We bought our Trans-Am on December 19, 1989. It had 86,321 miles. It is one of 1,817 made. It has the following options: 6.6 Liter V8 engine, 4 speed Super T-10 transmission, 3.23 Limited Slip Differential, 4-wheel power disc brakes, Tilt Steering Wheel, Power Windows, Power Door Locks, Power trunk opener, Mirrored T-Tops, Air Conditioning, F41 Suspension and WS6 Performance Package.
"Car & Driver" cited these seemingly prophetic words concerning the 1979 Trans Am in the January '79 issue. The handwriting was on the wall. The last Pontiac 400's were built up in 1978 and the tooling disbanded. There would only be a handful of the 220 hp motors to go around and all were to be mated to four speeds. The new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) ruling had taken effect, and it required far too many low profit Sunbirds to counteract the huge dent the big-motor Trans Am's put into the average. Yes, it will not pass this way again.
Already the T/A was having a major clipping performed on its proud feathers. For the first time in history, a small-inch engine was now available, the lightweight 301 cid Pontiac engine could substituted (for a mere $195.00 credit) for the base 403 Olds. The aforementioned 220 hp 400 cubic inch Pontiac remained as an option. But next year, there would be no big motors, only the 301.
But if you have to go down, then go down in style, and the exterior enhancements certainly added to the style. A new beak was fitted, and the Trans Am became a "bottom breather". The traditional grille between the headlamps was gone, replaced by a pair mounted in the bumper pad extensions. The grilles were in a matte black and contained the turn signal/park lamp lenses in the upper outer corners. The now common four rectangular headlamps were each set in deep recesses, and the front end was laid back for better aerodynamics. The Pontiac crest continued to reside in the center of the front fascia.
In addition to the styling change, a bright spot to the front end restyle was a deeper front spoiler, now made of a flexible material rather than the hard plastic of the '77-78's. The change in material made it a bit more friendly to curb stones and parking lot dips. The spoiler actually was responsible for a major portion of the cooling air which was channeled to the radiator. Larger wheel air deflectors were fitted, blending with the new spoiler.
Chrome was out in the automotive styling circles, so all of the previous bright work around the windows was now painted in a low gloss black. This changed the look dramatically, making the car appear more aggressive; at least until the paint started to peel.
At the rear of the car, the changes to the front of the car were echoed. The license plate was moved from the traditional pocket between the tail lamps to a recess within the bumper cover. A pair of pads grew out from each side of the bumper cover to replicate the look of the front. The rear spoiler was larger and more squared off at the bottom of each corner piece.
The most drastic and best looking change to the rear had to be the tail lamp assemblies. The lamps now stretched corner to corner, with a hinged fuel filler door in the center. While this may seem enough of a change, the big news was that the tail lamps had a "blacked out" look; at least until the lights were activated, then the red was proudly broadcast. Lesser Firebirds (excluding Formula's) had the same tail lamp layout, but made do with traditional red lenses.
While appearance changes consumed most of the new model budget in '79, the chassis was not left out. The P-metric P225/70R15 tires which were part of '78's WS6 package were now standard, replacing the GR70x15's. This made the 8" wide snowflake wheels the only available aluminum wheel, but the hub centers were changed from a semi-conical bright metal to a hexagonal plastic piece. If you wanted , you could still opt for Rally II wheels. For 1979, the WS6 handling package was upgraded to include a set of brakes to be proud of: Four Wheel Discs. The new braking system enhanced the T/A's stopping power and increased the resistance to fade. The new rear disc brakes measured 11.1" in diameter and were had the same internal vents as those in the front to keep them cool.
As mentioned earlier, a four barrel 301 V8 could be ordered up on your new Trans Am. Mated with either a 4-speed manual or three speed automatic, the engine VIN code "W" (coded NA, X6, or X4) was rated at 150 horsepower @ 4000 rpm and 240 FT/LB of torque at 2400 rpm, did offer a good chassis balance, weighing in a about 110 pounds lighter than the big inch Pontiac or Oldsmobile engines.
The big inch engines were available in two varieties: Oldsmobile 403's hooked up to automatic or the L78/W72 Pontiac 400 matched up with a four-speed. The 403/auto combination was the most popular by far selling 94,773 units. Most 403's left with either 2.41, 2.56, or 2.73 gear ratios for fuel economy reasons which hindered the launch considerably, although the big-inch torque did offer good midrange acceleration.
As for the final iteration of the 400 (coded WH), the rear end gearing was scaled back to 3.23:1, again for fuel economy, but this also allowed the '79's to go a bit faster on the top end. During road testing Car & Driver magazine sent the tach past the 5000-rpm redline to reach 132 mph at 5400 rpm. This was one of the last cars whose top speed was gearing limited rather than drag limited. The engine was still willing and trust me, has enough torque (320 FT/LB @2800 rpm) to take off in third gear, when brain faded individuals such as myself pick the wrong gear. (As much as the Hurst shifter impresses the heck out nearly everyone who sees the gleaming chrome stalk, it doesn't work as good as it looks!)
Chassis wise, the Trans Am had no equal from cars built in America. Car & Driver subjectively proved that in the September '79 issue when the T/A was pitted against Corvette, Z28, Capri, the new front wheel drive Phoenix. Hands down, the Trans Am was judged to be several notches above the rest by having better road manners and in real world driving conditions. Even though the Camaro Z28 was an extremely close cousin to the Trans Am, the handling was dialed in for under steer while the big stabilizer bars and higher rate rear springs made the T/A much more neutral. Lateral acceleration was down to .82g, but this may be the result of differing skid pad diameters. On a small diameter skid pad, generally higher numbers will be produced. The surprising equation in all of this is the Trans Am chosen to do battle was only fitted with a 150 hp 301 cubic inch V8! The 301 was picked because it put less weight over the nose, but we folks with 400's known you offset the nose-heavy tendencies with subtle applications of horsepower.
The restyled 1979 Trans Am was priced at $6,299.00. The Special Edition was $1329.00 if you ordered T-tops, or a $40.00 bump at $674.00 for the solid roofed car. The popular hood decal was imposed a nearly 50% price increase, now listing for $95.00, while in 1978 the price was "only" $66.00. Even though the price continued to rise, Trans Am's popularity was so great, production topped the 100,000 mark, eclipsing at 116,535. Today the entire Firebird line can barely sell 50,000 cars, and only a handful of those are the Trans Ams. But in 1979, the future for the Trans Am was bright and it's successor guaranteed.
In 1979, T/A's were selling as fast at they could be built, but is was the customer who ultimately paid the price of this success because quality suffered immensely. Fit tolerances of door, fenders, hoods, and deck lids were pitiful. T-tops leaked. The paint had more runs and light spots than would be tolerated by a quality control engineer unless they were on the take (by today's standards). But the car was still a Trans Am.
The enthusiastic performance return was to be short lived, owing it's untimely death to the new CAFE regulations. Pontiac engineers were working hard to develop an engine that would match the power and performance of the 400's but with a strong edge in fuel economy. But it would take many years to match the performance numbers and the legacy left behind in the wake of the death of the 400's.
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Last modified: Wednesday May 16, 2007 12:46 AM