I recently bought a very clean 86 trans am and I've been doing a little research on the car and I think its a GTA because I think it has the engine, but it has the rims and golden firebird on the back of the car but all the pontiac emblems had been removed from the car. Can sombody tell me how to know what series car this really is?

 

All you need to know.

http://www.gtasourcepage.com/newauthentication.html

Thank Frankie lol.

 

But I just woke up and saw your car is an 86. If you are correct about it being an 86, there is no way possible for it to be a real GTA. 1987 was the very first year for the GTA

 

Its just a well optioned Trans Am, like BigBadGTA said, no GTA till 87. If the wheels you are refering to are the crosslace style and are factory it would be a well optioned Trans Am. In 1986 the only way to get the diamond spoke aluminum wheels in 16"s was to order a Trans Am with WS6, A/C, Ttops, and the LB9 (5.0 HO TPI). So no GTA, but still a loaded 86' T/A.