With the horsepower ratings that some new cars come with nowadays, it’s hard to believe that in 1979 anything over 200 horses was considered a lot of power. But the popularity of muscle cars had declined by this time, thanks partly to federal regulations, insurance premiums, and the oil embargo. Pontiac soldiered through this era better than most, and in 1979 Firebird sales reached a new high with over 211,000 units produced. Although over half of these cars were Trans Am models, those equipped with the 400 are few and far between, and if you’ve been in the market for a late second-generation F-Body this 1979 Pontiac Trans Am 400/4-Speed might be a good car for you. Located in Cocoa, Florida, it can be spotted here on eBay with a current bid of $46,900.
The seller says his Trans Am is believed to be a four-owner car and describes it as an unmolested survivor. Manufactured at the Van Nuys, California GM plant, the odometer shows an original 78,000 miles, and the car is said to be in great condition to be 40 plus years old. The color is Starlight Black with gold Special Edition trim, and it is believed the T/A has been repainted one time at some point in the past. It’s stated to have the minor paint blemishes that would be expected but is a great driver-quality vehicle.
Under the hood rests a 400 cubic inch 4-Barrel V8, which was rated at 220 horsepower, although many enthusiasts believe this is a low estimate. Only 1,107 Special Edition Trans Ams were equipped with the 400 in ’79, so this is a pretty rare and in-demand example. The car also has a 4-Speed manual transmission, and given the Z-Bar adjustment, the seller thinks it may still have its original clutch. The T/A is said to start, run, drive, shift, and stop just fine.
Things inside are presenting nicely as well, and while the car is currently sporting a Hurst shifter, the original shifter with gold is going to be re-installed. A new headliner is in place up above, and there’s slight wind noise around the T-Tops, although there is no rattling and the owner says the car seems more rigid than other T-Top cars he has driven in the past. The car also has factory A/C, 4-wheel discs, power steering, power brakes, and a dealer undercoating.
This Trans Am seems to tick all the right boxes and is well documented, including the build sheet, window sticker, and Pontiac Historic Services documentation. The seller also states that, in his opinion, the car does not need restoration and it’s often worth more to know what hasn’t been touched. What are your thoughts on this 1979 Pontiac Trans Am SE 400?
Strong setup for 1979 who offered better ? 320ft/lb 3.23 gearset and 4spd. Very cool Pontiac here.
Weren’t the Trans Am’s powered by the Olds 403 and not a Pontiac 400? If this is a 6.6 as it appears on the hood, then its Olds-powered.
The TA 6.6 was the Pontiac 400/4 sp. The 6.6 Litre was the Olds 403/auto.
100% correct Tim. Pontiac used up the leftover T/A 400’s from’78, and once they were gone, they were gone.
Very common for owners to put “T/A 6.6” decals on the shaker. Probably adds to a lot of confusion
Almost correct….ALL 403’s were 6.6 litre….most LOW power 400’s were also 6.6 Litre. The high HP 400’s were 6.6 T/A.
Most of the 6.6 Liter Pontiac Trans Ams in 1979 were powered by the Oldsmobile 403 Cubic Inch. But, a limited number of those Trans Am copies got the Pontiac – T.A. 6.6 Liter, 400 Cubic Inch engine with 220 Horsepower. Basically, Pontiac was closing out their inventory of 400 Cubic Inch engines in 1979 as the Trans Am would move to the Chevrolet 5.0 Liter, 305 Cubic Inch engine in 1980 (the so-called Corporate Engine).
If it is a legit L72 stick car, this price will go north of 50 large. Plenty of duplicate photos and totally useless description. If I were a buyer, I would want this thing on a lift. Florida cars rot, oh do they rot. Been there, done that.
I just looked at the ad on eBay and the current bid is $40,200?? If you were around when these cars were new it’s hard to wrap your brain around the prices they’re selling for now!
Most of them got the snot beaten out of them.
There weren’t many cars on the road that were cooler than a black and gold T/A!
I don’t understand why they got rid of the gothic lettering for ’79 SE’s & later.
IMO, the 2 bandit sequel movies are unwatchable.
Always thought the gold inside SE’s clashed with the chrome elsewhere – pedal dressup & other chrome trim.
Hood scoop still ain’t open?!
The 400/ 4speed was not offered in California. We got the 403/ automatic. But once a car had a certain number of miles a 400/ 4 speed could be resold here. I was fortunate to test drive one and I was sold on both the straight line performance as well as the handling. Unfortunately the dealer and I could not come to agreement on my trade in value.
Nice example. All the boxes are checked on this Trans Am.
W-72 engine with 4 speed, WS-6 4 wheel disc breaks, with 15×8 Snowflake wheels, Starlite Black with Fisher T-Tops.
Doesn’t get any better than this for 1979.
post high school, while attending a local EE tech school, I worked days at a NAPA franchise owned by a guy with two stores, and did pick ups at the warehouse and deliveries too. Met a girl at the warehouse pick up counter who’s dad owned another store also local. She had this exact car, with the 400/4speed black and gold.
Way back in 1984 I bought a ’79 gold / tan interior version of this car for my fiance, ws6, 4speed. 26K miles for $6100. Drove it to Martha’s Vineyard on our honeymoon. Box stock it ran 16.1 sec at 88 mph at Island Dragway. Her grandfather had a 70’s Jag V12 e-type which I could out-corner but couldn’t keep him behind me on the straights.I did some performance mods, but never got a rematch as my 18 year old BIL spun out the “tail-happy when wet suspension” and destroyed the car. Replaced it with a Mitsubishi Eclipse. Sad.
Cool story But a 79 WS6 W72 400 4 spd T/A Was faster than that > Hot Rod Magazine got a 14.6 @ 96 mph out of a low option no AC one bone stock > also there was a stock 78 WS6 W72 400 4 spd T/A running 14.7’s at our local track back in the day :)
Bought this car New in 79. Mine was navy blue metallic. It ran like a beast.
Sadly I sold it in 83. Wish I had it now
Did not sell. Apparently a high bid of $19,790.
I’ve seen many of them run faster than mine. The car I had was optioned with A/C, power windows, ect. My car did the 16.1 sec breathing through the restrictive air duct under the hood.After I had opened up the hood scoop, replaced the catalytic converter with a straight pipe, put richer secondary rods in the Quadrajet and put lighter advance springs in the distributor, the car was considerably faster. For about 50 bucks back then, big improvement, probably a full second quicker in the 1/4, but my 18 year old BIL spun it and wrecked it before I could back to the dragstrip.
not the same, but similar, I had a 76 Grand Prix with a 400/automatic and unfortunately it was wrecked out from under my girlfriend driving by a kid illegally driving his grandfathers clapped out s10. the only thing I did at the time was install the distributor spring kit, which seemed to wake it up.
I had big plans for it, dual exhaust etc etc, but it was killed that night after the kid spun us out into a jersey wall and then a guy in a truck paid no attention and rammed us after we had been sitting backwards for a few minutes :-(
the kid/family had no insurance, I got way less than enough to replace it unfortunately
It was a sweet car too, with silver lower paint and charcoal on the hood/trunk sections separated by a red pinstripe and red interior
It don’t make that much difference not a full second.
TA 6.6 4sp rated 15.2
TA Olds 403 auto 15.9
From the factory