The notchback also incorporated redesigned rear seatbacks with integral headrests.

The optional convertible model also carried over, and now optional on the GTA was a new “notchback” hatch: rather than the large, glass hatchback that had been common to the Third Generation Firebird, the optional notchback consisted of a fiberglass trunk lid with a small, flat, vertical glass window. Still, it’s a unique piece of Pontiac history what do you say, muscle car maniacs? Is this one of the special editions worth getting excited about? More to the point, the car is described as needing “some cleaning and a little TLC,” and because the car wasn’t moved out of its garage home for pictures, I’m concerned that the TLC is a prerequisite to driving it, which makes the $9,500 pricetag seem a little stiff, rarity or no. The seller claims that only 50 notchbacks featured this engine and its standard automatic I’m a little skeptical, since the 350 was the standard GTA powerplant, with a 305 mated to a five speed stick optional, but the seller also claims to have documentation from Pontiac Historical Services, so maybe they’re right. This ‘Bird is sporting a high-ish 126,000-mile figure on the odometer, and those miles have been racked up on the original Chevrolet-sourced 350-cubic inch (or 5.7 liters, as it was becoming fashionable to say by the late ’80s) tuned port injection V8. Why Pontiac would go to the trouble of designing and manufacturing a distinct design for these seats, especially in a car in which they were unlikely to see much actual use, is beyond me, but these are the kinds of little variations that keep muscle car fans eagle-eyed. The other unique feature of the notchback coupe was the rear seat design with integral head restraints, which was not shared with any other ’88 Firebird. It still opens as a hatch, so the transformation is solely visual (with a little less space in back for bulky objects, I suppose). As you might guess, the notchbacks all started life as regular hatchback Trans Am GTAs, then swapped in a fiberglass decklid made in Auburn Hills, Michigan, by Auto-Fab, Inc. So, here’s a photo of a similar car to give you an idea. It’s always a pet peeve of mine when a seller relies only on pictures taken from the confines of a garage, but it’s even more of a bummer in this case because it denies us a good look at the car’s most unique feature. There were somewhere between 649 (per this ad) and 718 (according to the more authoritative-sounding ) of these unusual coupes built, so odds are you’ve never seen one-I’m pretty sure I haven’t-but for just $9,500 this example, listed on craigslist in Howell, Michigan, could be yours! Thanks to Pat L.

Here’s one such little-known variant, the one-year-only 1988 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am GTA notchback. There’s an upside to writing about muscle and pony cars: just when you think it’s all been seen and said, another special edition that you’d forgotten about, or never even heard of, comes out of the woodwork.

1988 pontiac firebird