Yes, I bought a '79 Trans Am
Just to answer a few of the inevitable questions: no, I've never owned a Members Only jacket, worn my hair in a mullet, or dated a Camaro-driving bleached blonde from New Jersey named Donna. I just checked my iPod, and there are two Abba songs on it, but I swear they were put there by an evil force. I write the auction column for Automobile Magazine, and I go to more than twenty collector-car auctions every year. I watch what's hot and what's not among the collectors, dealers, and buyers who attend the sales. Even before the proposal to go on the Bandit Run was first floated, I had noticed that the once-hopeless late-1970s Trans Ams had a growing coolness factor. I found this car at the Cox Auctions event in Branson, Missouri. I was ready to step up for it, a '79 in factory black with a gold screaming chicken on the hood. Trans Ams from the late '70s were down on horsepower compared with earlier models, even though the big engines remained. That's a major negative. But the positive side far outweighs the bad stuff. The cars have aged well in the looks department, and now that they are no longer everyday fixtures on streets and used car lots, they get more than a passing glance when you drive one. I really wanted a T/A with T-tops and a factory-installed CB radio--if you're going retro, why not go all the way? Hey, is "My Sharona" available as a download? I've already got "East Bound and Down." - Dave Kinney