[StealthBird]

Prices vary wildy, as with any collector car, but if it's truly a #1 condition and restored properly, then $50K is not out of the question. If it's an older resto or in need of restoring, then $15K-$20K.

The 1976 50th Anniversary Trans Am's are quite rare, with 2,590 total being produced, but only 110 were 455 4-speeds with t-tops.

These cars were quite unique. They were the first Firebirds to receive t-tops (not all 50th Anniversary cars had them), and in the next few years, t-tops proved to be an incredibly popular option. The 1976's also had special gold headlight bezels, a special gold hood bird, gold pinstriping, special gold honeycomb wheels, gold bird emblem on the front fascia, special gold sail panel birds, a gold engine turned dashboard (replacing the silver version), and gold spokes for the steering wheel. There were also a small number of these cars that came with black chrome exhaust splitters.

Prices have skyrocketed in the past 5-7 years, thanks to a new appreciation of the "Smokey And The Bandit" movie, and baby boomers looking for what was the best performance car of the 1976-1981 time period. They sold a boatload of Trans Am's, so it was inevitable that one day collectors, longing for that car they used to have in high school, would start to grab them up at auctions.

The 76-81 Special Edition cars have become iconic as a symbol of American style and excess, closely associated to "disco", plus it was the best performance car of the era.