FEATURE – 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

Words: Mike Ryan

Photos: Dean Walters

The ‘Malaise Era’ in American automotive history, a period that ran roughly from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, is generally regarded as an industry low point, especially for performance cars.  While the likes of Ford, Plymouth, Dodge, AMC and others had either transformed their pony cars and muscle cars into new animals or culled them entirely, one brand was almost singlehandedly keeping this sector of the industry alive – Pontiac.

While Pontiac has now joined the list of deceased American automotive brands (Mercury, Plymouth, Oldsmobile, etc.), there was a period when it was the Number 3 brand in the US behind Chevy and Ford, selling some the hottest vehicles on four wheels, including the Firebird Trans Am.

A New Boss and a New Image

Pontiac’s reinvention from a dowdy “dad car” brand in the late 1950s to the performance member of the General Motors stable was kickstarted by Semon Knudsen and his assistants Elliot Estes and John DeLorean. While all three were pivotal to the brand’s transformation, DeLorean would get most of the credit and go on to bigger things, including the infamous car that bore his own name.

Starting as an assistant engineer in 1956 and taking on the Chief Engineer role in 1961, DeLorean had risen to the position of General Manager at Pontiac by 1965, which at 40 made him the youngest ever head of a GM division.

Under the performance-driven mantra that saved Pontiac from extinction, DeLorean oversaw the introduction of the GTO (arguably the first muscle car), Grand Prix and Catalina 2+2, to name a few.

DeLorean also pushed to bring a compact Pontiac sports car called ‘Banshee’ to market, but GM’s senior management blocked the idea, fearing it would take sales away from the Corvette, which at the time had the American-made sports car market virtually to itself.

When it came to adding an in-house rival to Chevrolet’s Camaro, there were no such qualms, as the runaway success of Ford’s Mustang had proven the ‘pony car’ market was strong enough to support multiple entries.

GM’s top brass had also got wind of an imminent Mustang derivative from Mercury, the Cougar, which would be playing in Pontiac’s territory, so they had to counter that with a product of their own. Thus, the Firebird was born, coming to market in early 1967, a few months after the Camaro.    

By early 1969, DeLorean was gone from Pontiac, promoted to the position of General Manager at Chevrolet, but his legacy continued, as did the Firebird.

The Performance Champion

By the early 1970s, what had been a white-hot muscle and pony car market in the US had cooled considerably, with federally-mandated safety, fuel economy and emissions regulations making it harder for manufacturers to offer the performance cars that people wanted, while those same people, particularly young buyers, were turning away from such cars due to the sky-high premiums that insurance companies were applying to them.

In response to this, Ford released the ‘Mustang II’ for 1974 that – shock, horror – was offered without a V8 engine, the signature feature of any serious muscle car. In the same period, pony car rivals like the Javelin, Challenger and Barracuda had either been reinvented as “personal luxury” cars with little to no performance capability, or discontinued outright.

The times were changing in the 1970s and American carmakers were changing with it for the most part, but Chevrolet and Pontiac were the holdouts in the performance car field. Chevrolet was continuing to offer the Corvette and Camaro, while Pontiac persisted with the Firebird. Both the Camaro and Firebird almost got the chop, though.

In 1972, Firebird production had been in excess of 53,000, but had dropped to less than 30,000 a year later, with Camaro sales on the slide, too.

GM had the capacity to absorb such losses, albeit briefly, and despite the first ‘oil crisis’ of 1973-74 that saw most US manufacturers scramble to bring smaller, more fuel-efficient cars to market, Firebird sales actually increased.

Why Firebird sales rose during this period and continued going upward for the remainder of the 1970s is open to interpretation, but the reduced field of pony car and muscle car rivals was certainly a factor.

A Rising Star

In 1970, Pontiac introduced their second-generation Firebird, available as a base model or one of three specific variants: the ‘Esprit’ that focussed on luxury; the ‘Trans Am’ that focussed on performance; and the ‘Formula’ that was a halfway house between the two.

The transition of the Trans Am within this group is perhaps the most intriguing.

What Pontiac had initially offered as an option package to homologate the Firebird for the SCCA Trans American Racing Series in 1969 (hence the Trans Am name) became a standalone model in 1970, but accounted for less than 7 per cent of total Firebird production that year.

After the low point of 1972, Trans Am sales would rebound in 1973, when the bold ‘Big Bird’ bonnet decal (better known as the ‘Screaming Chicken’) was introduced. Sales continued to rise, progressing in leaps and bounds in the years that followed, despite being the most expensive Firebird variant available.

By 1975, Trans Am production had exceeded that of the other Firebird siblings and would peak in 1979, the year of the car featured, when 117,109 Trans Ams were built from total Firebird output of 211,454 units.

The Trans Am’s meteoric rise in the late ‘70s owes much to Smokey and the Bandit, which everyone knows featured a 1977 Firebird Trans Am ‘Special Edition’ (defined by its Starlight Black paint with gold inserts and pinstriping) that became as much of a star in the movie as Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed and Jackie Gleason.

The ’79 Style

Given the success Pontiac was enjoying with the Trans Am post-Bandit, you could forgive them for leaving the car unchanged stylistically, but a makeover did come for the 1979 model year.

The rectangular headlights and split grille remained, but the lights were now in separate recessed pods and the grille openings moved into the lower portion of the impact-absorbing Endura nose, so they appeared to be part of the bumper. At the rear, a smoked finish to the tail lights made this section look like one panel.

The standard engine for the ’79 Trans Am was a 403ci (6.6-litre) V8 that produced 185hp (138kW), but this Oldsmobile-sourced engine could be swapped for a 301ci (4.9-litre) V8 that offered 150hp (112kW). As fitted to the car featured, this engine entitled the buyer to a US$194 credit.

The need to meet fuel economy and emission standards meant the Trans Am’s 455ci V8 had been discontinued after 1976, with the high-performance, 220hp (164kW) 400ci V8 deleted at the end of the 1978 model run, although a handful did make it into a ‘10th Anniversary Limited Edition’ Trans Am that was offered early in 1979.

If some of those performance figures seem meagre, remember we are talking about the late 1970s when engines were being strangled by anti-pollution gear, while more efficient technologies, including EFI, were still to be introduced.

Trans Am transmission options comprised a Turbo-Hydramatic three-speed auto or four-speed manual, but this choice was only available with the 301ci or 400ci engines. The standard 403 V8 could only be had with an auto from the factory and the vast majority of Trans Am buyers in 1979 chose this, making the 301 and four-speed a rare combination, most likely sought by driving enthusiasts who were happy to give up a little power to gain three-pedal operation.

Other standard gear for ’79 included power steering, power-assisted brakes, a limited-slip diff and Radial Tuned Suspension similar to what was being offered on Holdens at the time.

On the outside, a front air dam, rear spoiler, air extractors in the guards and rear quarters, sports mirrors, a ’shaker’ bonnet scoop, subtle wheelarch flares and dual exhausts with ‘side-splitter’ extensions were all standard Trans Am features, while inside, cloth interior trim, full carpeting, an engine-turned dash panel, ‘Rally’ gauge cluster (with a tacho and clock), the same steering wheel as used on the Firebird Formula and front bucket seats with a centre console were standard, too.

Factory options were wide-ranging and included the T-top removable roof panels that were first offered in 1976, four-wheel disc brakes (a new option for 1979 and standard in the Special Edition) and the ‘WS6’ Handling Package that added stiffer springs, thicker front and rear sway bars, revised bushes, firmer transmission mounts, sharper steering and the ‘Snowflake’ alloys that were still of 15-inch diameter, but wider at 8 inches compared to the regular wheels.

Various convenience and cosmetic features were extra-cost options, too, which surprisingly included the ‘Screaming Chicken’ bonnet decal.

On the car featured, some of the options selected include T-top panels, which was the most expensive option in ‘79, closely followed by air conditioning, which this car also has. Additionally, the first owner selected the bonnet bird decal, Rally II wheels, power windows, a tilt steering wheel, additional interior lighting, tinted glass all round, a rear window defroster and the Custom Trim Group that comprised subtly patterned velour seat upholstery front and rear, door handle ornamentation, special pedal trim and detailing. Curiously, the radio was deleted from the order sheet.

While it was very well-equipped from the factory, there’s something much more remarkable about this particular 1979 Firebird Trans Am.

Survivor

Just when you think all the barn finds and low-mileage survivors have been found, cars like this turn up!

The photos alone make it clear how much of a pampered life this car has led since it was built more than 40 years ago. Decoding the VIN shows it was one of the very last 1979-model Trans Ams built, with the owner, Tony Ramunno, believing it rolled out of Pontiac’s Van Nuys plant less than a fortnight before production of the 1980 models began. It’s also believed to be one of only around 1,200 built that year with the 301/four-speed combination.

Finished in the popular combination of Starlight Black with gold detailing and black interior trim, this Trans Am was delivered to Wilt Pontiac in Ohio, but spent many years in a climate-controlled museum in Florida. It had also passed through a Barrett-Jackson auction at one stage before Tony purchased it.

“It was my dream as a kid to own a car like this,” Tony explains. “I’d always wanted to buy one, but Trans Ams here were usually in terrible condition or converted to right-hand drive, so I started looking in the US to get a nice one.”

Tony has owned other American cars in the past, as well as blue ribbon Aussie classics, including a few Brock Commodores and a VL Group A Walkinshaw Commodore, but didn’t scratch the Trans Am itch until a bit over a decade ago.

After some time spent searching in the US, Tony came across this car in 2011, listed for sale with a specialist dealer in California.

As mentioned, this Trans Am had been in a museum for years, so was close to pristine inside and out, with the factory plastic coverings still on the seats and less than 8,500 miles on the odometer when Tony bought it.

However, that long tenure as a static display piece meant the exhaust, fuel tank, fuel lines, carby and brake lines needed rebuilding or replacing after it landed here in order to be able to drive it.

Tony also added a set of factory-style Snowflake wheels in a larger 17-inch size, but he’s kept the 15-inch originals which still wear the original tyres, too.

“Since I’ve had it, I’ve added around 1,200 miles in ten years, but I’m just not driving it enough now. It needs to go to someone who’ll love it as much as I did.”

Cars like the 1979 Trans Am, especially in this condition, don't come onto the market very often, but they're just as striking to look at and offer a similar driving experience to the 1977/78 ‘Bandit’ Trans Ams, without the crazy prices.

Against Camaros and Mustangs, Firebirds are something of a left-field choice, but that’s also part of the appeal for those that don’t want to follow the herd. There’s sure to be someone out there that’ll love this Trans Am as much as Tony has. Maybe that someone is you.

To Auction

While it comes from the peak year of Firebird Trans Am production, this example’s drivetrain and combination of factory options make it a rare unit.

Given this car’s years as a display piece, rust is virtually non-existent, but conversely, the time spent in a museum meant it was being cleaned and polished constantly, so the paint is thin in a few places.

As mentioned, Tony has undertaken some restorative work to make it safe and reliable to drive, while adding aftermarket wheels, too. But for concours purists, the original wheels and tyres will be included with the sale.

Everything this car was built with remains in place and everything works, so this Trans Am could be enjoyed on the road as a club car, or even go back on display as a museum piece.

Mileage is just 9,824 at time of writing, but it’s the condition of this car that really sells it, with few, if any, original and unrestored ’79 Trans Ams as good as this one.

This car will be auctioned by SEVEN82MOTORS in Queensland as part of their week-long stock drop event this coming December.

For more details, including how to bid and information on other consignments, go to www.seven82motors.com.au