandit 01/23/2014 at 22:27

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Good luck man!

Agrajag > Bandit 01/23/2014 at 22:29

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Very cool. I had a 79 Z/28 which I absolutely loved, so I have a soft spot for this gen F-body in particular. Did you decide what you were going to do about paint?

TillTheWheelsFallOff: Brocoma > Bandit 01/23/2014 at 22:32

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This is my favorite generation of Trans-Am. Congrats on purchasing your dream car! At such a young age you achieved what I hope to 20 years from now.

Bandit > TillTheWheelsFallOff: Brocoma 01/23/2014 at 22:36

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There was logic behind my purchase. I figured if I waited on buying my dream car there would be a large possibility it would never happen. College, a wife, some kids, student debt, etc. could all get in the way and ruin my dream. Luckily I bought the car when I did, the value of 2nd gens like mine are skyrocketing right now (as in a car of the quality I bought mine in would now cost around 5-6k).

TillTheWheelsFallOff: Brocoma > Bandit 01/23/2014 at 22:37

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Dammit, that makes sense. *cue midlife crisis*

Bandit > Agrajag 01/23/2014 at 22:38

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My car came from the factory as an '81 black and gold special edition. I'm painting it to look like a '78 special edition. I still don't know who is going to paint it, see my build thread for the story behind that one.

Bandit > TillTheWheelsFallOff: Brocoma 01/23/2014 at 22:41

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I'm kind of regretting it though. I'm about to drop several thousand on a paint job and I need money for college.

f86sabre > Bandit 01/23/2014 at 22:44

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Live the dream. Nice writeup.

Bandit > f86sabre 01/23/2014 at 22:45

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The mullet and wife-beater shirt laden dream. Thanks! I needed something to do while procrastinating my calc homework.

TillTheWheelsFallOff: Brocoma > Bandit 01/23/2014 at 22:47

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I know that feel. I recently had a shop in California fabricate me a plate bumper for my truck that I paid for with some college funds. Less than a month later I had to buy books, my printer broke so I had to buy a new one, and pay for gas to get me back up here. To top it off I need to have the bumper reshipped to school even though it's already been delivered at my parent's house, haha.

f86sabre > Bandit 01/23/2014 at 22:54

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Calc means going to college. College means a chance at a good job. A good job means being able to afford more car parts. Eye on the prize.

Bandit > f86sabre 01/23/2014 at 22:55

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Yay engineering!

Blake Noble > Bandit 01/23/2014 at 23:41

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You lucky devil. A late-70s second-gen Trans Am has been my dream car since I first watched Smokey and the Bandit on USA as a wee lad. It's also been the one car that's eluded my ownership, too. I came close two times to owning one of my one: once in high school and about a year and half later after I graduated.

The first car was an '80 California-spec Trans Am that, in terms of the bodywork, was almost spotless. The interior was a little trashed, but it ran and was easy daily driver material. The asking price was only $1,200 bucks back in 2008. I'd be lucky to ever come across that same deal again.

The second car was a '77 four-speed car with a 400 that the guy only wanted $2,500 for. I would have taken it home right then and there, but I was still waiting for a buyer to come through on my '84 Regal Grand National clone. The timing just didn't happen on that car.

I bought a '75 Camaro early last year that I hoped would fill the void. It didn't. I sold it four months later.

Now, I'd be lucky to find a husk for $2,000 where I'm at. Needless to say, I have a bad feeling that this car is going to be the one I'll hunt down in my mid-life crisis and pay an absolute fortune for.

I'll be watching your build. Godspeed, sir.

Bandit > Blake Noble 01/23/2014 at 23:48

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Thanks! I feel bad for California-spec cars, they had even less power than the already slow cars had. You'll find one eventually, good luck finding a rust free one though.

Blake Noble > Bandit 01/23/2014 at 23:56

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Replacing the 305 in the California car would've been easy enough, though. If I bought it and had it today, it would've been a prime candidate for a LT1 or LS1 swap.

Bandit > Blake Noble 01/23/2014 at 23:58

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I'm rather glad the original 301 turbo motor to my car is gone. First, I have no turbo issues; and second, it opened up the door for me to do a 400 swap. If I still had the original engine I would be hesitant to convert my '81 car to '78 spec.

MonkeePuzzle > Bandit 01/24/2014 at 09:26

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I had no idea you were so young, even more impressed with your progress now :D

livin' the dream. I'm glad you had parents willing to let you buy such a car as your first and only car.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Bandit 01/24/2014 at 11:35

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I missed this story yesterday, but I'm glad I stumbled upon it.

This is a great write up and a really cool story man. I'm glad you're doing so much for yourself, and more so that your parents are giving you the opportunity. A lot of parents would just say no here's a camry. lol.

Good luck with it, I'll have to keep checking in on your build thread!

Shift24 > Bandit 01/24/2014 at 13:41

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I think that the Camaro and Firebird-T/A have misplaced and bad reputations over the years as cars only driven by hicks. The Camaro has out sold the Mustang 4 years running, so if thats true all of WV has a new camaro or they are actually being bought by different people. Plus the Camaro and T/A have been i think underrated in the past. The LT1 was a great and quick motor that lead up to the LS1 and what we have become a custom to today with the GM LS series V8. They were both matched up by an amazing trans, if you did it right, the T56. And the later second gen Fbody look a lot better than what ford put out.

mr2gud2u > Bandit 01/24/2014 at 14:18

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Great story! Your lucky to be your age and have your dream car.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > Bandit 01/24/2014 at 18:16

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I'm trying to defy this stereotype, however, my parents always tell me I'm too immature to drive, and think I'm constantly going to race.

Dunnik > Bandit 01/24/2014 at 19:18

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Was wondering about your progress, Bandit, thanks for the update, and for more backstory on Emma. Had no idea you had an actual Special Edition Bandit, neat.

Sorry to hear about the bodyshop. From what I remember, you said the guy liked Trans-Ams and wanted to help out a young enthusiast. He probably quoted you a very low rate, as a favor, but then other - more lucrative - business came in and Emma languished. Lame.

You know, of course, that this car deserves nothing less than a bare-metal respray with authentic decals. But such a thing would cost, well, you know how much it would cost.

I think there are only three ways to get there:

1. Work your ass off and save up all of it.

2. Save up half, borrow the other half

3. Save up half, solicit donations via social media for the rest (Kickstarter? Wealthy Trans-Am enthusiasts?)

Bandit > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 01/24/2014 at 19:43

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Yeah, my mom wanted me to get something like a honda civic. My dad was a gear head back in the 80s. He owned several 69/70/71 Chevelles, 3 1964 Impala SSs, a Porsche 944, a Datsun 240, an International Scout, and a POS Subaru. He was going through a minor mid life crisis and convinced my mother it was a sensible decision.

Bandit > MonkeePuzzle 01/24/2014 at 19:46

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I'm turning 18 next month. Yeah, my mom wanted me to get something like a honda civic. My dad was a gear head back in the 80s. He owned several 69/70/71 Chevelles, 3 1964 Impala SSs, a Porsche 944, a Datsun 240, an International Scout, and a POS Subaru. He was going through a minor mid life crisis and convinced my mother it was a sensible decision

MonkeePuzzle > Bandit 01/24/2014 at 20:20

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I'm sure my parents were glad my dream (realistic dream) car is essentially some form of subaru or honda

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Bandit 01/27/2014 at 10:15

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That he was able to get "Sensible" into the conversation is pretty impressive.

Happy for you though man.

Freakusaurus-Rex > Bandit 01/29/2014 at 22:59

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That's cool... Me and my son have been talking about buying a 2nd gen T/A for him.. He is 14 right now and figure if we pick one up and rebuild it together, by the time he is 17 or 18, he can have a really nice car.

Instead of just buying him a $10k or so car when he is 18 which will likely end up being a crap car, we can rebuild something nice for the next few years and it will be a nicer car and run better.

In 95 I bought my first car which was a 69 Chevy Bel-air with a 327 and I remember how fun I had in that car.. If you can afford a new car, might as well go for a classic instead of a falling apart 10 year old used crap car.

TinFoil Knight > Bandit 01/30/2014 at 03:48

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why oh why cant there be more teenagers like you? good choice nice write up. once upon another lifetime ago I had a 78 with a 400 in it. I got it from an auction where they set a 2k reserve. the high bid was 1250( mine) so they didnt sell it that night. next morning I got a call at 8:30 a.m. askin if I was still interested. I replied that I'd bought the 75 Camaro that was the next car to roll across and only had $900 left. there was a moment of silence, then the phone was handed off to someone else. I repeated that I only had $900 now and he said if you want the car I'd take 900 for it this morning. By 10 a.m. I was at the tag agency getting the title. Sold it to a cousin 3 months later to buy stuff for the Camaro. I still hit myself in the head for selling him the TA

Schaef_Camaero Z/28 > Bandit 01/30/2014 at 12:39

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Awesome story! Enjoy the time spent with your dad working on your car. I had a similar experience with my '94 Camaro Z28. I was 18, and it was the first car that I ever bought. Previously I had been driving a hand me down 89 Taurus.. My dad and I are the only ones to ever work on the Camaro (with the exception of a paint job) since I bought it, and I have definitely learned a lot along the way. Without a doubt, it's the car that made me an enthusiast. Just last year I did a near complete resto-mod on it. You name it, I did it. The only thing not replaced yet is the engine, and that will come soon enough. Anyways, from one f-body lover to another - keep up the great work. It'll be more than worth it in the end!

Bandit > TinFoil Knight 01/30/2014 at 20:16

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Now those are some car's I'd love to see pictures of.