Most of us would be elated to purchase our dream car just once. Others might add another if the opportunity presented itself, but few will ever hold title to three versions at the same time. George Berg is one of those few. He owns a '70 1/2 T/A, a '73 Formula 400, and a '78 W72 400 T/A, and we present the latter two here.
As you can see, George is into Second-Gens big time. So much so, in fact, that he travels to national Pontiac events each season, pulling two of his prized F-bodies in a 46-foot enclosed trailer his wife bought him for his birthday, and does it all by himself. You may think that's crazy, but George loves it. He gets to show off two of his three Pontiacs, collect trophies, and catch up with friends.
According to the owner, the paint on this Trans Am is 10 to 15 years old, yet it recently won a Best Paint award. Note the modified exhaust, sans cat, with dual head pipes and mufflers in place of the factory dual resonators normally found on W72 cars.
Ironically, while the '70 1/2 T/A he purchased in 2005 is a desirable Pontiac, the two we feature here are even more unique in their own ways. The '78 T/A was purchased in 2004, and though some may jump to the conclusion that it's an SE yet to have its stripes applied after a repaint, that is not the case. This non-SE is factory code-19 Starlight Black, and has a 220-horse W72 400; a four-speed and a 3.42 Safe-T-Track rear; Hurst Hatches, and little else option-wise. The interior is "standard" and the T/A doesn't even have A/C. It was definitely built to be quick on the back roads and look good doing it.
Then there is the '73 Navajo Orange Formula 400. Its color and factory accent stripe garner curious glances everywhere it goes. Unlike the T/A, this 230-horse L78 400, Turbo 400, 3.08 Safe-T-Track rear-equipped Formula is stuffed with comfort and appearance options, but like its stable mate, it too is without A/C. How did these two very different yet similar F-bodies come to share the same garage? That story begins back in the '70s.
Aside from the arresting hue, an interesting option package on the '73 is the Body Protection Group (code-334/Y95), which included rear bumper guards, body side moldings, and door-edge guards. Optional roof-drip moldings (code-481/B80), wheelwell moldings (code-491/B96), and concealed wipers (code 432/C24) were checked off. Remember, the original purchaser ordered the car for his 64-year-old wife, so power disc brakes (code-502/JL2) and variable-ratio power steering (code-501/N41) were bolted in as well.
"My first car was a '67 GTO," George tells HPP. "After that, I had a Carousel Red '69 Firebird 400. I was in the U.S. Air Force stationed in California when Smokey and the Bandit came out, but I couldn't afford a Trans Am." Given the lack of funds, George continued to live his life sans a Bandit. He progressed in his Air force career, he and his wife began raising a family, and he went though two bouts of cancer treatment. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, 28 years had passed-and still no Trans Am.
Enter The '78 Trans AM
"By 2004 I was retiring from the Air Force and the kids had finished college and were married," George recalls. "So when we purchased a new Pontiac Grand Am for my wife, I noticed the dealer had some classic cars for sale. He didn't have any T/As, but I knew what I wanted. I had dreamt of those Batmobile-nose Trans Ams for years, so I began a search for a black one.
What's Starlight Black, equipped with W72 220-horse 400, a four-speed trans, Hurst n SE? George Berg's '78 Trans Am.
"One day I ran across one on eBay. It had been well cared for and looked to be in great condition. After speaking several times with the owner, I waited for the last 10 seconds of the auction and put in my max bid. I won the Pontiac for $17,000, a lot less than I was willing to pay."
Once he got it home, George did some detailing and hit the road. "The T/A is very quick off the mark, has a strong top end, and handles the power with no problem," he beams. "The Shaker hood vibrating at idle is just awesome, and the exhaust isn't loud but has a nice rumble to it. I love getting on it in the many rolling hills and turns in our area of Maryland."
Impressed with its over-the-road performance, George was anxious to see the reaction at shows. "The T/A gets a lot of very positive attention," he says. "It seems everybody has either owned one or knows someone who has. It has won First Place at many shows from Michigan to Florida and everywhere in between, including First in Class at the '07 Ames Performance Pontiac Nationals in Norwalk. Among other awards, it's also won Best Paint at a local show with over 200 cars in attendance, and picked up several awards at the Trans Am Nationals at Dayton."
The standard version (code 62R1) of the Camel Tan Oxen vinyl interior with crank windows is not often seen on T/As of this era. Note the lack of a passenger-side assist bar on the dash and map pockets on the doors. Seat and door upholstery patterns also differ from that of the Custom interior available in 1978. The stock shifter knob has been replaced with a Hurst T-handle. Just a little over 78,000 miles shows on the odometer. | 
Pontiac wanted the world to know it had a high-performance engine option in '78, so the Shaker scoop reads "T/A-6.6" for 220-horse W72-equipped models and "6.6 Litre" for 180-horse 400s and 185-horse Olds 403 T/As. This once-blocked Shaker now draws cool outside air. It's not stock, but George wouldn't have it any other way. | 
It was the last year for the WY9-code Hurst Hatch option as Fisher (code-CC1) units bowed in partway through the sales season and ultimately replaced them. Bright trim (SEs had the trim blacked out) and the fact that the Hurst tops don't extend all the way to the rear of the window opening make them easily discernable from the later Fisher T-tops. |
For '73, the Custom Trim Group (code-724/Y90) added a trunk-fitted mat; body-colored inserts for the door handles; and custom interior appointments, including the passenger-side assist bar on the dash and upgraded door panels and seat patterns. Code 243 denotes the Custom Saddle Morrokide interior. This Formula has optional Rally Gauges With Tach (code-714/WW8), and the odometer reads 74,836 miles. | 
In comparison to the W72, the code-YS, '73 L78 400 pumped out 230 hp. Though a Q-jet still mixed air and fuel, the cast-iron intake didn't feature the restricted secondaries of the '78. It has a points-type distributor instead of HEI, and the cam is an 066 with 273/282-degrees duration and 0.410/0.415 lift. Compression ratio is 8:1 for the '78 and the '73. The same style log manifolds carry spent gases from 4X heads with the same valve sizes, but the rest of the exhaust system is different. The '73 employs twin pipes that feed into a crossflow muffler behind the rear axle and end in twin tips; the '78 system (in stock form) has a y-pipe into a single cat converter, and then splits from the converter back into two pipes with twin resonators and tailpipes with splitters. | 
Navajo Orange paint (code 97/U), the rarely seen Accent Stripes (code-631/D98), and Ram Air callouts on the hood of this '73 Formula 400 literally stop people in their tracks at shows. If those don't do it, the body's design does. "I love the front end," George says. "It reminds me of a Hammerhead shark." |