1988 Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am: The GTA at Full Strength

GTA output in 1988 was 11,218 worldwide by the option-printout transcription, this record's own overview states, 7,779 of them with the 5.7 L98 and automatic, while the 1,037 manual GTAs all carried the LB9 305, the key fact this record leads with. This record's own key facts add that of the 11,218 worldwide total, 1,261 were released for Canada and 192 exported, and MuscleCarClub's separately scoped model rows put the GTA count at 11,214, four fewer than the printout, a gap this record's own production note records without reconciling.^1,2

MuscleCarClub's model rows split 62,455 total Firebirds into 28,973 base cars, 13,475 Formulas, 8,793 Trans Ams and 11,214 GTAs, and this record's own production notes are explicit that the GTA printout rows are worldwide and count code installations rather than cross-tabulating with those model rows. Within the GTA population specifically, 3,439 carried the LB9 5.0 TPI against 7,779 with the L98 5.7 TPI automatic-only, and by transmission 10,181 were automatic against 1,037 five-speed manual, every manual GTA that year built with the smaller LB9 rather than the L98.^2,1

This record documents four 1988-dated base prices, all manufacturer suggested retail including a $414 destination charge: $11,413 for the base Firebird, $12,413 for the Formula, $14,413 for the Trans Am, and $19,713 for the GTA, each exactly $1,000 or more above the one before it in a run of prices this record's own price section carries without further commentary. Three engines are documented: the L98 5.7 TPI at 225 hp and 330 lb-ft, the LB9 5.0 TPI at 215 hp and 295 lb-ft, and the L03 5.0 TBI at 150 hp, spanning Firebird, Formula and Trans Am availability as this record's own engine table states.²

This record's own unpublished leads section holds one figure explicitly not used: a Wikipedia claim that 718 GTA notchback coupes were built in 1988, alongside a 9,765 US plus 1,261 Canadian GTA split. The lead notes that the Canadian 1,261 figure matches this record's own XO5 printout row exactly, but that the notchback count itself has no readable source, so the claim is held out rather than folded into the production table.¹

Paint on 1988 GTAs ran from 1,036 in Medium Gray through 2,265 White, 2,274 Bright Red, 2,489 Black and 3,154 Flame Red Metallic, the most common shade that year, five colors in all. This record's own interior table carries six trim combinations across cloth and leather, from 632 Black leather and 970 Medium Gray leather up through 3,384 Camel cloth, the most common trim, with 1,469 Black cloth, 1,540 Camel leather and 3,223 Medium Gray cloth filling out the remaining rows.¹

What the record documents in full is the GTA at full strength: four model lines resolving to a 62,455-car Firebird total and an 11,218-car worldwide GTA count, three engines with every manual GTA built on the smaller LB9 rather than the L98, five paint colors and six interior trims, and a four-car gap between the printout and MuscleCarClub's GTA totals that this record keeps visible rather than silently resolved.¹