Value question - 1969 Trans Am

[Johnny Horsepower]

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Dave was from around the Chicago area, but I lost track of him about 1997. He owned many rare Pontiacs, including a 1969 Trans Am that ended up in books, posters, etc. back in the 1980's. He loaded that Trans Am with virtually every available option (using all NOS parts) back in the 1980's, including power windows, rear defog, 8-track, tilt wheel, cruise, power antenna, and the seldom seen AM/FM Stereo 4-speaker radio.

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Dave Doern, have not heard that name in awhile. I met him in the 80's when he was president of ,I believe, the local POCI chapter. He sourced me, from butler autoparts, 2 htp rear quarters for my 71 lemans sport convertible. He took me to a storage building in Skokie where he had some COOL stuff. The 2 I remember most were a 1985 black trans am (think kitt) with a factory aquired SD 455 in the engine bay. It fit like factory right down to the stickers on the cowl. He said a connection at Pontiac got him the original block.He also said that car was stupid fast with a wicked top end because of the 5 speed in the modern TA.
The other car was an olds, that he said was built for the head of olds or his wife. Anyway it was a sweet factory 442...................wagon!

Neat guy, I would love to know what happened to him and his cars.

On the TA sounds like a good one. Get a fresh PHS and while other stuff would be great, that is all you need.
Hope you get it........I got one.

JOHN

[StealthBird]

Dave's car was used during the 1980's whenever someone needed a photo of a 69 Trans Am. Unfortunately, Dave mistakenly had the white rubber gaskets, that go behind the headlight surrounds, painted white instead of leaving them black. Other than the incorrect white rubber gaskets behind the headlights, Dave's car used to be easily identified because he had those short-lived Goodyear Wingfoot tires (from around 1980) that had a white pinstripe.

I took photos of his car at a cruise night a long time ago, I'll see if I can dig them up. I believe he also had a 3-spoke Trans Am style steering wheel (but not factory), and a 1970 style dome light that used double switches/target style lights.

His car appeared in some books back in the 1980's, and on this poster (attached). You can see the Chicago skyline behind Dave's car...

Dave also had a 1989 Turbo Trans Am Pace Car, one of the cars that actually paced the Indy 500, with strobe lights, etc. He also had a 1994 Trans Am 25th Anniversary Firehawk Convertible, I believe the only one made.

[1969z280]

FYI, I don't believe the reproduction Ram Air parts look anything like the originals especially, the hood. At least I have not seen one that does. The underhood ducting isn't even close to the original. Good luck with the T/A, it sounds like a great car. If you decide not to do it... please let me know about the car. I already have one but two wouldn't be a crowd. Ed

[MrTransAm]

Unfortunately Dave has passed away due to cancer.

I was just at a car show at a Chicago Mall on Labor day (09/02/2013). I met with some Pontiac gurus. Dave's name came up in our conversation. I was told that he died due to cancer, but I have only heard this from the one person. I assume it is true.

I was at Dave's shop a few decades ago when Dave was building his 1969 Trans Am. I do remember that he wanted to put every option on the car. He had a 1969 Firebird convertible sitting outside. He was taking the factory air conditioning off of the Firebird convertible and installing it on the Trans Am.

He had previously installed factory air on his 1973 Trans Am Sd-455 with a manual transmission. He also previously had installed factory air on his 1974 Trans Am SD-455 with a manual transmission. In case you did not know, Pontiac did not offer air conditioning on the SD-455 if it was equipped with a manual transmission.

I also remember that back in 1983 he installed a SD-344 in a black 1983 Trans Am. He also aded the ground effects package that was only available on the Daytona 500 Pace Car that year. He wanted to make sure that the centerline of the crankshaft of the SD-455 lined up with the centerline of the original 5.0 Liter engine. He made some special motor mounts to accomodate this feat. He also had to notch the underhood insulation hear the alternator so that he had clearance.

My most memorable moment with Dave was the first time that I went to his shop. He had some binders on the shelf. They contained all of the Car Distribution Bulletins and every memo send from the Zone Office to the dealers. He had binders for every year from 1969 through 1975. It was great to see the original memos to the dealers for the 1969 Trans Am as well as the original press release. It is also very interesting to see when various options went on hold status and got released from hold states (such as the SD-455). He let me take the binders home with me and photocopy every page. These documents are some of the most valuable I have for the Trans Am.