One Of Just 718: This 44K-Mile 1988 Trans Am GTA Notchback Is The Rarest Third-Gen Firebird You Can BuyMotoriousElizabeth PuckettFri, September 18, 2026 at 9:30 PM UTCAdd us on GoogleOne Of Just 718: This 44K-Mile 1988 Trans Am GTA Notchback Is The Rarest Third-Gen Firebird You Can BuyThere are third-generation Firebirds, and then there are third-generation Firebirds. This 44,100-mile 1988 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am GTA, now taking bids on Hagerty Marketplace, is emphatically the latter: it wears the one-year-only AA8 Notchback Roof, an option Pontiac fitted to just 718 cars before quietly walking away from it forever.The Notchback is one of the great footnotes in F-Body history. For 1988 only, GTA buyers could delete the familiar glass hatch in favor of a fixed rear window and a conventional trunk, a conversion engineered and installed by outside contractor Cars & Concepts. The result gave the third-gen Firebird a tauter, more formal roofline that looked closer to a European sport coupe than a T-top boulevard cruiser, and it remains the single rarest way to park a GTA in your garage.A Proper GTA UnderneathRarity alone would be enough, but this one is specified the way you would want it. Power comes from the 5.7-liter Tuned Port Injection V8, the top engine in the Firebird catalog for 1988, backed by a four-speed automatic and four-wheel disc brakes. It left the factory with the WS6 Special Performance Package and its upgraded steering and suspension hardware, the aero package and rear deck spoiler, and the GTA's signature gold diamond-spoke wheels. The Y84 package piled on a limited-slip differential, engine oil cooler, rear defogger and tilt steering wheel.AdvertisementAdvertisementInside, the gray leather and cloth cabin is pure late-'80s Pontiac in the best way: articulating four-way manual buckets, rally gauges with a tachometer, a Delco AM/FM stereo with an equalizer and steering wheel controls, power windows and locks, and fog lamps up front.Low Miles And A Paper TrailDelivered new through a dealer in Mansfield, Massachusetts, the car has since lived in Massachusetts, Georgia and now Casa Grande, Arizona, with a clean CARFAX report and a clean Arizona title in the seller's name. The odometer reads roughly 44,100 miles, which works out to well under 1,200 miles a year across nearly four decades.Recent care is the kind buyers like to see: a paint correction and ceramic coating in June 2026, and Falken tires with 2025 date codes. A cold-air intake and cat-back exhaust have been fitted, and the removed factory pieces come along with the car, so returning it to stock is a weekend job rather than a scavenger hunt. The sale also includes the original window sticker, manufacturer's literature, a front license plate bracket and an Ezy Shade car cover still in the box.The seller is refreshingly upfront about the flaws, noting assorted paint chips and wear on interior surfaces, all of it photographed in a gallery that runs to 112 images and eight videos. That is the kind of transparency you do not always get with a car this scarce.AdvertisementAdvertisementHere is the part that should get your attention. As of this writing the high bid sits at $8,000 after 20 bids, with the auction scheduled to end Monday, September 21 at 2:35 p.m. EDT. Clean third-gen Trans Ams have been climbing steadily as Gen X buyers chase the posters that hung on their bedroom walls, and the Notchback is the version collectors argue about. Low miles, the right options, real documentation and a roofline only 717 other people ever got is a combination that does not come around often, and right now this one is still wearing a four-figure number.Images courtesy of Hagerty Marketplace.⚡️ Read the full article on MotoriousSign up for the Motorious Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
