My name is Brad. I owned a 2000 Black Automatic TA for 15 years. On Nov 26, 2014 at approximately 4:18PM ET, I traded my TA in for a 2015 GMC Sierra 4x4 in Aiken, SC. As I was getting my new truck I took a picture with my Black Bird one last time. I never took a picture of myself with my new truck. That should tell you all you need to know. It was a dark day.

It didn't take long before I started looking to correct the mistake I made with my seller's remorse. I have been wanting a Red 2002 WS6 with low miles for a few years now. I found one in Washington I liked but doing a background check on it, I found out it lived most of its life in South Korea. I didn't want to chance a car with inaccurate Carfax. I continued to look.

A month or so ago, I found a car in Calhoun, GA I liked (33K miles but not a WS6). I live in Augusta, GA and this is 3 hours from my house. I continued to watch the car online thinking I should call about it. Most of my money was in a bank that I use for online banking and we lack a local branch in Augusta. After a couple of weeks I went ahead and wired what I was willing to pay to my local bank. I then called about the car. Come to find out, the used car dealership was just listing the car for a friend and ex-owner of the dealership.

I texted him and he called me. I likely would have never called him. I don't like talking on phones and I even more so dislike spending money. Well, I am glad he called me. I told him how much money I wired and he agreed to take it and hold the car until I could get up there. Within about 36 hours I drive up to Calhoun to check out the car with cash in hand. I was getting close to his house but Google Maps was struggling. I called him and said, "I just passed two Zebras..." - He said, "you are close, just go over the bridge and I am to the right.... " Only in Calhoun Georgia can you use two REAL Zebras as landmarks!

It was a cold day in North Georgia (two weeks ago today). He owned his massive custom garage and there she sat. She was a beautiful red. He said the car was in great shape and he was not kidding. The seats were flawless, the paint was great. There were no dings anywhere to be found. Likewise, the top of the car had already had the paint bubbles repaired or it never happened on this car. The doors lacked the typical cracks and the dash was flawless.

He popped the hood and the underneath was like it was on the showroom floor. He said the car was stock - or close to it other than the exhaust, but I noticed it had the SLP intake. He started it up and it growled like my 2000 never did. There is some stainless exhaust on it. I don't know exactly what it is. I am NOT a car guy per say. I am a computer engineer that just loves TAs.

Needless to say, I have woken up the past two weeks with a Red TA sitting in my garage.

The only thing I have done to it so far is replace all the speakers except the door ones. They were all blown. I am scared to take the doors apart as I don't want to crack the plastic.

I am thinking of replacing the head unit with something modern - that can take a rear view camera. I just like the cars classic look too and don't want to ruin that. I work from home and drive my truck as my daily driver - so this one will be only taken out for joy rides. It will never see rain and it won't be parked outside for long.

My son is 12 and it took me a week to get him to go for a ride in it. "It is just a car and I don't like riding anywhere..." As we left our neighborhood he had a smile on his face. The next morning as I was leaving to get donuts, he was in my car before I got in the garage. I didn't even invite him He now looks at the car in the garage and says, " We haven't taken the Trans AM out in a while...." Um.. Yes I have, you were just at school or baseball practice (he plays middle school baseball).


Also, I apologize in advance for any dumb questions I might ask going forward.

Thanks for reading..

 

Welcome Brad! Cool story sir. The Zebras in Calhoun, that’s funny. There’s a farm not far from me here in Dawsonville that has Zonkeys...half Zebra, half donkey. They look just like Zebras, only have a slightly lighter colored stripe...dark, dark grey instead of actual black.