“What’s not rusted is dented” states the ad for this 1979 Pontiac Trans Am here on Craigslist. This Trans Am is one of over 117,000 built in 1979. The Trans Am was the top model produced in 1979 out of the 1979 Firebird line. A buyer could order the base Firebird, Esprit, Formula or Trans Am. This one is located in The Woodlands, Texas just north of Houston. The seller is asking $3,900. This Trans Am has been listed for about 4 weeks.
This car left the factory with the base engine for the 1979 Trans Am which was the 403 cubic inch V8. Although it did not have the highest horsepower rating, it was a reliable engine with torque that was only produced with an automatic transmission. For a $50 credit, a buyer could order a 301 cubic inch V8 engine rated at 155 horsepower that came with a 4 speed manual or 3 speed automatic transmission. The 301 cubic inch V8 engine became the standard engine for the Trans Am in 1980 and 1981. The performance option for the Trans Am in 1979 was the W72 400 cubic inch V8 engine. It could only be ordered a Borg Warner 4 speed transmission and WS6 handling package. The W72 400 cubic inch engine produced 220 horsepower and was built with a 800 cfm 4 barrel Rochester carburetor, high capacity 60 psi oil pump, special cam, baffled oil pan, special piston rings, and 8:1 compression heads.
The interior components are either worn, faded or cracked. The Trans appears to be gold with a camel interior. The seats indicate that car was a factory deluxe interior with cloth hobnail. Factory options appear to be power locks, power steering, air conditioning and tilt steering. The wheels on the car vary on each corner from steel spare wheels to snowflake wheels to a honeycomb wheel on the back passenger side.
Based on the pictures, the seller appears to have a set of 15×7 honeycombs which were available as an option if the buyer did not choose the WS6 suspension. The WS6 suspension came with 15×8 snowflake wheels. The seller is honest in his or her description that this is an ideal donor car otherwise you will be disappointed. It is said to see a car in this condition but may be it can help another car get on the road.
The drivers rear wheel looks weird, like the rear frame is gone and the axle shifted
I noticed that too, but the front wheel looks shifted to the back. Like both wheels are too far towards the center of the car. But like everyone else I agree, parts car.
A friend of mine used to run a little hot rod shop out of his backyard shop. He would pay about 500 for firebirds and Camaros of this vintage abd use them for his builds (rear end, subframe, engine and trans). Now folks tend to use aftermarket crossmembers. I said all that to say this: the thing is too rough to restore and probably will donate parts to keep other cars alive. But not at that price.
The 79 Trans Am was my dream car back in 1979. A coworker had a black 6.6. TA with gold honeycomb wheels and t-tops and of course the gold screaming chicken. Man I drooled over that many days! But as a 19 yr old kid making $250 a week it was way out of my league
Looks like a good start for a resto mod. Looks like mostly surface rust, although a good underneath inspection would be the first place to look. The Olds motors weren’t big on hp, but we’re decent in torque, but a more modern based engine would probably be the best route. Lots of repo stuff out there, body and interior. Wouldn’t be cheap, but could still be cool.
I think I saw something like this on TV recently on Roadworthy Rescues. He took a TA that was as bad as this and turned into a Smokey and The Bandit tribute