[Rob80TTA]

I've wondered across what is supposedly a TA Vert Ram Air III car that appears to be in very good restored condition. I'm not very familar with the 1st gens like I am with the other generations.
What things do I look for to verify its authenticity besides the Data Plate containing the D80 code for rear spoiler and paint code of 50 50.

Also, this car does not have the stacked gauges, here a pic of the interior, never seen one with the wood grained steering wheel either, not that I seen many 1st gens to begin with.
Also, what would be a fair middle of the road price for such a car...or even a clone if that turns out to be the case as it would be a great car to complete my collection either clone or restored original.

Any help is appreciated, thanks

[dxeven]

The safest way is to run a PHS on it. Quite a large difference in price between a clone and a 1 of 8 car. Heard that one of the 'verts sold for $1.3m recently. Good luck and you know we'd love to see some more pics.

Dave

[2QUIK6]

Hey Dave, my other id for some reason won't login..enter pw and it goes right back to not knowing who I am even after getting the "welcome Rob80TTA" msg..

But I thought the PHS info would not tell you it was specifically a TA, that there were only certain RPO codes to look for such as the spoiler and paint code?
What is the code to look for for an original convertible, TA or Firebird if its a clone?
I do plan to get a PHS history, the owner has it but would like to get one myself to make sure nothing is covered up. If one went for 1.3M what would a clone go for?? this one is not anywhere near that price, less than $50k in fact.

[dxeven]

Rob
There is nothing in the vin that will indicate Trans Am, it was an option in '69. The PHS will have a line item that says "Trans Am." Look at this link, a HT but you can see the PHS near the bottom.

Here is a recent ebay clone, didn't meet reserve at $35k. Personally, I don't think a TA clone is worth any more than what it started out to be (ie an original 350, 400, RAIII or RAIV car), but it definitely costs more to come up with the TA parts. To others a clone may hold more value.


Dave

[dxeven]

Sorry, I had to delete the links. If you have an ebay account, click on Advanced Search and then search 69 trans am after logging into account. You can find the cars I mentioned above.

Dave

[lock lift throw]

All the 69 ta's conv.s are in the hands of collectors and your'e not going to get one cheap . By the way none came with a/c . So forget about it .

[Rob80TTA]

Thanks for the info, but I think I have determined this one to be a clone as it does have AC, but it is a factory original RAIII car. Not sure if the AC came on it or not though.
Did all convertibles including Firebirds not have AC?
Here's another clone on ebay I found, item number 130062356068

[dxeven]

IIRC you could get A/C on a FB RAIII but not a RAIV.

[Guilty]

If you look at the pic you can also see a hood tach. Not avail from factory as an option. All 69 trans ams were built in Norwood or a few in Van Nuys plants. Does this have the steel hood or is it fiberglass? Does it have all the ram air components on it? Spend the $ and run a PHS on it. AS someone else in this thread all of the 8 converts made have been accounted for. I know 7 are at least but maybe someone found the missing 8th car????? The PHS will tell you if it's a real Ram Air III car too.

[Rob80TTA]

Yes it has a hood tach, I thought that was a valid option as I had read about them being 5100 or 5200 and 5500 red line various years?
Hood appears to be metal, it looks different than the one in the ebay item I posted earlier as it does have a fiberglass hood.
Here's a few more pics...oh and the side mirrors don't appear to be original either from other pics of '69s I've found.

[The Boss]

Clone

[RA4auto]

The wood steering wheel came on the majority of the '69s. Only the last in production came with the black padded wheel. As already pointed out, several other options are incorrect. It is a nice looking car, but doesn't deserve a spot next to your other originals. (I'm jealous)
Bill

[70ra455]

Back to your question of value. An origianl RA3 convertible with 4spd that had almost 30 options including a/c sold at an expensive auction for $65,000 last year. It was 30,000 mile original all numbers matching and #1 show condition car ... again with 4spd. That was a RECORD for RA3 convertibles. Others have sold about 3 years ago for 35K. So, if your car is an original #'s matching RA3 convertible then it has value but you'll have to strip the car of all its TA stuff to put it back together. That's about 50,000 dollars right there soup-to-nuts.

I tend to doubt that the car is an original #'s matching RA3 convertible although it could be a RA3 car but I doubt it has the original drivetrain. So in my opinion this car is now worth as much as it's going to be (assuming not a #'s matching RA3 car) and I would say that 35-40K would be the highest it would fetch (and that's only if the engine is a RA engine and the RA components are all there - in other words if the car was cloned properly and not just on the outside.)

If cloned just right (which this one wasn't from the mirrors at least) then 40K tops with an auto and 45K with the 4spd. BTW, hood tachs were available in '69 but I'm not certain if available on TA's.

[69TA-vert]

Of the 8 TA verts built, one is still missing.

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by 69TA-vert

Of the 8 TA verts built, one is still missing.

Not really, it's just never been documented by PHS.

[69TA-vert]

You know where it is ? I have heard of guys thinking it is in Canada.

[The Boss]

No, from what I understand it's here, just been in the same hands for a very long time, the owner knows what it is, and has no interest in being public about it. Not a collector, just owns a very rare, old car.

There also appears to be another one, which is correct in every way (all the right parts, trim tag reads correct) but the vin does not have a billing history sheet (PHS) and it is not in the list of 8 known vins.

[Rob80TTA]

Thanks for all of the input and pricing considerations. When I stumbled into this car, I was not looking for one, although adding a '69 would complete the collection, but I really have no room and no time for another car to deal with, but was a very strong impulse... but if I ever got one, it would be a vert..or so I thought.. I did not realize that these were so rare that the price would be up past 6 digits, I knew a good firebird and RA3 were up near that... And to tell you the truth, the most expensive car I ever bought in my life was the '99 30th vert, and it was still below what a brand new GTO or V8 Mustang would cost today.... so if I ever get a 69 TA vert, it would be a clone.

[Tellyshavilli]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Not really, it's just never been documented by PHS.

Yes it has been documented, I have it and it has been found.Also ,there are only 8.End of story.

[The Boss]

I didn't think it was yours that was the long believed missing one Matt, but you would be the go-to guy on this one. And I'm judging by your response that you know of the other car as well?