Pontiac celebrated the 10th year of the Trans Am with a special model known to Pontiac enthusiasts as the TATA. That stands for Tenth Anniversary Trans Am. 7,500 TATA’s were built in 1979 with 1,817 being built with the W72 Pontiac 400 engine with a 4 speed manual transmission and 5,683 being built with the L80 Oldsmobile 403 cubic inch V8 with an automatic transmission. This example is the latter is located in Laguna Beach, California. It is listed here on a classic car dealership site. The dealer is asking $39,995 and claims that the car has only 63,822 miles.
The interior of this Tenth Anniversary Trans Am sure looks to be low mileage. The seats are covered in leather from the factory using the same material used on the 1978 Corvette Indy 500 Pace Car. ALl Tenth Anniversary Trans Am were loaded with options including T-Tops, air conditioning, power windows, cruise control, tilt steering and WS6 performance suspension. The dash glowed red at night on the Pontiac Tenth Anniversary Trans Am due to colored backing in the instruments. This car also as the original AM/FM 8 track with power antennas and the original space saver tire in the trunk.
The base engine for 1979 was the L80 403 cubic inch V8 that came with an automatic transmission which is what this car is equipped with from the factory. A buyer could also order a 301 cubic inch V8 engine rated at 155 horsepower that came with a 4 speed or automatic transmission but not in the Tenth Anniversary Trans Am. The high performance engine option that year was the L78 W72 400 cubic inch V8 engine that was manufactured in 1977 and stockpiled for installation in 1977-1979 Trans Ams. The W72 400 cubic inch V8 came with a Borg Warner T-10 4 speed manual transmission, 3.23 rear gears, WS6 suspension and dual turbo mufflers.
Pontiac produced over 117,000 Trans Ams in 1979 out of 211,000 Firebirds that left the factory. Notice the larger than normal hood bird that reached on to the fenders that acted as a divider between the silver and two tone charcoal roof. The Tenth Anniversary Trans Am also came with special “turbine” wheels which would be used on the 1980-81 Turbo Trans Am. This is the first year that the WS6 suspension came with 4 wheel disc brakes. While low production and a special model, I think this one might be a little over priced for the condition. The price new for a Tenth Anniversary Trans Am was $10,362!
Nice looking T/A 👌 😎
I never knew the 1979 Tenth Anniversary Trans Am had the same silver leather in the interior as the 1978 Corvette Pace Car. Where did that info come from? I tried searching but couldn’t find anything.
I was fortunate enough to own both: 1978 Indy Pace car Corvette L-82 automatic and a 1979 10th Anniversary Trans Am W-72 4-speed. They did in fact have same silver leather interiors. The Trans Am was by far more stylish due to unique Trans Am screaming eagle emblems embroidered into door panels and center of rear seat. No other T/A had them at the time. The 1980 Turbo T/A Pace Car again had embroidered logos on doors and rear seat in colors complementing its white color scheme.
Yea this car is an automotive Tuxedo! Pontiac Always a little sharper than the Chevrolet. Love the big birds , up close it is something special, the dash was always super impressive to me .
I had a brand new 403 car for a week while a good friend was on vacation, no it wasn’t the 400, but it was a good motor, I don’t think it deserves the bad rap it gets, weren’t they put into wagons with success as well, it was much better than the 305 4 speed z28.
Wow!Great looking and overpriced…
$40,000? “ta-ta”!
I had its Z-28 counterpart. Bought it new. Chevy’s came with the 350 4-barrel carb., 3-speed automatic trans Paid 10, 200 for it seem these upwards mid 20s to low 30s today. These models bring back the sportiness of these cars then. Cant see myself paying upwards of 30g just for a trip down memory lane.