Time Capsule 1979 Pontiac Trans Am For Sale: Video
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The Pontiac Firebird debuted in February of 1967, five months after the Chevrolet Camaro, with which it shared its platform. Both cars were built as an answer to the Ford Mustang. The Trans Am Performance and Appearance package was introduced in March of 1969, taking its name from the Trans Am racing series. Just 689 Pontiac Trans Am hardtops and eight convertibles were built for the 1969 model year.
Ten years later, the Pontiac Trans Am had built a name and following for itself. The Trans Am 455 Super Duty had become legendary in the Malaise Era of waning horsepower. Starring as the hero car in the Smokey and the Bandit franchise did nothing but bolster Trans Am sales. The T/A was already a popular car, with 68,745 sold in 1977, but after the movie was released in ’77, sales exploded. Pontiac sold 93,351 Trans Ams in 1978 and 117,078 in 1979, when Pontiac Trans Am sales eclipsed those of the Chevy Camaro.
Our feature Pontiac Trans Am is an extremely low-mile example that has covered just 11,754 miles from new. It is mostly original, with an Oldsmobile 403 (Trans Ams were fitted with either an Olds 403 cubic-inch engine rated at 185 horsepower or a Pontiac 400 rated at 220), a Turbo-Hydramatic 350 three-speed automatic transmission. It is equipped with factory air conditioning, cruise control, power windows, Rally gauges, power steering, four-wheel disc brakes, the WS6 Performance Package, and fifteen-inch Snowflake wheels.
This Pontiac Trans Am has its original finish in Cameo White. A few of the polyurethane bits look to be a slightly darker shade, presumably due to age. Everything on the car is quite clean and free from damage. Some of the “Flaming Chicken” Firebird decals have been eliminated, creating a cleaner, more contemporary aesthetic. The Snowflake wheels are so clean, they look to have been replaced, an assumption reinforced by the second set included in the sale. The wheels wear raised white-letter Goodyear Polysteel tires that also appear new.
The interior of the Pontiac Trans Am is in quite good condition. There is no appreciable wear visible on the seat bolsters or bottoms. The dash is free of the cracking so common on these F-Body cars. The machine-turned aluminum dash trim is brilliant and just as cool as the day it was installed. All gauges are bright and crisp, with crystal clear lenses. Carpets are free from any noticeable fading. The factory AM/FM/cassette still resides in the dash. Little things often make the difference in cars of this era, and it is good to see the seatback seat belt guides are still unbroken, and the door pulls are still properly affixed, as these seemed to get broken early and easily.
The engine bay of the Pontiac Trans Am is a period-correct spaghetti pile of hoses and wires, but appears to be well-detailed. Finishes and major components all look to be factory correct. The air cleaner cover has the requisite 6.6 LITRE script in place.
This Pontiac Trans Am has been documented from new. The sale includes the original dealer order, build sheet, odometer disclosure statement, Pontiac Historic Services documentation, and an extra set of Snowflake wheels. This slick, low-mile original Pontiac Trans Am is being offered by RK Motors for $53,900.
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Did someone put the wrong springs in this? Is it just me, or does it look like it’s on stilts?
Back looks higher than I remember? Camaros and Firebirds of that era always seemed to “squat” in the back.
Olds engine = Cutlass Firebird..
Of all the cars from 79 this is the least desirable.
This was a base car here with few options and a color few liked.
Now if this is like the 10th anniversary cars that often can be found in low miles with a 400 4 speed then you might have something.
This car represents the beginning of the end. You but the heart of Pontiac by removing the 400 V8 Pontiac engine.
There was much pride for most Pontiac owners back then and the engine was part of that pride.
GM was working to pare down Pontiac. They were on a bubble due to declining. While GM tried to kill them Pontiac never gave up.
Like the RWD Bonneville was reduced to a rebadged Lemans. They went to Canada to bring in the Parisian. They kept up work on the Fiero and 3rd gen bird. Then the Grand Am sales saved them.
Hardly the beginning of the end for Pontiac. The Olds equipped T/A’s outsold the Pontiac equipped T/A’s 10 – 1. Olds actually did Pontiac a huge favor by letting them use the 403. Why, because the Pontiac 400 automatic couldn’t pass emissions.
Enthusiasts may want the four speed but the general public is fine with the automatic. To the tune of 109,000 automatics vs 8,000 four speeds sold. Plenty of speed parts available for the small block Olds 307, 350, 403.
Not entirely true. G.M. discontinued production of the Pontiac 400 at the end of the 1978 model year. Pontiac stockpiled the remainder of their W72 400 engines for use in the 10th Anniversary Trans Am models and Formula Firebirds. Due to limited availability they mandated a 4 speed manual. Also the Olds 403 was never really considered a performance engine. All of the 403 powered cars were automatics. Although I wonder why they didn’t offer the 403 in the 80-81 T/A. It would have been better than the 301.
C8.R,
No doubt sales from the Grand Am helped Pontiac but it was way more than that one model.
By the end of the 1970s, the folks running Pontiac conducted a frank assessment of where they stood and where they wanted to go. Because of government regulations that’d effectively killed the muscle car and with it Pontiac’s market niche, they rightfully determined that they’d lost their way. They’d been forced to go in a different direction and it wasn’t working. Throughout the 1970s Pontiac had adopted more of an Oldsmobile marketing strategy focusing on attainable luxury. Products like the reimagined Bonneville Brougham, launched in 1977 and clad in fender skirts exemplified their newfound positioning. The Grand Prix which had once been christened “the Tiger in a tux” had also been treated to a Brougham package. Gone was the notion that the GP gave buyers the performance of a GTO with a full dose of luxury on the side. In its place, there was only crushed velour luxury embarrassingly advertised as MPG (More Pontiac to the Gallon). The problem with Pontiac trying to be attainable luxury was that Oldsmobile was already doing it really, really well. Their Ninety Eight Regency was, after all The Thinking Man’s Luxury Car according to ads.
The good people at Pontiac knew they couldn’t win the battle with Oldsmobile for attainable luxury. Rather, they concluded they needed to recreate the Wide Track performance magic that’d made them the envy of all their peers in the 1960’s. They devised a new formula rooted in performance but this time decidedly more modern and European with an emphasis on a “feel for the road” more than outright horsepower and raw acceleration. The plan began with new alphanumerical nomenclatures and a credo that would infuse everything to wear their red Indian head logo: We Build Excitement.
Beginning with the 6000STE of 1983, the Fiero of 1984, the Grand Am of 1985 and with products like the third generation Firebird adopting a more sublime aesthetic, Pontiac was on a roll. A new Bonneville for 1987 came along that totally eschewed the Brougham-ness of the previous model in favor of subtle luxury and their newly-minted focus on handling. The big Bonnie credibly brought the Excitement formula to a full-size GM sedan. The previously garish Trans Ams found newfound dignity too with the Trans Am GTA as the Pontiac F-Body’s new range-topping model. Gone was the Sreaming Chicken, having been replaced by dashingly tasteful restraint. For 1988, the Grand Prix saw radical change as it too adopted a focus on being a drivers-car with a sleek wind tunnel-derived shape instead of button-tufted, padded top Brougham-luxury.
These years were remarkably successful for Pontiac. The division clawed their way back to the coveted Number 3 sales position behind perennial Number 1 and 2 Chevrolet and Ford. Pontiac had captured the youth market again, much as they had in the 1960s.. This time the buyers were called Yuppies and for those who didn’t flee to Asian brands, Pontiac was the clear brand of choice. Their average buyer age was the youngest in the industry for domestic brands in much of the 1980s. Throughout the period, their winning slogan remained along with its vibrant voice rendered in song and featured in pulsing advertising.
As for the Grand Am, yes, it was the core product that fueled much of that sales success. The Lansing Michigan plant that built the Grand Am originally had production allocated for1/4 Grand Am, 1/4 Buick Somerset, and 2/4ths or half of its output dedicated to the Oldsmobile Calais. Grand Am sales quickly outstripped supply while Calais models were plentiful which forced GM to realign Oldsmobile’s home plant to produce substantially more Pontiacs than Oldsmobiles; surely an embarrassment to the Lansing folks.
Ironically the success of the We Build Excitement era mortally wounded Oldsmobile which had previously held the Number 3 sales position nationally and Number 2 within GM. They never recovered from the assault from the rebels who, as you know, turned a commuter car into a sports car and made a fine driving European drivers sedan (the STE) out of a standard fare GM A-Body.
So, it wasn’t just the Grand Am, it was everything that Pontiac did in the eighties that turned them around and set the brand on fire. Grand Am was the volume leader but their was a lot of P-Car luster that helped sell Grand Ams and that well-focused Excitement tagline, and, of course, those energetic “Get on your Pontiac and ride” ads it was all of that.
I see errors in my comment above. Every time, I try to edit, my words are deleted and categorized as spam so I won’t try to fix anything but I do know the difference between their and there. I’m missing a comma and a period too. I wish I could reliably edit!
I think a lot of Pontiac’s problems began with the Malaise era. Pontiac had too many mid size models. The new Grand Am in 73 and the Super Duty debacle put the final nail in the GTO’s coffin. The Grand Am was apparently viewed as the replacement for the GTO. It wasn’t the sales success they’d hoped for. I’d guess if not for the Smokey and the Bandit fueled explosion of the Trans Am, Pontiac would have been gone in the early 80s. The Grand Prix was GM’s premium mid size car from 69-75. A downturn in the economy in 75 and the introduction of the ridiculously priced model LJ caused Grand Prix sales to slump. Then in 76 they lowered the price and cut options and sales did improve. 77 was the Grand Prix sales record year and 79 was the sales record for the Firebird. I think those 2 kept Pontiac going until the rebirth of the Grand Am kept them going in the 90s. After that, there was no real reason for Pontiac to exist. Especially when G.M. cancelled the F body. I think we all knew it was over when all their models were G number.
Yes I agree. The 400-4speed make the car highly desirable. The asking price is way too high for a 403!
The 403 is hardly undesirable. I would say the 301 was not very desirable as it was also available on the 79 TA. Ther 400/4 speed was the best of the bunch but a 403 could be pepped up quite a bit too with some help from Mondello and some simple tuning.
The problem was people loved Pontiac and most bought them for Pontiac engines just as Chevy buyers for small blocks and Olds for their engines.
The engines in these cars back in the 60’s were the heart of these cars and models were more than just different styling.
While the 301 was not popular it at least was a Pontiac.
Corporate engine were a major reason Olds and Pontiac died. It also has not helped Cadillac.
It takes a brave person to build Olds as they are not easy to find parts for or cheap. My buddy has a built 455 and a lot of money in it.
Say what yo will, but I sure seen a lot of these on the street.
Wow! under 12,000 miles. I doubt there are more than a half dozen T/As out there with that low miles in this condition! Price is steep, but I understand with these miles. I’ve seen 100,000 mile cars for 30-40k, most in worse condition.
gorgeous car!
always a fan
Never liked these Firebirds. Neither did James Garner. When doing the Rockford Files they received new Firebirds every year from Pontiac. When he saw the 79 models he opted to keep using the 78s. Olds 403? That’s for your grandmother’s 98 Regency!