The 1979 Pontiac Firebird, Formula & Trans Am
Lot#4

This bright blue Trans Am is owned by Teresa. Teresa writes:      "This 1979 Trans Am has the original Old's 403 with automatic trans after 98,000 miles and is still running strong. With few minor modifications such as opening the hood scoop, re-jetting the carb, timing adjustments, deleting the cat, installing headers and a real true dual exhaust system, the Bird runs even stronger. The original color was Silver with Oyster White interior which after a few years of neglect from the previous two owners made the car look as if it was pulled from a salvage yard. But all body panels were in great shape with the exception of minor rust on the left quarter. All weather-strips were replaced with GM and each part of the interior was either replaced or reconditioned. The Bird was sold by a Jefferson City, Missouri dealer in March 1979 and it is still spending it's life in The Show Me State. This WS-6 Trans Am will make the third Trans Am that I have owned and its a keeper."

JM Hendrick owns this awesome looking Formula. JM writes:      "I found this car in April 2000. The price was right, so I bought it. I owned a '77 TA at the time that I planned on restoring. Well, tough times forced me to sell the TA, and I hated to see it go. My Formula has a 400 cc bored .030, Competition 268 cam, Edelbrock performer intake, Edelbrock 625 4 bbl carb, Black Magic Headers, 323 Richmond rear end gears. The drive train is 350 transmission with a Street and Strip shift kit w/manual kick down. With Air conditioning, power windows, power trunk and rear defrost." Thanks and take care, JM

Darrell Dolejsi owns this exquisite looking Trans Am. Darrell writes:      "The '79 Trans Am is a WS6 non T-Top with an original Olds 403 that was rebuilt .030 over. It has about 300HP and drives nice. As I said before everything is new. The car was going to be a parts car but it was in nicer shape than the one I was working on. Very little rust or body work was needed. It is as stock as I could make it, less the stereo. It has a 600 watt Jensen CD player that is mounted behind the dash in the original spot. It is behind the opening because I cut the face off of a stock AM/FM Cass. that is velcro'd to the opening. No one knows I even have a system in the car to look at it. All the speakers are where they should be.  There is a 12 inch Sub and an Amp mounted in the trunk behind the rear seat. They are painted flat black so you can't even see them with the trunk open, unless your looking for them. The color is 2000 VW Jetta Green with extra Gold Pearl. It has 10 coats of base and 4 coats of clear that were wet sanded between coats. The interior has SE touches like a gold engine-turned dash, a gold bird on the shift lever and horn button and a gold spoked steering wheel. When this car is at a show it always attracts a crowd but I think it's because of the color." I hope you like it, Darrell D. Believe it or not Darell owns another Trans Am even more cool than this one. Its an '81 Convertible Turbo Trans Am and can be seen at National Coach Engineering Lot#3.

This awesome Trans Am is owned by Jon O'Neall. Jon writes:      "This is my 1979 W72/WS6 T/A with just 7,300 actual/original miles. After I sold my Bandit it wasn't too long before I had to have another T/A... so the hunt was on. After having owned the black and gold S/E I really wanted a totally different color combo. I've always liked white T/As with red interiors (that color combo just always seemed particularly striking to me) so I put a *white with red interior* '77-'79 W72 T/A at the top of my "wish list". Now, I must say I feel truly blessed in many aspects of my life, God has always been good to me, but He did me one better when, almost unbelievably, I actually found one!!! And not just any one... but an incredibly low-mileage car that not only had the color combo and motor (and suspension) I desired, but also one that is about as close as one can come in 2002 to buying a brand new 1979 Trans Am! I found it on hemmings.com (it was located in PA... I live in AZ) and after considerable dialogue with the owner (along with pictures and a comprehensive 30 minute video of the car) I just had to have it. Then commenced the waiting game as I waited for the transport company to deliver my "new" car. While I was too young back in '79 to actually order one new, buying it this way was a bit like taking a trip in the "Way Back Machine". Indeed I almost felt as if I had ordered it new from the factory and was waiting for the car to be delivered to the dealership! What a blast!!! :^) Anyway, here's a breakdown of the car's chargeable options as built in November of 1978: Hood Decal L78/W72-400 Engine (with BW ST-10 close ratio 4-Speed) Air Conditioning Color Keyed Seat Belts Rear Defroster Soft Ray Glass AM/FM Stereo Radio (though it now has a '79 spec AM/FM 8-Track in it) Tilt Steering Wheel WS6 Special Performance Package The car still rides on the original P225/70R15 Goodyear Polysteel Radials and still has the original plug wires and many of its original belts and hoses. Truly a step back in time (also, yes that is an opened '70-'76 style shaker on it... I do have the original uncut '79 shaker as well, and I also do have the original 4-speed shift knob... I just prefer the Hurst T-handle.) I know in Lot #3 of your 1979 section I see that you feel that the orange decal on white paint was the least attractive of the available color combos, but perhaps that's just because that particular picture is not really very flattering in the first place. In real life the decal is far more red (with orange highlights) and IMO looks stunning on the car. Maybe you'll still disagree... but I think this color combo is striking indeed. :^) Oh well.... Take care and God bless and thanks for providing the Firebird Gallery to all us Firebird fans! Your hard work is very much appreciated! :^)" Jon O'Neall Jon: Thanks for taking the time to add your Trans Am to the Gallery and after seeing your car I think this color combo is pretty cool too!

Gabe Carducci owns this modified Trans Am. Gabe writes:      "I inherited this T/A from a family member during February of 2002.  It's a '79 with a new 350 CI engine and I've got it up to around 330 HP since I received the car...Some future mods in the planning are re-decalling, new hood hinges since they're currently sprung as you can see in the pictures, a full interior restoration and re-coloring to 2-tone black and pearl, and the one I'm most looking forward to, the addition of a ProCharger model p600b inter-cooled centrifugal blower just for kicks...Bad thing is though I can't drive it alone legally until until November as I'm not 16 yet :( but oh well great things are worth waiting for I guess."

Joshua Enderle owns this REALLY blue Trans Am. Josh writes:      "I drive a '79 Trans Am with a formula hood, painted a mean Richard Petty blue with matching rally II vanity rims.  Let me tell you something about Big Blue, she's packing a modified corporate 403 with 3:08 posi-trac at the rear end.  I'm running a tricked out Holly 650 double pumper and of course a dual Flowmaster setup. She drives and handles like a true on the track race car and turns more heads than Pamela Anderson at a church picnic.  There are 88,000 original miles, and I don't plan on keeping her in the garage, she's a daily driver.  Future plans include a supercharger, I think it would make Mr. Petty proud. Thanks for your time and keep up the good work." Josh

Nick Miller owns this Trans Am and is one of the few owners who successfully graduated from our Projects section to the regular lots. The first pic on the right shows what the TA looked like when Nick started. He writes:      "I'm sending finished pictures of my 1979 Trans Am. I have been driving the car once in a while and hope to keep improving the car as I go I plan to rebuild the transmission and the 403 olds motor in the future." Nick Miller

Mike Pedi owns this Olds powered Trans Am. Mike writes:      "This is my 1979 Trans am. I'm the original owner. It has the original Mayan red paint on it, black vinyl interior, original cassette player and it has the 403 Olds under the hood with the automatic trans. The car has never seen rain or snow in 26 years. When I took it most of the time was at night so the car barley sees any sun.....you gotta be a little crazy to take care of your TA like I do. Thanks a lot Jimmy."

Reed Dreier owns this bronze colored Firebird. Reed writes:      "This is my 1979 Firebird I bought it back in April 2004 finally getting the car I always wanted as a teenager (wife, house & 1.5 dogs later). It has the 301 V8 2 barrel. I got a new/used 4 barrel intake so I can upgrade the carb, I hope to trade up to a 350 V8 someday but money seems easier to spend then make. The paint is thin and I hope to repaint the car this summer (maybe black) and redo some of the suspension. The bird runs great and drives straight it has almost no rust and for a Michigan car that's pretty good. I'm the third owner with 116,000 miles (I understand it sat for about 8 years in a barn). I've had a lot of fun with it, biggest thing I've done are the wheels, the hubcaps made it a little to Jimmy Rockford. I think for $1800 I did all right, as winter is here in Michigan I dream of a spring drive." Reed Dreier

Kevin owns this extremely nice Formula. Kevin writes:      "This is my 1979 Formula. When I bought the car it was very rough too say the least , after new parts like Trans Am fenders , doors , deck lid , and a few floor patches ,there it is . All the numbers matched so I kept it basically original except for a couple things I wanted different . It is still powered by the 301 Pontiac engine but with a few upgrades like , summit racing cam , roller rockers , heads milled .030'' , Hooker super competition headers ,and I also retro'd GM EFI on the engine. Other improvements include duals with h -pipe and Flow Masters . I know many people are not fond of the 301 but with the 350 turbo trans and 2:78 gears it gets about 22 MPG after a recall. of the computer chip. The car was black with a grey accent along the bottom when I brought it home . I decided to paint it silver metallic with a black metallic accent along the bottom . Not much was done to the interior except for the Clarion stereo and Sony speakers and amp."