Pontiac Trans Am Kammback Concept At Auction

January 18, 2019 by Dan Vaughan

At the 2019 Mecum Kissimmee Auction, this 1985 Pontiac Kammback Concept Experimental Prototype was offered to the room of eager bidders. This car is a one-off built to study and promote a GM Design concept with roots going back to the original Nomad Motorama show car. The car also served as a test mule and demonstrator. The car was extensively optioned, incorporating the 5.0L H.O. V-8 engine, 5-speed manual transmission, factory air conditioning, power steering and power brakes, power windows and door locks, cruise control, padded Formula steering wheel on a tilt column, AM/FM stereo cassette, Trans Am painted spoked wheels and, of course, glass T-tops.

EX4796 served duty as a pace vehicle for the 1985 PPG and IMSA race series equipped with a light bar and two-way communications equipment. Like previous Kammback prototypes, the concept was dropped from consideration after 1985, and the car was retired to the Pontiac Engineering Collection, remaining there for 13 years.

Avoiding the fate of most experimental vehicles, EX4796 was rescued from the crusher when Detroit-area Pontiac dealer and collector John McMullen was able to purchase it from Pontiac for his private collection. In 2007, it was sold to the John O'Quinn Collection.

Recent appearances include an invitation to the 2015 Concours d'Elegance of America at St. John's and in a special lobby display at the November 2015 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Chicago.

From the data we have, the car was sold at the 2010 RM Auctions - Automobiles of Amelia Island sale where it sold for $35,200. In 2017, at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, it sold for $44,000. At Mecum's Kissimmee Auction, it found a willing buyer for the sum of $40,700 (inclusive of buyer's premium).