The turning point for the late 1970's Trans Am's occurred in 1976. The corporate bean counters had all but given up on killing off the T/A, especially when they saw the enormousprofit the model was bringing in. Gradually, nearly as many Trans Am's left the assembly line asthe other Firebirds...combined.

For starters, the T/A got a more integrated front end appearance, enhancing the visualappeal. The new front end returned the parking lamps below the front bumper, each within anarrow cooling slot. Unfortunately, the front spoiler was trimmed back again, leaving it tomerely be a keepsake from the glory days of old. The color keyed front bumper, covered indeformable urethane, replaced the rubber covered steel unit of the previous year. The bumpersmoothly integrated into the front header panel which was still comprised of fibreglass. Roundheadlamps made their last second generation appearance on the 1976 edition.

To the rear of the car, the styling pattern which influenced the front was copied. The rearbumper was also covered in a soft urethane with a depression in the center, eliminating the falsebumper bar. This theme made the Trans Am a much more complete looking car. The tail lampswere still of body color and stretched from the corner of the rear end to the license plate recess.

Inside the wide doors, a new interior greeted the owner. The seats were a bit morecontoured, with richer materials. Vertical ribbing replaced the horizontal sew lines of the 1971thru 75 seats. The seats also were thicker appearing, with additional padding. Buckskin replacedsaddle and just as burgundy was given up for firethorn, GM's new "wonder color". The materialfor the base vinyl seats was of Oxen vinyl while custom trim ordered up Tetra vinyl. Again, nocloth trim was offered.

At 185 hp, the 400 was still the base motor and relatively unchanged from the 1975 edition.The engine coded WU when ordered with a manual or YS, Y9 or YZ for Federal cars or ZK if California bound when assigned to the automatic,

Returning for what was to be it's final season (again?) was the optional 455 V8, still labeled inH.O. guise. As with the 400, the specs were virtually interchangeable with the 1975 edition.Once again the 455 was packaged, including the confidence inducing semi-metallic front brakepads. As a 4-speed manual was still the required transmission with the big motor, California carswere not allowed this combination (nor any other 4-speeds, for that matter). The single exhaustsystem was unchanged from 1975 and exited through dual tail pipes with chrome splitters.

The shaker hood scoop, while still no longer functional would make it's last appearance asthe original rounded design. The pronounced intake lip of the shaker would be less so in themodel years's to follow.

All Trans Am's were still fitted with the GR70x15 steel belted radial ply tires. The tireswere still offered in black wall or raised white letters for appearance sake. Rally II wheels, bodycolored (or argent) with bright spoke accents and trim rings were standard. The honey comb wheels common to most Trans Ams were a no cost upgrade. As with the shaker hood scoopdesign, these wheels would be offered no longer after 1976

Black was finally offered on a T/A this year, but only about 2590 of them. The Y82/Y84 Special Edition's made their debut as a limited run of Pontiac Motor Division50th anniversary package cars. The Starlite black exterior was highlighted in gold with pinstripes, starting at the front bumper, wrapping around the body via the wheel openings, finishingit's journey at the rear bumper. Completing the gold exterior accents were a specific hood birddecal, headlamp bezels, grilles, fascia mounted Firebird crest, and honey comb wheels. A smallportion of the cars also received black chrome splitter tail pipes. Inside, a gold finishedengine turned instrument panel applique replaced the silver tone of other T/A's and the blackspokes in the Formula steering wheel were supplanted by a gold version. Either the 400automatic or 455 manual combinations could be ordered.

It was on this special T/A that an option would be introduced that would literally openup an entire market - the T-Top. Originally slated to be fitted to all anniversaryedition cars, only 643 were actually produced with the tops. The tops, manufactured for Pontiacby Hurst, were known as Hurst Hatches and were fitted after assembly. Of the 643 50th anniversary models with Hurst Hatches, 110 were built with the 455/4-speed combination, while 319 455's had the 50th package without the tops. The 400 cars featured 533 with t-tops,and 1628 without.

Sterling silver and Cameo white were the only colors to return to the 1976 line-up. Inaddition to Starlite Black, Goldenrod yellow, and a pair of much different reds- Carousel andFirethorn were added to the line up. Although Firethorn red was a must have on the rest of theGM offerings, it looked somewhat out of place on the Trans Am.

The September 1975 issue of Road Test magazine (which unfortunately went out ofcirculation 1981), featured a silver 1976 Trans Am on the cover. Highlighting the cover was anappropriate sell job: "The King is back! First '76 Test: Firebird Trans Am 455 HO. In this issue,the 455 T/A is objectively examined and exposed, being touted "It is the fastest acceleratingand best-cornering American car you can buy".This was a very strong statement indeed, butremember, the vaunted Corvette could only hand off 210 hp while the only producing 255 lb/ftof torque in the L82 version.

In search of the fastest American car (guess what was on the cover, again ), theApril 1976 issue of Car & Driver discovered accelerating from 0-60 took 7.0 seconds, while anadditional 8.6 seconds were needed to produce a speed of 90.3 mph in completing the quartermile. Winding the big inch engine to 4850 rpm, 350 rpm beyond the maximum recommended engine speed, gear produced a top speed of 118 mph in fourth gear. In 1976 these were big numbers, however, our beloved bird did not fare so well. The Corvette was .3 seconds quicker in the 1/4-mile time and went 6.5 mph faster on the top end, benefiting from less frontal area. The worst news of the article was a bias-ply tired 360 cubic inch Dodge Dart didn't quit going any faster until it's 220 horsepower propelled it to nearly 122 mph.

The good news of the article featured the excellent brakes of the T/A. In stops from 70miles per hour, the front disc/rear drum 3820-lb Trans Am stopped 20 feet shorter than theall-disc brake equipped 3655-pound Corvette. Twenty feet may not seem much, but in life it isthe difference between wheeew, made it! and aww-&$%#. From a standing start the Corvettealso needed 1-tenth of a second longer to meet the sixty mile per hour mark.

The Trans Am was definitely the rage in 1976. It was the car to have. So popularwas the T/A in fact, 46,701 were built as 1976 model year. This accounted for forty-two percentof Firebird production. Why was the car so popular? As more and more people became fed upwith sluggish cars, (heck the gas was flowing again!) the Trans Am was the last resource ofperformance. The $4987.00 base price still delivered the buyer a lot of bang for the buck.Double digit percentage price increases hadn't yet been tacked on by Pontiac, so the car entered'76 only $247.00 higher than in 1976. But the popularity was just beginning as 1977 was about tomake all the Burt Reynolds wanna be's noticed, as a "bandit" was about to be unmasked.

1976 Trans Am Production

Engine - Trim	Engine VIN Code	# Built	Total
400 - Base	Z	37,015
455 HO - Base	W	7,099
Total Base			44,114
400 - 50th Anniv. w/o Hurst Hatch	Z	1,628
400 - 50th Anniv. w/o Hurst Hatch	W	319
Total 50th Anniv w/o Hurst Hatches			1,947
400 - 50th Anniv. w/Hurst Hatch	Z	533
400 - 50th Anniv. w/Hurst Hatch	W	110
Total 50th Anniv w/Hurst Hatches			643
Total All 50th Anniv			2,590
Total Trans Am			46,704

Color & Trim Codes

Exterior Colors	Code		Interior Colors*	Std Trim	Code	Custom Trim	Code
Cameo White	11		White	Oxen	11M	Tetra	11N
Sterling Silver	13		Black	Oxen	19M	Tetra	19N
Starlite Black	19		Blue			Tetra	26N
Firethorn Red	35		Buckskin	Oxen	64M	Tetra	64N
Goldenrod Yellow	51		Firethorn			Tetra	71N
Carousel Red	78

1976 Trans Am Engines

CID-Version	Code	Trans	HP@RPM	Torque@RPM
400	WU	4M	185@3600	310@1600
400 Federal	YS, Y9, YZ	3A	185@3600	310@1600
400 Calif.	ZK	3A	185@3600	310@1600
455 HO	WX	4M	200@3500	330@2000

Transmission Codes

Transmission	Engine	Emission	ID Code
Automatic TH350	L78	--	MG
Automatic TH350	L78	Fed	MK
4-speed	L78 or L75	--	HW

Rear Axle Identification Codes

		Axle Ratio	Code
		2.41	PS
		3.08	PW
		3.23	PX

All ring gears are 8 1/2" and have positraction

Standard Equipment: Dual Body Color OSRV mirrors, LH remote; GR70x15 BSWradial tires, 4-speed manual transmission, Power assisted front disc brakes, Saf-T-Trackdifferential, Power steering, Front and rear stabilizer bars, Rally II or Honey Comb wheels,Space saver spare tire, Vinly bucket seats, Rally gages with clock and tach, Formula steeringwheel, Front seat floor console, Rear air spoiler, Cigarette lighter, Shaker hood, Front air dam