GM had an interesting habit of making commemorative cars. From Indy 500 Camaros and Corvettes to anniversary cars, no moss grew on the marketing department. However, they often came up with cars that were quite attractive in their own right. If you don’t want to be the Bandit, but still desire a distinctive Trans Am, then take a close look at this 1979 Pontiac Trans Am 10th Anniversary Edition for sale on craigslist in Richmond, Texas. With an asking price of $38,000, do you think the rarity of a 1 of 5,683 cars special edition will make this a quick sell? Thanks to Pat L. for this not black and gold find!
Camaros and Firebirds were the preferred ride for many a car enthusiast in the seventies and eighties. These cars were some of the last holdouts of the muscle car era, and the impressively beautiful styling helped to build their popularity. They could also be built from mild to wild (for the seventies and eighties) using the long option sheet. Even today, these cars are sought after by both enthusiasts and those who want to either relive their childhood or are fans of the movies these cars starred in.
The problem was that emissions and crash standards were getting more difficult to deal with and selling performance became problematic. Pontiac’s big 6.6-liter V-8 was on the way out by 1979, and lesser engines would have to bring the car into the eighties. In true GM fashion, a special 10th anniversary edition was offered. This car had a 6.6-liter engine, with either an automatic transmission or a 4-speed manual. The automatic was paired with an Oldsmobile 403 (6.6 liters), while the 4-speed had a legitimate Pontiac 6.6. From that point, the cars were heavily optioned out and available in a silver and charcoal paint scheme and a new set of turbine style wheels. Even the “screaming chicken” on the hood was bigger.
The good news for us concerning a lot of these GM limited edition vehicles is that a majority of them ended up squirreled away as an investment. Anniversary Corvettes, 1976 Eldorado convertibles, pace cars, and anniversary editions still pop up from time to time with very low mileage on them and in spectacular shape. The Trans Am you see here seems to have suffered somewhat the same fate. While the mileage is a bit high for a stored for investment vehicle at 56,000 miles, the car looks immaculate. The silver paint appears to be flawless, and the decals are intact and not faded.
The interior does show a bit of age in the door panels. Sagging is taking place on the vinyl inserts, likely from glue deteriorating after all these years, and there is a bit of fading in the carpeted inserts below. The silver seats miraculously show almost no wear. Even the driver’s seat looks pristine. Another area that shows premature wear is a leather wrapped steering wheel, especially if it is dyed to match the interior. This one seems to be in great shape as well. It makes you wonder if the owner forced everyone in the car to use the clean room outfits you saw when they loaded astronauts on the space shuttle.
The only area of concern here is some rust in the undercarriage. This would need to be checked out thoroughly. It just seems odd that a car so well taken care of has a rough spot like this. These cars are known to have issues with rust. The question is how it happened to an obviously garaged car advertised as a California car that currently resides in Texas?
Overall, this is a stunning car and a window back to the late seventies. Cars like this were coveted and received different treatment than your run of the mill Trans Am. If the undercarriage issue can be addressed, this may still be an investment car.
Did you ever own a “special edition” car? What was it, and do you wish you still had it?
And.. the nine hundredth 1979 Trans Am for sale in the last year, comes on line. There must have been a lot of garages built, and or storage fees paid over the last 40+ years.
Yep, and it is interesting that nobody ever stopped to think that with GM pumping out these “Special” editions every four or five weeks, that the values would never reach what the “investors” hoped for.
Shame that these cars came around when they were cracking down on exhaust emissions. The Trans Am with the big block engine was pushing very close to 4000 pounds. The GM first design “pancake catalytic converter” sapped 40-50 horsepower on even the mildest engine. Like everything else GM did in the ’70s, steadily increasing curb weight while steadily reducing horsepower output.
The 403 is the big issue. Most ’79 T/As had it. They were called “Oldsmobirds” by car guys at the time. Back then, cross-division engine sourcing was new at GM. There was even a lawsuit over it. It didn’t have positive connotations, which is why the sales numbers are so surprising.
The biggest problem with the 403 is that it had a very large bore, so the cylinders were close together, causing overheating and blown head gaskets at times. The small port heads are also junk, and need to be replaced for any serious power.
It used what are called windowed main webs, meaning the main webs are hollowed out next to the crank journals, which makes them weaker, and not very well suited to high RPM use. Some people have built them up, but it really is a smog engine.
Don’t mean to be rude, but no Pontiac ever had a big block engine
This for sale post has already been deleted after 1 hour. Wonder what gives?
I had one brand-new for five years (403 Olds station-wagon motor with auto). I didn’t have a garage for it though. That was to come years later. Very nice car!
They deleted the ad because they probably got a solid offer of $32,000.00 for it. The max it’s worth giving it is over 50,000 miles. That’s my guess. Even if I had 30k to spend I wouldn’t want this one. Don’t be too surprised if it resurfaces again if the buyer chickens out, I’d think twice also.
Yeah, I don’t know what the market is going to be for these going forward. It’s not going to appeal to Millennials or Gen Zers . Boomers will apend for an earlier ’70s T/A. Maybe some Gen Xers would be into it, though I think a lot of them would wait for an example with the far superior W72 400 and 4 speed. This basically has the characteristics of a late 1970s personal luxury car. Nothing wrong with that, but there are cheaper ways to get that experience.
I have one of these with the 400/4M and T-tops, tho it is very rough and rusty and missing nose, scoop, some glass and the original wheels, I’d take $10k for it (North Alabama)
Cool. But not $30k for a 45th class reunion cool.
I just last year bought my 2nd 10th TA 403 auto for 20k with 44k miles on it. This one is priced where the 4 speed cars sell for. My 1st 10th TA which I bought new was totaled by my exes new boy friend after she stole the car from me before I could get it back.
I owned a L78/4 speed 10th Anniv T/A, bought new in May of ’79 for MSRP. Didn’t care at all about the 10th Anniversary package, but it was one of the few L78 cars still available. A fun car in the day, relatively fast and great handling on smooth roads. But usual GM build quality and issues ranging from broken seat brackets to cracked exhaust manifolds and fading paint and interior parts. I sold it after 3 years and 60k miles. No burning desire to own another one, particularly at their now elevated prices.
I agree about the build quality. 45 years of time has passed since I purchased a brand new 77 TA. That amount of time now gives me rose-colored glasses when I think back about it. I parked it on my (parents) driveway when I brought it home. Overnight, every bit of gasoline leaked out onto the driveway. Lucky no sparks/fire. So, it went back to the dealer on day #2 to get that fixed. I remember a half-dozen other problems that I had to take it back for repeated fixes over the two years that I kept it.
Bean counting aside, This thing is awesome the best looking Ta in my opinion ( black was awesome too! Sure to bad it doesn’t have an Sd or a ram air 4. I drove the 403 and it was no slouch, Sure it wouldn’t keep up to my Ls6.
For 1979 this was a great looking rig, The poncho once again puts the chevy to shame z-28( bigtime), Pontiac still did quite a bit with the big carb Pontiac 400(220 hp). And yes the 403 was less but still a great motor,the interior the big birds the comfort, This to me was the sweetest trans am, Not the most powerful, Pontiac builds Excitement!
I bought a 79 T/A brand new and it only had 2.7 miles on the OD. Mine had the
4.9 engine and was painted Platinum
with red cloth interior and red/yellow bird on the hood. I paid $7900 for it and sold it five years later for $6500.
Here is the best story about that car.
I live in KS and in 1980, I was going to OKC to the Nat’l Finals Rodeo and I had a very good looking girl that cleaned my house back then (bachelor then).
She had an older sister near Wichita and I would drop her off there for a weekend visit whenever I went to OK. On the way back from OKC, I pulled off I-35 to pick her up. I stopped at a gas station to fuel up. There were two boys about 12-14 years old that were admiring my T/A.
I told them that if you want to get girls, this is the car to buy. Paid for gas and drove into town to pick up my cleaning girl. As we headed back to I-35, I asked her if she wanted something to drink for the trip home. She did so I pulled into the same gas station and those two boys were still there. When I walked into the store with her, the looks on their faces said it all especially as I walked by them and smiled and said “Told you!”.