1970 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Ram Air IV

Pony car powered by Pontiac 400 cid LS1 Ram Air IV V8.

1970 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am exterior in white and blue; exact-year Trans Am visual context, not individual-car Ram Air IV proof.

Build pathway Factory Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

Engine Optional LS1 400 cid Ram Air IV V8

Body style 2-door coupe

Production context Tran-Zam model table reports 2,887 Trans Am cars; Ram Air IV subset is recorded as 88 in corroborating sources

Story

1970 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Ram Air IV

The 1970 Firebird Trans Am was the performance flagship of Pontiac's second-generation Firebird line. The reference tables used for this research guide identify it as the Trans Am coupe body style and separate its regular Ram Air III standard equipment from the optional LS1 Ram Air IV engine. For this target, only the Ram Air IV-specific claims below are carried forward when a reference explicitly names LS1, Ram Air IV, Trans Am availability, or the Trans Am-only color and equipment context.

The documented engine record is Pontiac's 400-cubic-inch LS1 Ram Air IV V-8, listed with a four-barrel carburetor, 10.75:1 compression, 345 hp at 5,400 rpm, and 430 lb-ft at 3,700 rpm. Tran-Zam's engine table also records Ram Air IV Trans Am transmission pairings as an M20 wide-ratio four-speed manual, M21 close-ratio four-speed manual with Hurst floor shift, and M40 Turbo Hydra-Matic, with manual cars tied to a 3.73 axle listing in the table. Because axle code and individual-car documentation are fraud-sensitive, this guide records only source-table availability and leaves exact car-level authentication to Pontiac Historic Services, invoice, VIN/body-tag, engine-stamp, transmission-stamp, axle-stamp, and date-code review.

Appearance coverage is intentionally conservative. The color table identifies Trans Am color treatment for Polar White and Lucerne Blue, while the model and wheel pages support the shaker/functional hood context, spoilers, F60 x 15 raised-white-letter tires, and 15 x 7 Rally II wheel usage. Interior coverage is limited to source-backed Firebird/Trans Am trim descriptions: low-back vinyl bucket seats with separate headrests, standard door panels with map pockets, available custom trim, Formula steering wheel, carpeting, headliner, and available Rally gauge cluster with tachometer.

Production is recorded at the safest sourced granularity: the Trans Am model total appears as 2,887 in the model table, while the Ram Air IV subset is treated as reported and corroborated rather than elevated to factory-primary status in the reviewed references. Remaining authenticity details are deliberately expressed as coverage gaps rather than definitive markers, because the available references do not provide enough factory-primary decoding detail for clone detection.

**1970 Trans Am front view from Commons; exact-year Trans Am body, stripe, and nose context. Captioned source identifies this example as Ram Air III, so it is not Ram Air IV proof.**Valder137 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 Commons media

Price history

Values

Nominal dollars from original price sheets, auction archives, and approved value references.

Original Price

A verified original price is not yet available for this car.

Market Observations

Price guide value $109,000

Jul 1, 2026 · Hagerty Price Guide · Current guide point
1970 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am two-door hardtop with the 400-cid/370-hp four-barrel Ram Air IV in #3 Good condition, before transmission or color adjustments. · unknown · good July 2026 exact-configuration guide observation. Hagerty displays separate positive adjustments for a four-speed and blue-with-white-stripe configuration, so this unadjusted row is not a transaction or a universal value for every Ram Air IV Trans Am.
1970 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am 400/370-hp Ram Air IV value
High bid $140,000

Nov 15, 2024 · Bring a Trailer
PHS-documented automatic Ram Air IV Trans Am 228870L110885 after refurbishment with a rebuilt replacement 400-cid engine and multiple replaced components. · modified · good Bring a Trailer records the reserve-not-met high bid, exact VIN, date, amount, factory Ram Air IV identity, automatic transmission, replacement engine, refurbishment, PHS document, and true-mileage-unknown disclosure. Modified prevents use as an original-drivetrain benchmark.
1970 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am 400 Ram Air IV, lot 170741
Auction sale $192,500

May 20, 2023 · Mecum Indianapolis
PHS-documented automatic Ram Air IV Trans Am 228870N130125 with a body-off restoration and matching-numbers engine claim. · restored · excellent Mecum records the completed sale, exact VIN, date, amount, automatic Ram Air IV identity, restoration, original-engine claim, trim tag, receipts, and PHS documents. Excellent reflects the disclosed concours presentation, not an independent inspection.
1970 Pontiac Trans Am Ram Air IV, Indianapolis 2023, lot S120
Auction sale $162,250

Jan 24, 2014 · Mecum Kissimmee
PHS-documented automatic Ram Air IV Trans Am 228870N127735 with an early-1990s sympathetic restoration and original-drivetrain and original-interior claims. · restored · excellent Mecum records the completed sale, exact VIN, date, amount, automatic Ram Air IV identity, restoration, drivetrain and interior claims, and PHS documentation. Excellent reflects the disclosed presentation, not an independent inspection.
1970 Pontiac Trans Am Ram Air IV, Kissimmee 2014, lot F232
Auction sale $165,000

May 18, 2013 · Mecum Indianapolis
PHS-documented four-speed Ram Air IV Trans Am 228870N131444 described as original except for one repaint and engine detailing. · survivor · excellent Mecum records the completed sale, exact VIN, date, amount, four-speed Ram Air IV identity, PHS documentation, repaint, detailing, and substantial-originality claims. Excellent reflects the disclosed presentation, not an independent inspection.
1970 Pontiac Trans Am Ram Air IV, Indianapolis 2013, lot S169
High bid $175,000

May 23, 2010 · Mecum Indianapolis
Automatic 400/370-hp Ram Air IV Trans Am 228870N129299 with 21,128 miles and substantial original-paint and originality claims. · survivor · good Hagerty records the no-sale high bid, exact VIN, date, amount, Ram Air IV configuration, automatic equipment, mileage, and originality context. Good is conservative because the source notes deteriorated original paint.
1970 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, Mecum Indianapolis 2010, lot S128

Values move with paperwork, originality, options, condition, venue, and body style. High bids and guide values are labeled separately from completed sales.

Reference records

Options, Colors & Components

Source-backed details for trim, chassis, production, and authenticity.

Transmission

Factory transmission M20 4-speed wide-ratio manual
Factory transmission M21 4-speed close-ratio manual with Hurst floor shift
Factory transmission M40 Turbo Hydra-Matic automatic

Options

347 / LS1 400 ci Ram Air V8 4BBL (Ram Air IV) optional · performance · Listed as available for Trans Am and not available with air conditioning.
361 / G80 Safe-T-Track differential standard · chassis · Option table marks Safe-T-Track as standard for Trans Am and required with some performance axle/transmission combinations.
368 / G90 Performance Axle required · chassis · Option table links the performance axle to Ram Air IV and Safe-T-Track requirements; exact vehicle axle code remains documentation-dependent.
464 / NK3 Formula Steering Wheel standard · interior · Listed as standard for Trans Am; source notes black-only availability.
484 / U30 Rally Gauge Cluster with Tachometer optional · interior · Available option table listing; not inferred as standard on every Ram Air IV car.

Paint

**1970 Trans Am side/front view used for spoiler, stripe, and wheel context; source caption identifies Ram Air III, not Ram Air IV proof.**Valder137 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 Commons media

10 Polar White factory · solid
26 Lucerne Blue factory · solid

Authenticity

Ram Air IV option identity Option 347 / LS1 400 ci Ram Air V8 4BBL (Ram Air IV) · Pontiac invoice/PHS-style option documentation and engine-option reference tables · fraud detection
Air-conditioning exclusion Ram Air IV option not available with air conditioning in the option reference · Factory option/invoice review and underhood A/C equipment inspection · fraud detection
Performance axle context Safe-T-Track performance axle with 3.73 ratio in the Ram Air IV Trans Am source-table context · Pontiac invoice/PHS documentation and axle stamp/date-code inspection · numbers matching
Engine/transmission proof boundary Ram Air IV engine identity, transmission choice, and drivetrain stamp/date-code agreement must be verified per individual car · Engine, transmission, and axle stamp pads plus invoice/PHS documentation · numbers matching
Pontiac V8 engine-code stamp location Pontiac 8-cylinder engine code is located beneath the engine production number on a machined pad on the right-hand bank of the engine block. · Machined pad on the right-hand bank of the Pontiac V8 engine block; compare the stamped engine production number and code with invoice/PHS documentation and date-code evidence. · numbers matching

Still Researching

rear axle reference tables support availability/ratio context, but exact axle codes and plant/date stamp locations for a specific Ram Air IV car were not verified from factory-primary records.
production The Ram Air IV subset quantity is corroborated by reference/periodical sources but not yet tied to a normalized factory production ledger in the reviewed references.
authenticity markers Factory parts-catalog coverage now resolves the Pontiac V8 engine-code stamp location, but reviewed references still do not provide enough factory-primary VIN/body-tag, transmission-stamp, axle-stamp and date-code rules for a full clone-detection guide.

Codes & names