The ad for this 1979 Pontiac Trans Am says that the car has new paint and the seller has a nagging wife who wants a new house. So, the seller has decided to sell this car which is claimed to be a Y84 Special Edition Trans Am. However, there are a few discrepancies that we will look at and may be perfectly explainable. Mitchell G found this car for sale here on Craigslist. The 1979 Pontiac Trans Am is located in Brookfield, Wisconsin near Milwaukee. The seller has listed the car at $19,000 which would be a very good price if the car checks out and has no rust. The car has been listed about 2 weeks and the odometer reads 53,000 miles. As shown in the data tag below, this car was painted in Code 19 Starlight Black and has the Y84 designation.
As stated, the seller claims that this 1979 Pontiac Trans Am is a Y84 Special Edition. There were 117,108 Trans Ams built by Pontiac in 1979. Of those, 9,874 were Y84 cars which came with Code 19 black exterior, special pinstriping, gold steering wheel and gold dash bezel. For automatic cars, the shifter bezel was also gold. There were three engine options in 1979 for the Trans Am. This car has an automatic transmission which means that it either came with an L37 Pontiac 301 cubic inch V8 engine or a L80 Oldsmobile 403 cubic inch V8 engine. The seller states that the car has numbers matching drivetrain but there are no picture of the engine compartment. The L80 Oldsmobile 403 cubic inch V8 engine was rated at 185 horsepower and 315 lb-ft of torque. The high-performance W72 Pontiac 400 cubic inch V8 was only paired with a Borg Warner T-10 4-speed manual transmission, featured 3.23 rear gears, WS6 suspension, and dual turbo mufflers, and produced 220 horsepower and 320 lb ft of torque. The L37 Pontiac 301 cubic inch V8 engine was rated at only 150 horsepower and 240 lb ft of torque.
The interior indicates that the car has no air conditioning and was equipped with the standard interior for 1979. The seats have been recovered or have aftermarket seat covers pulled over them. The car is equipped with rear defrost and power windows but the console lid is missing. There is an modern flat screen radio mounted where the factory radio was installed. The ad states that this unit has a backup camera feature. The dash bezel is silver and the automatic transmission shifter bezel is black. As noted, on a Y84 car, this should be gold. The steering wheel spokes appear to be gold but it is hard to tell from this above picture. The T-tops are a sought after option that buyers seem to prefer.
The ad states that the seller is looking for a good home for this car. There is a list of several items that the seller has restored including brakes, exhaust, weather stripping, carpet, gas tank and shocks. The seller states that the headliner needs to be replaced and the T-Tops do not leak. The car rides on 15×7 aluminum snowflake wheels and aftermarket black wall tires. This might be a great car to check out. It sure is priced well!
I was going to suggest that the seller keep the car and existing house and get rid of the nagging Wife. Then I noticed the car has no A/C, so it’s kind of a toss-up at this point.
Should get rid of the wife now before he buys a house that she will get in the divorce. Car like this is a chick magnet. He will be fine.
Not a chick magnet if driver/owner is 70 or 80 yrs old. lol
What makes you think granny still can’t get her swerve on? LOL
I still have the 62 Impala that Dad brought home in 1972 after he sold my Jeep when I went to college. I only get another one every eight or nine years, but now there are nine toys.
My relationship with a previous girlfriend ended with her telling me “You think more of that !@#$%& Sheepdog (or car) than you do of me. My answer was . . yep, so what’s your point? The cars, truck, and bike are still here, she’s gone.
I knew a guy in Youngstown OH in the 1980’s. He was going through a divorce and had a barn full of 1970’s Pontiac Trans Ams. He didn’t care what else she got, but the Trans Ams were off limits. Her lawyer mentioned the Trans AM collection once and she told him to shut up. It was obvious that she wasn’t going to live long enough to get any part of the collection if she tried and she knew it. You gott’a love Youngstown.
Having grown up in nearby Hubbard, I can attest to the fact that there are a number of very deep lakes in the Youngstown area.
I recently told my wife I saw a Road Runner I like and she said cash in your retirement account because you can’t take it with you I tease her saying I’m going to trade her for a toaster but I think I would have to get at least a microwave oven she is pretty good to me
Sounds like she tolerates you well, and that is enough to celebr8 with a V8!
After reading the article title, I knew the comments here wouldn’t disappoint! This particular car is driver quality at best. It probably won’t get out of the $20’s.
Nice car but no engine pictures
I agree that it’s probably a fun driver. Go about improvements as you enjoy your ride.
A driver. Where I live we dont need ac. Keep the roofs out and cruise. Life is too short to worry about a bug splatter and stupid matching numbers BS. These cars are pushing 50. I worked at a Pontiac dealer in 1979. Many engines blew up under warranty and shipped back to GM. These cars were poorly built and the paint was terrible right off the car carriers.
Well, if it rides on 15×7 wheels, it isn’t WS6, unless someone changed the wheels. Wirh no Air and a 403 Auto, $8000.00 to $10000.00 would be enough for it,