Pontiac produced over 117,000 Trans Ams in 1979 out of 211,000 Firebirds that left the factory. The high performance engine option that year was the W72 400 cubic inch V8 engine that was manufactured in 1977 and stockpiled for installation in 1977-1979 Trans Ams. The W72 400 cubic inch V8 came with a Borg Warner T-10 4 speed manual transmission, 3.23 rear gears, WS6 suspension and dual turbo mufflers. This car is located in Dallas, Texas and is being sold by a dealer here on eBay. The dealer knows his Trans Ams and correctly identifies was it special about this car. The car is listed for a Buy It Now Price of $6,995 and there are 13 days remaining in the listing.

The camel (brown) interior is in rough shape except for the main console body. The rest of the interior will need a complete refurbishment. The door panels are trashed and has speakers cut into them. The car is not heavily optioned and does not have T-Tops or power windows but looks as if it was originally equipped with air conditioning from the factory. The seller states that the right door does not open and the body has had some previous repair work done to it.

The engine was apparently rebuilt at some point and was bored 0.030 over. Pictures in the gallery show the PWH code which indicate that the car is a true W72 engine. In 1979, Pontiac changed the W72 designation to L78 which was the engine code for the weaker 400 cubic inch V8 from 1973 to 1978. However, all 400 cubic inch engines in 1979 were W72 motors. The W72 400 cubic inch engine was different because it was built with a 800 cfm 4 barrel Rochester carburetor, high capacity 60 psi oil pump, special cam, baffled oil pan, special piston rings, and 8:1 compression heads. The base engine for 1979 was the 403 cubic inch V8 that came with an automatic transmission. A buyer could also order a 301 cubic inch V8 engine rated at 155 horsepower that came with a 4 speed or automatic transmission.

This car has 1980-1981 factory turbo wheels on it that were probably added later. It looks like it has some very old Goodyear Eagle ST tires on the car. The seller states that the air conditioning compressor and the hood scoop are missing. If the engine is good, maybe someone will buy and restore this to its original livery.