IS THIS RARE, NUMBERS-MATCHING 1970 PONTIAC TRANS AM RAM AIR IV MUSCLE CAR ROYALTY?
You needn’t be among the Pontiac faithful to get excited by the Ram Air IV engine. A regular production option from Pontiac, the potent Ram Air IV 400-cu.in. V8 engine was among the most powerful ever to come from the division. It was produced only for 1969 and 1970, and in small numbers at that.
In addition to its short production lifecycle, the Ram Air IV was exclusive to the GTO and the Firebird/Trans Am. Production was extremely limited, with sources indicating 1,563 GTOs produced across both years. For the F-body, Pontiac made 157 Firebirds and Trans Ams with the Ram Air IV engine in 1969. And in 1970, with the Ram Air IV exclusive to Trans Am in the F-body, just 88 were produced, making this 1970 Pontiac Trans Am Ram Air IV currently offered on Hemmings Auctions, a true piece of race muscle car history.
Pontiac engineers pulled out all the stops to make big power with the Ram Air IV. In addition to breathing in fresh, cold air via a hood scoop, the Ram Air IV had cylinder heads designed for maximum air flow, with enlarged intake ports and round exhaust ports, the latter matched to round-port cast-iron exhaust manifolds. RA IV engines were fitted with unique aluminum intake manifolds to matched the enlarged ports. The compression ratio was a high-octane friendly 10.5:1.
The Ram Air IV’s “041” camshaft carried 308 degrees and 320 degrees of intake and exhaust duration, respectively, with 87 degrees of overlap. With the higher lift rockers specced at a 1.65:1 ratio (the earlier Ram Air II engine’s rocker arms had a 1.55:1 ratio), the aggressive camshaft achieved 5.16 inches of lift on both the intake and exhaust valves. Four-bolt main bearing caps, a unique nodular-iron crankshaft and forged pistons were all part of the recipe that was good for up to 6,000 rpm.The Ram Air IV engine was given a rating of 370 horsepower at 5,500 rpm. Even with GM’s loosening of the reigns on big-cube power in the smaller A-body cars, Pontiac’s most powerful engine for the GTO and Trans Am in 1970 remained the Ram Air IV, even though a 455 was available in the GTO.
The 1970 F-body Trans Am was about 150 pounds lighter than the A-body GTO, allowing it to make the most of the potent Ram Air IV engine. Tests of the day indicated 0-60 mph times in under six seconds and the quarter mile in the high 13s at over 100 mph, making it one quick pony car that could more than hold its own on the dragstrip.
Unfortunately, for Pontiac pony car fans, the second-gen F-body was delayed until nearly midway through the 1970 model year, leaving some people to call them “1970½” models. With its late introduction in February of 1970, just 48,739 Firebirds of all stripes were built for the year, as compared to 87,011 for the final year of the first-gen Firebird in 1969.
When it came to Trans Am production, out of 3,196 built for 1970, most were assembled with the 400-cu.in. Ram Air III engine, which was rated at 345 horsepower. Of the 88 Ram Air IV cars, just 29 were equipped with the Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 three-speed automatic transmission, making this 1970 Pontiac Trans Am a very rare muscle car.Given the uncommon sight of such a car for sale, the seller is including Pontiac Historic Services documents, such as a reproduction window sticker verifying its rare status as one of the 29 Ram Air IV/automatic cars. He also provided images showing the partial VIN stamp on the block that matches the car’s other VIN plates along with casting codes on the engine that are also correct for the spec.
Though the seller has owned the car for about 10 years, he indicates that it was restored in the early 1990s and both the Lucerne Blue finish and blue vinyl interior appear to be holding up well. He indicates that the car runs and drives well, including his having the transmission “resealed” a month prior to listing the car.
Head on over to Hemmings Auctions to take a closer look at this 1970 Pontiac Trans Am and its documentation and let us know if you think this T/A is muscle car royalty.