With the release of the 77 Firebird model, it turned out that the designers dealing with this model really had something up their sleeves. They found a way to change some of the features of the Formula and Trans AM models without causing too many changes to the actual sheet metal. On the front ends you could see a pair of new quad rectangular headlamps and also a more pointed grille.
It seemed that the exterior changes would also not be the only changes to have the 77 Pontiac, but this was a false hope for the fans and when it came to what is under the hood, there was not much of a surprise there. The new engine would be a V6 and compared to the former one, it would be 5 HP less powerful, packing 105 HP.
And at last, the 455 CID V8 big block engine would not be used anymore. Regarding the Trans AM model, it just had to remain with the 400 CID V8 under its hood which was unfortunately downgraded to just 180 HP, which was also pretty high when compared to other car models at that time. Other things that the model retained were the dual exhausts and the 4 barrel carburetor.
As a standard for Pontiac’s Formula, the 301 CID V8 engine was introduced which was capable of delivering 145 HP at 4000 RPMs. But if you were interested in a more powerful engine, then the 4 barrel 350 V8 would be available which Oldsmobile or Pontiac would feature in their repertoire.
In total, there were 15567 out of 68745 Tran Ams which were included as the Special edition models. They were widely known as “Blackbirds”.