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For Sale: A “Brand New” 1979 Pontiac Trans Am T/A 6.6

The 1979 Pontiac Trans Am T/A 6.6 is a rare car, just were 1,107 built, however this one remains essentially brand new with just 110 miles on the odometer. The carpets still have the original plastic covering from the factory, and it still has its window sticker, sun visor sleeve, and build sheets.

Car and Driver Magazine would give the “Best Handling Car of 1979” award to the ’79 Pontiac Trans Am T/A 6.6, and period dyno tests by the NHRA rated the output of the T/A 6.6 Pontiac 400 V8 at 260 to 280 (net) horsepower. Considerably more than the 220 hp claimed by Pontiac.

Fast Facts – The 1979 Pontiac Trans Am T/A 6.6

The 1979 Pontiac Trans Am T/A 6.6 is a car that was almost never made, it owes its existence to a decision to stockpile the high-performance 400 cubic inch Pontiac V8 after it was discontinued in 1978.
The Trans Am was a special higher-performance version of the Pontiac Firebird that first appeared in 1969. The Firebird had been developed to challenge the likes of the Ford Mustang and the Chevrolet Camaro.
The “Trans Am” name comes from the racing series by the same name created by the SCCA in 1966, the original name was the “Trans-American Sedan Championship.” Races were held across America, in Canada, and in Mexico.
The 1979 Pontiac Trans Am T/A 6.6 is powered by a 400 cubic inch (6.6) liter Pontiac V8 producing a claimed 220 bhp at 4,000 rpm and 320 lb ft of torque at 2,800 rpm. It was hailed for its handling and performance ability, and it remains a highly desirable late-70s muscle car.

The Firebird Trans Am

The Trans Am was first released in 1969 as a high-performance version of the Pontiac Firebird, which had been released three years earlier in 1966 to compete with pony cars like the Mustang, Camaro, and Cougar.

Both outside and in, this ’79 Trans Am is in time capsule condition, looking essentially identical to how it would have when it was first delivered over 40 years ago.

In order to turn a Firebird into a Trans Am, Pontiac would add a slew of upgrades to the suspension and drivetrain, with further changes to the bodykit and appearance.

Pontiac named the Trans Am after the Trans-American Sedan Championship, a new racing series developed by the SCCA starting in the year 1966. Despite the use of the name, the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am didn’t initially compete in the series as its smallest available engine was still too large for the 5.0 liter limit to qualify.

Trans Am – A 1970s Legend

The Trans Am would become an American cultural touchstone in the 1970s, thanks to both its wild looks and its performance. Unusually for a pony car of the era it handled well, so well in fact that it famously won the “Best Handling Car of 1979” award from Car and Driver, irking many imported European sports car manufacturers.

Pontiac would keep the Trans Am in production over four generations between 1969 and 2002. It was used as the Official Pace Car for the 1979 Daytona 500, the 1980 Indianapolis 500, and for the 1981 Daytona 500.

Today the Trans Am demands a premium over standard Firebirds, and the iconic 1970s and 1980s-era Trans Ams are becoming more and more collectible within the wider classic car community.

The 400 cubic inch (6.6 liter) Pontiac V8 was listed as being capable of 220 bhp, however period tests by the National Hot Rod Association showed that it was producing close to 260-280 net horsepower.

The 1979 Pontiac Trans Am T/A 6.6 Shown Here

The car you see here is almost certainly the lowest mileage and most original 1979 Pontiac Trans Am T/A 6.6 in the world. It has just 110 miles on the odometer and as mentioned in the introduction, the carpets are still covered with protective plastic from the factory.

The 1979 T/A 6.6 was only available with the Borg-Warner Super T-10 4-speed manual transmission and the WS6 Handling Package. These features combined made the car one of the best handling Trans Ams up until that point in history.

This car is also accompanied by its original purchasing documents, a copy of the MSO, the original window sticker, the owner’s manual and sun visor sleeve, a 1979 Pontiac dealer brochure, GM license plate bracket, warranty brochure, and even the Delco radio manual.

Mecum will be offering this car at their Glendale Auction in mid-March, at the time of writing there’s no price guide listed, and you can click here if you’d like to read more about the car or register to bid.

Images courtesy of Mecum

The post For Sale: A “Brand New” 1979 Pontiac Trans Am T/A 6.6 appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/1979-pontiac-trans-am-t-a-6-6/
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Ferrari – Art Edition: A $30,000 Book The Comes In Its Own Stand

This book, simply titled “Ferrari,” is the Art Edition of this limited edition series with a price tag close to some secondhand Ferraris at $30,000 USD.

If you’d like to buy a new one you can’t, as all 250 of them sold out shortly after release.

Ferrari – Art Edition: The $30,000 Book

Ferrari, Art Edition was written by Giuseppe (Pino) Allievi he’s a motoring journalist and writer who has penned dozens of books and is a world renowned expert on all things Ferrari.
The book is 514 pages long and it includes exclusive stories and images from the official Ferrari Archives, and it goes into fine detail about the marque’s cars, victories, challenges, and its ongoing legacy.
The book is presented in a large stand designed by Australian industrial designer Marc Newson topped with a book case created to look like Ferrari cylinder heads with red crackle-finished valve covers reminiscent of the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa.
It’s presented on a sculptural bookstand with TIG-welded and chrome-plated steel legs that are an homage to the polished exhaust manifolds of Ferrari’s V12 road and race cars, with six pipes on each “bank.”

With a cost of $30,000 USD new, the Ferrari, Art Edition books sold out quickly – all 250 of them. The total amount raised was $7.5 million USD.

When this book was released in 2018 it was offered in two variants: the first was the “Collector’s Edition” and 1,697 books were offered. The second was the “Art Edition” with just 250 being offered – the total number came to 1,947 – as Ferrari was founded in the year 1947.

All books were sold out in record time, despite the lofty $30,000 USD cost of the Art Edition books, there are far more than 250 Ferrari owners in the world after all, and none of them are short of funds.

We do rarely see the books come up for resale as is the case here, and interest is always strong as Ferrari collectors are partial to the idea of having one of these books on display in their collection.

The Ferrari book you see here is one of the 250 Art Edition books, it retains the original delivery crate for safe storage and transportation, as well as the white reading gloves, and the pre-launch “prelude” book. It remains in perfect condition, with no wear or damage.

It’s currently being offered for sale on Collecting Cars in a live online auction, if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Collecting Cars

The post Ferrari – Art Edition: A $30,000 Book The Comes In Its Own Stand appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/ferrari-art-edition-book/
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For Sale: A TAG Croco 4×4 Amphibian – A Rotary-Powered Amphibious Off-Roader

The TAG Croco 4×4 Amphibian is a remarkable vehicle: it’s four-wheel drive, it’s amphibious, it has four-wheel steering, it’s powered by a Wankel rotary engine, and it can carry up to six people despite its small size.

There can be little doubt that this is one of the most unusual vehicles ever made, which is why it’s a little surprising that it’s not better known. It was originally developed as a helicopter deployable military off-roader – but in the end just 60 were made.

Fast Facts – The TAG Croco 4×4 Amphibian

The TAG Croco 4×4 Amphibian was developed and built in Karslruhe, Germany under the corporate umbrella of the TAG Group (Techniques d’Avant Garde), better known for their watches.
The design of the TAG Croco 4×4 is simple but brilliant. It uses two steel tubs that double as hulls in the water, they’re articulated about a central axis to give the vehicle improved wheel articulation.
The key design criteria was that the vehicle be simple and cheap to make, easy to maintain, able to cover almost any terrain, and still be light enough to be deployed by helicopter.
Power is provided by an NSU Wankel rotary engine and sent to all four wheels, there is a slip-on propeller system for the rear when water use is required, and the low-pressure balloon tires act as the vehicle’s only suspension.

Designing The Next Jeep

The desire to build the next Willys Jeep has led to a staggering array of fascinating off-road vehicles over the years. The simple design and excellent capabilities of the original Jeep inspired automakers around the world – leading to the Land Rover, Unimog, Land Cruiser, and countless others.

Above Video: This short film shows the TAG Croco 4×4 Amphibian in action both on land and on the water – it also shows the propeller installation process.

Perhaps the one chink in the armor of the Willys Jeep was its inability to cross waterways. During WWII the Germans had the amphibious Volkswagen Schwimmwagen which had proved effective, but was produced in far lower numbers than the American Jeep.

In the years since the war many engineers have tackled the design challenge of creating a simple, off-road capable amphibious vehicle with varying degrees of success. The TAG Croco 4×4 Amphibian is one of the most interesting of them.

TAG Croco 4×4 Amphibian Specifications

The name of the TAG Croco 4×4 comes from its parent company TAG combined with a portmanteau of CROoss – COuntry – though of course “Croco” also means crocodile, which is an apt name for the little 4×4.

The fact that the engineers who worked on this project managed to incorporate four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, two hulls articulated about a central axis, a propeller drive system, and a lightweight Wankel rotary engine is remarkable.

The two tubs that make up the body are articulated around a central point, allowing them to move independently of one another and offer good wheel articulation.

The plan was to design an entirely new kind of off-road vehicle that would be well-suited to military use, and to use by forestry services, farmers, outdoors people, surveyors, geologists, and anyone else who needed transport across wild terrain.

The weight of the vehicle was strictly controlled during development to ensure that it would float well, and to ensure it would be deployable by helicopter – a key criteria for military buyers.

The vehicle also had to be as simple as possible, so it was designed around two steel tubs that doubled as watertight hulls in the water. No suspension was fitted, instead the TAG Croco uses low-pressure balloon tires which assist with floating and soaking up bumps and shocks while driving.

A Wankel Rotary Engine (Under The Seat)

A 440cc single-rotor NSU-Wankel engine was built under license and installed under the front seat for easy access, it produces 30 bhp and 45 Nm of torque, and it has two forward speeds and one reverse. The top speed is 56 km/h or 35 mph.

Depending on the user’s requirements the TAG Croco can be fitted with up to six seats, or just two front seats with the rear section acting as cargo storage. A clever four-wheel steering system combined with a four-wheel drive system give the vehicle remarkable dexterity off-road, and it’s well-suited to use on mud, thick sand, snow, and other oftentimes difficult surfaces.

The TAG Croco has no suspension, so it’s fitted with large low-pressure balloon tires that act as basic suspension and also assist with flotation when on the water.

Unfortunately no military buyers were forthcoming, the TAG Croco remained in limited production from 1978 until 1986, but ultimately just 60 or so are believed to have been built.

The 1983 TAG Croco 4×4 Amphibian Shown Here

The TAG Croco you see here is one of the nicest preserved examples we’ve seen come up for sale, in fact we covered this same vehicle back in January of 2020.

This vehicle is a 1983 model that was delivered new to the Forestry Corps in northern Italy, it still carries the green and white paint scheme and logos of the service. It’s not known why, but the rangers put almost no miles on the vehicle at all, just 135 kms or 35 hours of operation from new.

It’s now due to roll across the auction block in Paris with Artcurial on the 18th of March with a price guide of $28,300 – $50,900 USD. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Artcurial + Massimiliano Serra

The post For Sale: A TAG Croco 4×4 Amphibian – A Rotary-Powered Amphibious Off-Roader appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/tag-croco-4x4-amphibian/
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The Unusual Scorpion P6 “Supertrike”

You’ve doubtless heard the term superbike before, what you’re looking at here is a Scorpion P6 “supertrike” – a high-performance three-wheeled car powered by a 126 bhp Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R engine.

Although three-wheeled vehicles like this may look a little awkward at first they can actually make a lot of sense. As they have three wheels rather than four they can be registered as motorcycles, which means they don’t have to adhere to the long list of regulations applied to four-wheeled automobiles.

Fast Facts – The Scorpion P6 “Supertrike”

The Scorpion P6 is a reverse trike developed by Scorpion Motorsports out of Miami, Florida. It’s road legal in the United States and in the United Kingdom, and a number of other countries.
Each P6 is built around a tubular steel space frame with an aluminum semi-monocoque elements and a GRP body, they have Formula 1-style pushrod front suspension, a mid-mounted superbike engine, and a single rear wheel on a motorcycle swing arm with a monoshock.
Scorpion Motorsports is no longer in business however when they were operational they sold the P6 in either kit or turnkey form, and you could pay extra for the turbocharged engine option.
The performance of the turbo ZX-6R engine version was blistering, with the 0 – 60 mph dash completed in 3.5 seconds, 0 – 100 mph in 10 seconds, and it’s said to be capable of 1.5 G cornering.

Weird & Wonderful – Cars With Three Wheels

Three-wheeled cars are a bit of an historical anomaly, they first appeared around the turn of the 20th century and despite their unusual nature they’ve refused to go extinct. Newly designed takes on the concept keep reappearing and often making it into production, albeit usually not for long.

The lightweight chassis of the Scorpion P6 includes both tubular steel and aluminum semi-monocoque elements, with F1-style pushrod front suspension and Wilwood brakes.

The most famous three-wheelers in history are undoubtably those made by the Morgan Motor Company in England.

They started out making three-wheelers all the way back in 1909 before slowly transitioning to four-wheeled cars, though they do occasionally bring new three-wheelers to market like the new Morgan Super 3.

Due to the fact that motorcycles can be fitted with sidecars, vehicles with three-wheels are typically classed as motorcycles for tax and registration purposes. This has meant that they can be built and sold far more cheaply which was their initial selling point.

People also fell in love with the pure, analogue driving experience, and three-wheeled cars have become cult classics with a rabid fanbase.

The Scorpion P6

The Scorpion P6 was developed by the team at Scorpion Motorsports in Miami, Florida to be a true 21st century take on the under represented high performance three-wheeler genre.

They created an all-new tubular steel chassis with aluminum semi-monocoque elements and a fiberglass body, with F1-style pushrod front suspension, a swing arm rear with a monoshock, and a mid-mounted superbike engine supplied by the Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R.

The single-seater (monoposto) cockpit offers a driving experience similar to a Formula Ford-type open wheeled race car.

When ordering your P6 new you could choose between a kit build option or a turnkey car, with both naturally aspirated and turbocharged versions on offer producing 126 bhp and 150+ bhp respectively.

The Scorpion P6 weighs in at just 730 lbs (331 kgs), a mere fraction the weight of a standard sports car. Performance is brisk, the turbo variant can do the 0 – 60 mph sprint in 3.5 seconds and the 0 – 100 mph in 10 seconds.

Wilwood brakes are fitted up front and the P6 can be fitted with aerodynamically active adjustable front and rear wings. Sadly the company that created the P6, Scorpion Motorsports, is no longer in business so the only way to get one is to buy a lightly used example like the one pictured in this article.

This Scorpion P6 has just 100 miles on the odometer (160 kms) and it’s powered by the reliable and fuss-free naturally aspirated version of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R engine producing 126 bhp.

If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Collecting Cars. It’s currently being auctioned live online out of Dundee in Scotland.