1984 15th Anniversary Edition Trans Am

by **Brother Al** Fri Jun 01, 2012 10:09 pm

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1984 15th Anniversary Trans Am
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1984 15th Anniversary Edition Trans Am 15th_0005_LG

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1984 15th Anniversary Edition Trans Am 15th_0004_LG

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1984 15th Anniversary Edition Trans Am 15th_0009_LG

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1984 15th Anniversary Edition Trans Am 15th_0013_LG

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1984 15th Anniversary Edition Trans Am 15th_0017_LG

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1984 15th Anniversary Edition Trans Am Int_0047_LG

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The 15th Anniversary Trans Am is a jewel in the Pontiac crown. It debuted dressed in the original 1969 Trans Am's White w/ Blue accented hues and boasted everything that the top-of-the-line "Y84 Recaro Edition Trans Am S/E" had and more. A limited production run of 1500 units was set, plus a handful more were built as Pontiac Promotional Cars to show off the 15th Anniversary T/A at various auto shows, and racing events.

The exterior featured special Blue and Silver shield medallions, found on the exterior sail panels. The finned black-tinted T/A tail lights were detailed with White paint on the raised fins and perimeter. A Blue "Trans Am" decal was place on the lower rear portion of the doors. A Blue inlay was placed in the "Trans Am" script detail of driver's-side "Aero Package" nosecone plate and a Blue version of the "Fade-Out Decal" was placed on the Turbo Bulge hood. It also featured T-Tops, White painted 16" aluminum "High-Tech Aero Rims" w/a Blue pinstripes around the outer perimeter, and 3 Blue Pinstripes that surround the entire lower perimeter of the car, including up around the wheelwells. (These pinstripes being quite similar to 1984 Recaro Edition T/A's unique Gold pinstripes, except that the pinstripes on the rear bumper cover actually connect on the 15th Anniversary, where as the on the Recaro Edition T/A, they do not).

The interior featured off-White & Gray leather/cloth Recaro seats featuring "Trans Am" script printed across on the center cloth at regular intervals. Available as a 15th Anniversary-Only option was a power driver's Recaro seat (RARE). As with all L69 equipped Trans Am's, an 8000 RPM tachometer and an 80 PSI oil pressure gauge were utilized. The interior also included a new style Formula steering wheel, clad in Off-White leather, w/ thumb grips on the left & right spokes, a White horn cap featuring a Blue "15th Anniversary" shield in the center. It also featured an Off-White leather shift knob on both the automatics and 5 Speeds, a matching leather E-brake handle, plus an Off-White map pouch on the passenger side of the dash w/ "Trans Am" & Firebird logo in Blue.

The drivetrain was available in two combinations, but being a Limited Production of only 1500 units, it was on a first come-first serve basis... 500 with the T-5 Borg-Warner 5 speed and 1000 with the 700R4. The only engine choice was the 190hp/230 ft lb "L69 HO 305" (Chevy HO 305ci). A hydraulic clutch was now used on the T-5 Borg-Warner 5-speed transmission featuring a lightweight aluminum flywheel and an aluminum bellhousing. A high output single electric fan was employed on all L69's to keep them cool and to free-up some of the drag on the engine. The functional cold-air induction hood fed cold air into a special air cleaner that mated to it via a rubber seal. All L69 engines also were equipped with a higher output mechanical fuel pump and a secondary electric fuel pump to help prevent vapor lock. All 15th Anniversary T/A's also came with WS6, which included J65 rear disc's, RPO GT4 3:73 gears and the G80 Posi as standard items, regardless if it was equipped with the T-5 manual or 700R4 automatic transmission.

For 1984, Pontiac had also been developing a new version of the WS6 package, with beefier sway bars, a faster ratio steering box, designed specifically to enhance the suspension & handling for the new 16x8 wheel and in conjunction with Goodyear's all new 16" Eagle high performance tires. This was a first for any GM vehicle & coincided with Chevy's all new C4 Corvette, which also featured all-new 16" x 8" rims. Initially the plan was to also release this package on both the Recaro Edition T/A and the 15th Anniversary Edition T/A, however Goodyear had very limited supplies of the new tires. GM quickly mandated priority of these for the Corvette, leaving Pontiac to limit the new 16" WS6 package to the 15th Anniversary Edition. The car was an instant hit, with the both the Public and the Media. Despite their high price tag, they were not hard to sell, and dealers soon found that the limited availability ending came all too fast for those not able to place their orders fast enough. Within months of production beginning, it was soon discovered that the new 16" rims had defects that were causing them to crack. Pontiac quickly resolved the problem and issued a recall of the initial batches. These early rims are identifiable by a smaller diameter center cap plug, with the later redesign being identical to all later version of the 16" High-Tech Aero Rims", safe for the unique paint scheme.

NOTE: these early rims should not be driven on if found, they are fragile and could result in total rim failures, leading to severe damage and a total loss of control. They can be identified by a small center cap plug, whereas all replacements and later 16" rims of the same style had Large plastic center cap plugs.

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1984 15th Anniversary Edition Trans Am Mtjuly1984pg1

1984 15th Anniversary Edition Trans Am Mtjuly1984pg1

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