Pontiac started offering Trans Ams in various shades of brown starting in 1977. My favorite is 1978 which was called Chesterfield Brown and almost looks copper. It has some metallic flake in the paint. In 1979, Pontiac offered Code 69 Heritage Brown which also looks good. This car is offered here on Facebook Marketplace for $25,000. The Trans Am is located in Little Elm, Texas which is north of Dallas. The car has the base engine and automatic transmission and reports an odometer reading of 59,000 miles. The car has only been listed for 2 days.
Under the hood, this Trans Am looks pretty clean. As mentioned, the car is equipped with the base engine for the Trans Am in 1979 which was the L80 Oldsmobile 403 cubic inch V8. This is the only engine available for California Trans Ams, due to emissions laws, and was rated at 185 horsepower and 315 lb ft of torque. It could only be matched with a Turbo 350 automatic transmission. In the other states, buyers could also choose the L37 Pontiac 301 V8 (150 horsepower, 4-barrel carburetor, automatic or 4-speed manual) or the W72 Pontiac 400 V8 (220 horsepower, 4-speed manual only).
The seller states that this car runs and drives very nicely. It has been well maintained over the years and garage kept. The paint is said to be a 9 out of 10. The top part of the engine has been rebuilt about 5 years ago and the Rochester Quadrajet carburetor was rebuilt 3 years ago. This Trans Am looks to be well optioned with a deluxe interior, power windows and air conditioning. The car appears to have an aftermarket steering wheel and an CB radio.
The interior looks clean and even the seat belts looks nice. The deluxe interior came with upgraded seats and door panels. The 62N1 camel tan vinyl interior shows well and I don’t see any cracks in the dash or sun damage elsewhere. The ad could use a few more pics as well as pics of the undercarriage. This Trans Am is riding on factory 15×8 aluminum wheels which came with the WS6 Special Performance Handling Package. A total of 117,108 Trans Ams were produced in 1979 with the Oldsmobile 403 cubic inch V8 power train accounting for 94.773 of total production.
DOH!…that steering wheel.
Brown, No T-Tops, Olds Engine, That Steering Wheel and you have a not very special at (One of almost 120,000 produced in 1979) all 1979 Trans Am that like most everything else these days is OVERPRICED!
I actually like the color OK. I’d rather have something different than another Bandit clone, and the gold wheels and bird go well with this shade of brown. I know T-tops are a love ’em or hate ’em deal, and I love them, so their absence is one strike. I am an Olds guy, so the 403 Olds is not terrible – there are some things that can be done to spice it up. I agree the absence of the formula steering wheel is disappointing. Someone must have offered the right amount of money to buy it, but aftermarket versions are now available, so that is not a huge issue. My biggest concern would be the mileage. The numbers not being properly aligned is an indication of possible rollover, or worse, roll back. The car looks to be in good shape, and the claim of under 60k miles might be believable, but I would need a close up inspection before I would consider this car at any price (but I think the asking price is high even if the mileage is accurate.)
I like everything except whatever that thing is sticking out of the front of that hood. What is that ? Anybody ?
I think you may be seeing a reflection of a garage door opener in the pic inside the garage ?