A 2015 Chevrolet Camaro rebuilt by Trans Am Depot as a Pontiac Trans Am Bandit Edition is heading to Mecum Auctions next month, complete with a supercharged 7.4-liter V8 producing 840 hp, a Burt Reynolds signature on the dashboard, and the Screaming Chicken graphic across the hood. Only 77 of these Bandit Edition builds were produced a decade ago. This is one of them.
The mechanical story is simple: fifth-gen Camaro bones, LSX-based supercharged V8, six-speed manual, and enough bolt-on body and chassis work to land at 840 hp at the crank. The visual story is where Trans Am Depot earned its reputation. A new front bumper with gold headlight surrounds and a split grille, an all-new hood bearing the Screaming Chicken, gold pinstripes over black paint, T-top panels that remove, silver-and-gold spoke wheels, custom taillights, and Trans Am logos on the doors. The dashboard signature from the late Burt Reynolds is the collector value the other 76 Bandit Editions don't have.
The Pontiac Chevy Never Built
Chevrolet could have revived the Trans Am when it brought back the Camaro in 2009. It didn't. Pontiac was dead, the rights were complicated, and GM had no appetite for paying licensing or restoring sub-brands it had spent years consolidating. Trans Am Depot in Tallahassee, Florida, picked up the visual language instead and started doing what Chevrolet wouldn't: selling a modern Pontiac Trans Am to the small pool of buyers who still wanted one.
Seventy-seven units is not a high-volume business. At roughly 100,000 USD build cost a decade ago, that is 7.7 million USD of coachbuild over the life of the program. The margin on a project like this lives on the labor, not the parts, and Trans Am Depot's business has always been a labor-intensive shop. A decade later, these cars are trading at auction in the 80,000 to 120,000 USD range depending on miles, provenance, and, apparently, whether Burt Reynolds signed the dashboard.
What Mecum Will Sell
Specs on the specific lot heading to Mecum next month: 840 hp supercharged 7.4-liter V8, T-top roof, removable panels, Screaming Chicken hood, gold-and-silver wheels, full Trans Am Depot Bandit body kit, Reynolds signature on the dash, upgraded brakes, custom taillights, new exhaust tips. It is every period-correct Bandit detail Trans Am Depot offered plus the celebrity provenance.
Mecum has not disclosed a reserve. Comparable Bandit Edition cars without the Reynolds signature have crossed the block in the 85,000 to 110,000 USD range over the past eighteen months. Expect this lot to clear 120,000 USD given the signed dashboard and the diminishing supply of these 77-unit builds. The auction date is next month in the Mecum spring calendar.