Motorcar Classics Add Jalopnik on Google: Google Discover You probably know about the Buick Grand National, especially after it reentered the cultural spotlight a couple of years ago. But there's another, closely related muscle car that might even be better to drive, and you can get one without the GNX markup. For sale at Motorcar Classics is a 1989 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, specifically a 20th Anniversary Edition. This means it's powered by a version of the same 3.8-liter turbocharged V6 as that Buick. Like the GNX, this car was also a limited-run deal although not to the same degree. Pontiac made 1,500 of these Trans Ams, versus the 547 Buick GNX coupes. The one for sale looks clean as hell — not surprising consider it has fewer than 30,000 miles on the clock — and the seller is asking $39,900 for it. For reference, this car started at $30,717, but of course, those are 1989 dollars. Adjusted for inflation, that's almost $70,000. So if you look at it that way, that asking price is still quite a discount assuming there are no big, hidden issues. Reasonably-priced pace car Motorcar Classics In a period Car and Driver review, the 20th Anniversary Trans Am covered the quarter mile in 13.4 seconds at 101 mph, going from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.6 seconds. At the time, that was the quickest 0-to-60 run of any new American production car — yes, even quicker than the Corvette of the era. The big sticker on the side never lets anybody forget the car's other big claim to fame: it served as the pace car for the Indy 500 in 1989. C/D praised this car for packing the high-po Buick Regal's nutty-for-the-time turbo V6 in a more purposeful platform. It was able to hit 153 mph, and manufacturer-quoted output was 250 horsepower and 340 pound-feet of torque, but the outlet theorized that GM was underrating things. Motorcar Classics Ever since the Camaro was discontinued, the General no longer makes this sort of vehicle, but Ford does. And if you take that same $39,900 to a Ford dealer, the Premium EcoBoost Mustang you'd be able to get actually puts down similar straight-line performance, getting from 0 to 60 mph in about 4.5 seconds. No, the Pontiac won't have Apple CarPlay, but it'll definitely be a lot more interesting pulling up to cars and coffee.