The New, Newer Project: Part Tres...

[njsteve]

Rick called this morning with more info. He said he ordered it with an automatic because that is what he wanted. He was not going to be drag racing it and didn't want the constant clutch work around the New York suburbs that the 4-speed would have entailed. He said there were no order prohibitions about A/C not being available with a stick, at the time he ordered the car.

When the car was due to come in he told the dealer that under no circumstances was ANYONE at the dealership allowed to "test drive" the car prior to delivery. Of course when it came in, the service guys ignored the mandate and drove it around town. Rick found out about it and tore them a new one. He said he was "this close" to telling them to "stick the car where the sun don't shine" when he found out that they violated his directive. But at the last minute decided to go ahead with the purchase.

Rick drove the car from NY to Arizona in July of 1975 where he started a chain of chassis dynamometer tuning centers. His vanity plate for the SD was "TUNE-UP". He still has his original vanity plate and is sending it along with the steering wheel. He is still looking for the second file he has on the car that will have photos, etc., in it.

When he sold the car in 1986 it had 13,000 miles on it. When the second owner sold it, it had 17,080 miles (as written on the windshield inspection sticker from 1992).

[Dave Rifkin]

Funny, my Dad tried to order his 73 Trans Am as an SD but, his car was not built with the motor. He was told that, while he had ordered the SD it was not a guarantee.
Anyway, he ordered it as Buccaneer red, white deluxe interior and 4 speed. When we go to pick the car up at Haines Pontiac we see it in the service area being "tuned up". A few short minutes later we hear this car burning out from the lot and someone was beating the balls outta the car.
My Dad was not too happy with the dealership when the car returned. I bet that scenario happened a lot with these types of cars.