Tony Primo found this clean 1979 Pontiac Firebird Esprit for sale in Foxlake, Illinois. The car is listed here on Craigslist and the seller is asking $14,500.  The odometer shows 80k miles and the interior shows very little wear. As a plus, the car has factory T-Tops. The seller states that the car has no rust and runs/drives excellently. Out of 211,453 Firebirds built in 1979, there were 38,642 base Firebirds, 30,853 Esprits, 24,850 Formulas and 117,108 Trans Am models built. This car has been listed for 4 days. This Esprit appears to be painted in Code 63 Sierra Copper  with a camel interior. I wonder what the story is on this car. Did a little old lady buy it and tuck it away?

The engine compartment of this Esprit looks very clean and well kept. The standard engine in the Esprit was the 231 cubic inch Buick V6 making 105 horsepower. The seller states that this car is equipped with the 301 cubic inch Pontiac engine.  So it left the factory with one of the two Pontiac 301 cubic inch V8 engines available. The L27 301 cubic inch V8 engine was fed by a 2 barrel carburetor and produced 140 horsepower. The L37 301 cubic inch V8 engine was fed by a 4 barrel carburetor and produced 150 horsepower. In California, the LG3 Chevrolet 305 cubic inch V8 engine was available. This car is equipped with an automatic transmission and either a 2.41:1 or 2.73:1 rear end ratio.

The interior looks impressive in the pictures. The car looks to have an aftermarket radio and the dash is not cracked. The car is optioned with T-Tops and the deluxe camel hobnail interior. The car does not have power windows but does have factory air conditioning. However, the seller states that the car needs a new air conditioning compressor. It looks like the center console lid has been replaced but the carpet and factory floor mats are still there.

The Esprit did not have the black out rear tail lights like the Trans Am or Formula. This car is riding on aftermarket white letter tires and factory Pontiac snowflake aluminum wheels. These wheels were introduced in 1977 and were 15×7 inch wheels compared to the Trans Am and Formula which had 15×8 wheels when optioned with the WS6 suspension handling package. Overall, while this car is not a muscle car, it would be a nice cruiser and appears to be in good condition.