Trans Am Wannabe: 1979 Pontiac Firebird Formula

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This 1979 Pontiac Firebird Formula is located in Islip, New York. It looks like a nice driver that was said to be restored before the owner bought the car. When the Formula was repainted, the owner added the Trans Am front spoiler and wheel splats in front of each wheel well.  This make it look like a Trans Am but it doesn’t have the side air extractor vents in the front fenders and, of course, it retains its Formula dual scooped hood.  The car is listed here on eBay with a starting bid of $13,500. There are 6 days remaining in the auction and no bids have been placed.

The car is equipped with the Firebird deluxe interior with cloth hobnail seats. If you like red on red, this car is all about you. The Formula looks to be in good condition, especially on the interior. The dash is not cracked and the only non-factory modification appears to be the aftermarket stereo. The car has a number of options including air conditioning, power windows, power locks and and automatic transmission.

The engine is a Pontiac L37 301 cubic inch V8 engine. This was the base engine for the Formula and was rated at 155 horsepower when equipped with a 4 barrel carburetor. That is not a lot of power to push around a 3,500 lb car. In 1979, a buyer could opt for the Oldsmobile 403 cubic inch V8 engine that produced 185 horsepower or the ultra rate Pontiac W72 400 cubic inch V8 engine that was rated at 220 horsepower. ONly 367 of these cars were built and they all call with the Borg Warner T-10 4 speed manual transmission and WS6 performance handling package. I personally own a red 1979 W72 Formula and it is a joy to drive.

This car has the 15×7 snowflake wheels which indicates that it does not have the WS6 performance handling package. This car presents well and the seller discloses that there is some rust bubbling behind one of the tires. If you are into cruising, this might be a good car that doesn’t need a lot of work to drive and enjoy.

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Comments

  1. Fahrvergnugen FahrvergnugenMember

    Wheel splats. I like that. As for the wheels vs. WS6, without a cert, there’s no telling what other mods were made along the way or what it came with.

    Like 2
  2. Jim in FL

    Personally, I prefer the formula to the trans am because it does not have the spats and I like the formula hood better as well. I’ve only owned two of these, I had a sky bird and I had a four speed trans am, which was an absolutely brutal driver. I think I prefer an auto in these. I kind of like this one, since almost everything you see for sale these days is a trans am. You could clean up the body and have a nice, slightly different ride.

    You used to be able to buy molded fiberglass paintable spats for behind the wheels. Kind of a stylized mudflap. It gave the wheel openings a more finished look on the trans ams.

    The frame rails used to rust behind the rear wheels. Check that before you buy.

    Like 2
  3. Redwagon

    Back in the day a somewhat common modding practice was to combine a Formula hood w a Trans Am shaker. My take on those had a lot to do with how the rest of the car was kitted out. Flashy hood bird, stanced rear end, wide rear tires and obnoxious exhaust? Hard pass. I felt that the Formula hood alone probably did nothing for performance or cooling. It needed the air vents in the front quarters at least. The T/A shaker hood could possibly take advantage of the air pressure at the base of the windshield. Regardless the 70-74 Formula hoods were the best.

    Like 2
  4. David LaPerche

    Try this word in a sentence, “flares”. Not quite sure what a splat is.

    Like 1

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