Known by Pontiac collectors as the TATA, this 1979 Pontiac Trans Am Tenth Anniversary edition car looks all original and has only 10,299 miles. The car can be seen here on eBay with a bid price of just over $30,000. As you can see by the backdrop, this car is located in the desert city known as Scottsdale, Arizona. The car looks very clean and authentic. The build date for the car was April 27, 1979, which is pretty late in production. The 1979 TATA was used as the pace car in the 1979 Daytona 500. The seller states that the car has no rust and little wear.
There are many special features on the TATA including the stunning silver interior with shag carpet. The interior on this car looks immaculate with the exception of a blemish on the driver’s side of the console. Tenth anniversary cars were delivered fully loaded with T-tops, air conditioning, power windows, electronic radio and tilt. Automatic cars were equipped with the 403 cubic inch Oldsmobile V8 engine and came with cruise control. The cars with 4 speed Borg Warner T-10 manual transmissions came with the famous W72 Pontiac 400 cubic inch V8 engine but were prohibited to have cruise control in 1979.
The 403 cubic inch Oldsmobile V8 engine was installed in 5,683 tenth anniversary models and was the only engine option available in California. Besides peeking inside the car to see if its an automatic, the 403 cubic inch Oldsmobile V8 engine in Trans Ams can be quickly identified under the hood by locating the oil spout which is mounted on the front of the engine. The more powerful 400 cubic inch Pontiac V8 engine was installed in only 1,817 cars and produced a conservatively rated 220 horsepower. All TATAs had a special hood bird that stretched onto the front fenders and charcoal and silver paint. Each car was equipped with WS6 suspension that included 4 wheel disc brakes and “turbo wheels” which would be used on 1980-1981 Trans Ams.
With the 18 bids, this car is already over $30,000 with 6 days left in the auction. I recently looked at a 40k mile TATA that was similar to this with an asking price of $18,000, but it needed some details attended to. Having owned several W72 400 4 speed Trans Ams, I was surprised how much torque the Oldsmobile engine had. The seller states that this car has been meticulously maintained and is ready to be driven, even though it has been stored much of its life. Are you a fan of this rare bird?
Hmm 🤔 if only a place to sell high dollar cars were near this place 😎
Its a great color and ride 👍
https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Home/Scottsdale-2020/d114c99a-0e71-46b2-8cde-20a53c127270
It’s overstyled and underpowered and I’ve heard the build quality isn’t the best, but this car is near the top of my bucket list. It ranks right up there with the ’57 Thunderbird and the ’66 Riviera.
Unfortunately my car collection is currently limited to one
The Pontiac 400’s had “T/A 6.6 on the air intake,the Old’s 403 had 6.6 Litre. That is the quickest way to tell what lurk’s beneath the hood. Nice car, but mine would have to be the Poncho motor.
I say best to have both, one for when you are feeling sporty and another for when you just want to cruise! :-)
A 4spd is also the tell tale sign of the more desirable poncho powerplant.
Only the anniversary hood bird extended onto the fenders.
Excessive, yes. but what else would a 70’s Trans Am be?
It seems the market is cooling on T/A’s…sellers know this, and the market is currently flooded with them. A 60k mile TATA just sold (no reserve) at Mecum Kissimee in the low teens. Pics looked good…
Was it auto or manual?
My aspirational H.S. graduation gift still has some appeal. But I really want to know if that is a Rick Joy design house?
Over $30k and no photos of driver’s seat cushion, driver’s door panel, rear seat area, carpets? For that price you also get a chunk out of the center console!
Maybe bought at one of the local auctions last week and is now being flipped?
Not a bad idea.
Terrible 403 motor, joke at the cruise night, PONCHO bragging rites over, who wants to drive a T/A with a Toronado motor in it, brand recognition died, all junk
I would want “to drive a T/A with a Toronado motor in it.” My family had one with a 403 that we still miss. Joke at the cruse night? I doubt it. Probably get more eyeballs than that row of red Chevelles or Mustangs.
I agree TimS. I’ve owned a number of 403 TA’s and they’re perfectly fine and I would own another. The uninformed seem to think the ’79 400 cars were some amazing high horsepower street killer. Sorry, not so.
Not talking about looks, Trans Am was a phenomenal looking Icon of the 70s, but anything after 74, the last of the Super Duty cars were dogs, you gentle men are obviously young, and when you haven’t been in a Pontiac w a 428 cubic inch 370 hp tire shredder, you might tolerate the anemic 403, or the under powered 400 of 1975 up, I own a 73 Grand Prix SJ 455, I love my car too, but my Camry will probably blow its doors off, at a car show my Grand Prix Gleams, Like your T/A, but in reality it’s a slug, anything after 71 is
Many of us were around in ’79 and most probably remember that there were no high horsepower options available for new cars then. I had a 428 in a ’67 Firebird so I do know about performance. Who cares? In 1979 this or something pretty similar is what was available. Your 370 hp tire shredder? Who cares! Drive your Grandma Camry and be happy!
Seems like a lot of money for a low performing car. Plus you get that gawd-awful front end. Sorry, a car like this wouldn’t even make the bottom of my very extensive bucket list. I could probably smoke this TATA with my 302-powered ’95 F150.
So on your extensive bucket list you’ve already checked off the 302 powered ’95 F150 trash hauling special?
Yep, it hauls trash and looks good doing it. The best part is that unlike this car, it doesn’t pretend to be what it’s not.
No matter how good a car looks or how good the deal is, please always do your homework.
I knew a guy who bought a ’79 TA from a well known auction house a few years ago. He knew he wanted the 400 Pontiac engine, not the Olds, and that only the Pontiac V8s were available with a stick. It had been advertised as having the genuine Pontiac V8 and 4-speed transmission and was freshly painted and had the TATA graphics, missing only the shaker decal. He approached the car and looked inside expecting to see the auto and was excited to see the 4-speed. He mentioned to me that the listing said it was one of just 1,530 made. I thought the number was actually a little higher so I did some digging and told him that there were apparently 1,817 of the Pontiac 400/4-sp. TATAs made, while there were 1,530 Trans Ams with T-tops and the Pontiac 301/4-sp. combo. Interestingly, the 301 cars also did not have a shaker decal.
You guessed it. It turned out to be a 301 car that had been cloned into a TATA(all real TATAs had either the 400 or 403). It turned out that the listing had actually been 100% accurate, but misleading. He let his eyes deceive him and did not do his homework, such as decoding the VIN or looking at the T-tops which were off the car and in their pouches when he bought the car.
I’ve never been a fan of the 74-82 TA’s, but… the TATA , that silver leather interior with the embroidered Firebirds always got my attention. Now if this was a 4 speed Pontiac engine, oh yeah!
Dated a girl that was a looker, and was into big luxury cars back in the day that had a 1969 Toronado, and some clown thought it would be good idea to try an race one of these T/As against her on a cruise night. He kept yelling things, like granny car. Asked if she got a bowl of soup with the car when she bought it. He has three other buddies in the car with him. At the next light she had had enough. When the light went green. She was through the intersection. The Trans Am was just coming off the line. By the time the Trans Am was through the intersection? She was in the middle of the block. LOL. Then we saw the red lights in the rear view mirror. When the Cop got to us he said he was doing 80, and she was pulling away. He gave her a warning, and then said he had to go write up a ticket for a Trans Am that tried to run a car he would never have beat. The Cop was alright. True story.
And you let her get away? LOL.
Like I said earlier, and was told to go drive my Grand ma car Camry, since this wasn’t a competition just fact, that’s why you always respected luxury muscle, cause of a 69 428 Bonneville on my block when I was a little kid. Like I also said my 455 73 Grand Prix is not fast either, it since the comment about the Camry, I’ll tell ya what is fast in my garage, my little 6 cylinder 2018 E43 AMG, it’s not a 63, cant afford that, it’s a 43, but it’s 0 to 60 in 4.3 seconds
Awesome! Comparing 1979 technology to 2018, regardless of the vehicle, is always good for a laugh.
Now he’s got an AMG too, probably parked next to his Bugatti and time traveling DeLorean…..hahahahaha.
Had a 79 W72 400 4-speed TAT/A new, bought off the floor at Hallet Pontiac in Miami. Only way I could find a 400 car and the dealer could not sell it with the mark up on it so I got it for sticker. Fun and kinda fast in the day, but would get creamed by a Honda Odyssey today. Handled great however and I won a few autocross events with it. Awful GM build quality of the day as well. Probably replaced 10 door handles and 10 seat mounts on it while I owned it. Drove it for 3 yrs and over 60k miles. Replaced it with a 280ZX which was like a Lexus in comparison. Fun car and got a lot of attention but not one I’d pay a premium to own again.
Cool, I worked at Hallett Pontiac in the late 90’s!
I don’t know why people feel the need to compare the performance of a car from 40 years ago to today, yeah, that 1979 Trans Am would cream a 1939 car too and that 1939 car would destroy an 1899 car……
Agree! I just find it amusing the old iron was either much faster than today’s or much slower. It’s all relative to what you like.
Disappointed with the crowd here today. 25 comments and not one TATA joke?
Wow, with all the negative comments you would think this was a C4 Corvette or something…….
Hey pal, if I was lying, it would’ve been a S65 coupe or something, it’s only a E43, I wouldn’t stoop so low, to BS, and I’m sorry your so upset about your Trans Am with the Oldsmobile motor being a slug, I even said My 73 Grand Prix w a real Pontiac 455 was a slug too, but it is a real Pontiac
Don’t take it personal John, there seem to be an overwhelming number of douches on this site lately. That’s why I don’t come on it real often lately and why I also changed my handle here. I am almost to the point where I just won’t come on at all anymore. Gave up my membership. I have enough stress, I don’t need to get aggravated while trying to relax. Some of these schmucks need to be exterminated.
Hey pal, If you really wanted something to smoke that TATA, you should look into an amazing 2018 Elantra Value edition.
Can’t leave old games alone? If I knew where to find you, you would easily fit in the trunk of the Elantra. Grow up. We are here because we love cars. All cars! My Elantra is merely an appliance, and if your uneducated little pea brain knew how to read, you would have seen where I compared that Z28 to my Elantra but I stated outright I would STILL rather have the Z28. Your mentally challenged melon still want to screw with me. I just don’t get it. Get a life, you useless little chunk of scrotum juice!