1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Review - The 70s Icon With Only 48,000 Miles!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ค. 2024
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The thoughts, feelings, and opinions expressed in this video are the sole thoughts of Zack and no one else. The thoughts expressed in this video do not reflect the owner, dealership, or organization that owns the vehicle featured. The purpose of this video is to provide entertainment with the hope that you will take what you see and formulate your own opinions. DO NOT make a financial decision based off of this video.
#TransAm #Firebird #Pontiac
Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
GM treated Pontiac wrong😔
Agreed. I had hoped that instead of just shutting them down that GM would turn Pontiac into their sports car division.
@@Will-ym9jn that would of been awesome
Holden would agree
Yeah it constantly baffles me how Camaro made it, but Trans Am didn’t? And Pontiac ALWAYS made the coolest cars, dare I say, of ANY era!
@@Tiffany.1970Because the Pontiac 400 engine was cancelled after 1978. Pontiac built as many 400 engines as they could in 78 and stockpiled them for use in the Firebird and Trans Am for the 79 Model year but only had a limited number. About 8600. To carry on the tradition of 400 C.I. in the trans am they opted to use the Olds 403. The Pontiac 350 was already gone so the only other engine they had was the Pontiac 301. Which was also offered in the 79 TA. as a credit option. Around 117000 TA's were sold in 79. By 1980 the only engine available was the 301.
My friend had a 79 Trans-Am back in the early 1990’s. We cut out the block off plate on the shaker hood scoop and by doing that it increased his horsepower significantly. Fun days. I miss the 1990’s.
5 hp... tops...
I was still in Middle School in 79 but a High School friend of ours bought a brand new Metallic Blue on Blue Trans Am with some inheritance money he got and we all used to love to ride in it because it was the Coolest Ride in town!! I still can smell the New Car smell from way back then. THAT'S when I became a Pontiac sorta guy!
One of my favorite cars. I had a '73, my mom had a '69 and dad had a '77 (Bandit clone).
That small cubby at the front of the center console - that’s where we all put our graphic equalizers. Awesome ownership story! And you were correct about the Trans Am in Smokey and the Bandit. The cars were actually 76 Trans Ams with 77 noses added (Pontiac provided four of these for the movie, as the 77 wasn’t out yet). Also interesting - because of the impact of the movie, Burt Reynolds was to receive a new Trans Am every year. When the GM Exec that made that deal died, so did Burt’s annual Trans Ams. Great review, thanks for sharing ~ Chuck
i have the exact same car. but with t tops, ac delete and in nocturne blue. swapped the heads with pre emissions olds heads. swapped rear axle and few little other things. and it is explosively fast. drag tracked 0 - 60 5.5 106 mph 13.9 quarter. for really about 6 gs and bit of wrench fun. I have had so many cars and trucks. but something was right here. best drive ever
Wow, that's crazy fast. What's ur rwhp?
This was my first car when I was 17, in 1992; You are partially correct: the 403 Oldsmobile engine was offered due to a shortage of The 400 Pontiac block; but the 400 Pontiac was the more desirable engine because it #1. It was a better engine, and 2 more upgradable aftermarket parts were made for it.
Plus the 400 came with the manual transmission. The 403 only was automatic.
Great video, I was born in 67 and i remember these cars well and everything about them. You’re absolutely right, a car doesn’t always have to be barn burner fast to be enjoyable.
Your video was awesome 😎, and filled with life, great job.~
Man, I love this and the 1979 Z/28 Camaro so much - I hope you get to review that one in the near future, too!
Thanks for reminding me that this moment truly is alright, Zack! A pleasant surprise in an already great car review
In 1979 I was 21 years old and bought a brand new red 79' TA. It cost $6,700 and I kept it for 4 and half years. I sold it In April of 1984 for $5,000. It had a little less than 38,000 miles on it. In June of 1984 I used the money from the TA as a down payment on my first house. In July of 1984 the motivating factor for selling my TA arrived... my first daughter. This coming Summer she turns 40 years old and I will also be retiring. Do I miss the TA? Always but, I like to think owning it when I did made all the difference in what came afterwards.
NICE! I have a 1978 Trans Am. Best car ever. My 2019 Toyota Tacoma obviously blows the socks off the Trans Am (in terms of its quickness, which is actually slow compared to other mainstream modern cars).
I believe the style, sound, and its crazy smooth handling is what makes this car so enjoyable to be around. For those who want a fast car, this aint it lol
That's what the Tesla bros don't understand. It's not just about 0-60, it's about engaging all the senses and driving something that makes you feel good.
A legend of a car, driven by Rocky & the Bandit
This has got to be my favorite review so far! Just awesome
Thank you Lynn. I had one of these when I was in the Navy in the early 80's, loved it.
This really did make my day better thank you
Stumbled on your channel. Great review! I've daily driven 23 2nd & 3rd gen Fbodies since 94. I love them! I recently sold my 79 to get something a little more modern and practical a 03 jeff gordon monte carlo ss and now I'm spoiled by all the options 😂
That’s right Zack! It’s just F ing cool Love it!
I had the black Smokey and the Bandit edition with black pleather seats. They were so sticky in the summer.
No leather seats...
The Oldsmobile 403 cubic inch 6.6 liter was used as the base V8 engine option and also the only V8 available for the Trans Am in California. What you really wanted was the Pontiac 400 6.6 T/A engine that was more powerful at 220 HP compared to only 180HP with the Olds 403. If the Trans Am had the WS6 performance package it would come with the Pontiac 4 barrel 6.6 T/A engine and 4 speed manual transmission.
Amazing car! A favorite of mine. You found a good one for sure.
Cool car. Life is really not great right now at my neck of the woods, (War that broke out on Saturday), but yeah, the video is a bit calming atm at 3AM at night while listening to fighter jets flying around... The rear light complex is awesome for this time...
The F-body was the last holdout from the muscle car era. GM did their best to keep powerful engines and surprisingly good suspension in the Camaro and Firebird at a time when big V8s were unpopular for several reasons. I don't care for the 2nd gen Camaro but I love how the Firebird looks. The engine-turned dashboard is iconic. Needs T-tops though.
Smokey and the Bandit II used 1980 Trans Am Turbos which have the same nose as this. That movie was a bomb and didn't do much for the Trans Am like the first one did.
I found you when you did the review of your Allante which at this moment, trying to save one, anyways, yes, I have this car too but it is the Turbo Charged one, 1981.. It is on my channel too. Great video.
They are a cool looking car. I grew up admiring these. Still would like one. The RTS did improve handling, some small compensation for the power killing emission controls that were brought in. The Trans Am did succeed in still being successful on the muscle car platform where the others failed badly in the late 70s.
So cool!
I had one with the 4.9 301. It was a slug on fly paper but i didn't care, i loved every minute of it.
when I was a kid my next door neighbor had a black and gold Trans trans Am when he was at the age of 15 years old.. it had t-tops and a bumpin stereo but it didn't run lol.. Even though it didn't even run me and many others would hang out in, on and around it all the time. it was so cool
It has crotch a/c vents!! 🤣🤣Pushing a button on top of an automatic gearstick used to be quite common back then.
I had a 79 TA in gold with the same 3 speed. Alot of people don't realize it's a dual gate shifter. Hold it to the one side and you can slam the shifter and not miss the next shift. It just adds to the fun!
Breathtakingly beautiful condition...
I've had quite a few of trans ams since I was a kid. My first one was a 1970 with the 400 Pontiac in it. And I got that when I was 14 from a gentleman. I knew who is in the hills angels.
Who is in the Hell's angels? He was like a Big Brother to me. And it was bright orange with black interior all factory original but I sooped it up. But I've had many all the way from 1970 all the way to The 89GTA.
Which I loved that One, you need to do a review. On a 1973 SD455 Tran jam.
Nice tires it matches the bird on the hood
Smokey and the bandit 2 had a 79 trans am.
I had a black 79 firebird with T/A suspension & drive train. Custom 4-1 headers and Ttops.
Gold T/A badges but no bird. I did 140 pulling a little uhual in Texas. Pretty dumb thinking back
That is one of the most beautiful cars I've ever seen. The decaling was done in a way that wasn't gaudy. That's hard to do. It walked the line but never crossed it.
I mean the giant chicken is, by definition, gaudy but it’s great to see it like it would’ve been sold.
Hey there. Submitted my 1994 Toyota pickup for you to review. Would love to have it reviewed! Thanks
What are you talking about negative space. That's where all the extra Van Halen atrak tapes go.
Gotta love Van Halen!
Got my VH1984 cd on high rotation in my '79🤘🍻
You need the Pontiac 400 W72
Hellll yeahhhhhh
The rear gas cap filler door is from an '81 Trans Am. The firebird door was available for only one year. It's quite common for people to swap out the regular blank door for an '81 firebird covered door, but it hurts the originality of the car a bit among purists.
THAT is a REAL car!! It runs on manliness and the exhaust contains high levels of testosterone.
I'd love to see an oil pressure and battery voltage gauge in a car today.
This is Really a Nice one. My first car was handed down oldest brother my Dad got a 1976 455 4 speed White with Red interior Trans Am my brother only had a year my Dad got him a Brand new 1977 Grand Prix loaded and my Dad kept T/A knowing how I wanted my middle brother wanted nothing to do with 4 speed or 455 for that matter my Dad drove some until I got my DL and I was ready my Brother drove that T/A really hard not much care and so I had my Trans Am that had some power and was fun came with factory AM radio and the loudest 8 track tape player and Absolutely I had that Van Halen 2 8 track tape I also had Van Halen 1st 8 track funny thing about those players you had 4 tracks each one tried getting 2 songs on each but lots of times Great Songs from that The Greatest Era of Rock Music I guess they labeled Classic Rock and that’s fine I went to see Van Halen in 1979 they were at The Texxas Jam and that was an Awesome event that was held each summer in Dallas Tx from 1978 to 1988 and the event was at a football stadium with Fair Grounds around it and first Band started at 11: TKO then Sammy Hagar who became Favorite at Jams then 3rd was Nazareth and 4th Van Halen on VH2 tour then Boston was Awesome then Heart was Great and I and my friends had gone on to field about 25 yard line well over 80 thousand and we could not move all day Thank God I was 16 my Brothers and their friends set in stands which I ended up going to 9 out of 10 jams always over 100 degrees and the next 8 I set in stands but was my favorite variation also 1979 was a fuel shortage and very long lines and to try and make better even number tags could get gas one day and odd number the next funny our hometown was only 2 hours from Dallas but we got there and one car could get gas and the other waited next day when we were finally getting up making way to go find my brothers the last Band Blue Oyster Cult we were walking through crowd and it was 10 minutes till 3:00 AM that was a long concert and tickets were only $15:00 dollars each there is no way that you could have seen any of those big name Bands for under about 70 dollars and that’s not all original Band but the reason I brought up my Trans Am I want one so Bad now I remember the window sticker price on the T/A my Dad bought was about 6 thousand and I know he got a deal on Trans Ams have Always been my favorite till 1982 there were 3 of us boys and my Dad got each one a Brand New Car for graduation I unfortunately because of a serious illness I was diagnosed with and had to have emergency surgery I had started my 9th grade year of HS but after 2 weeks had to withdraw and go spend lots of time in Hospital I had other health issues early age and my Uncles gave me my first record player and they had not taken their Beatles collection of Music to the Beatles bonfires that was happening after what John Lennon said but because I had to be in Hospitals and Doctors offices I became a big Beatles fan as they broke up little behind but took me to TTRock Music and that was my Escape and after having open heart surgery procedure and being in surgery long time and they sawed my sternum open and all kinds of stuff that was going to make me wish I was not there when they woke me in ICU first news I got was Lynrd Skinard plane crashed while I was in surgery so I had to think about a Great Band I liked and members were dead but then it hit me I was in the world pain ever and my Doctors would not allow my nurcetto give me any pain medicine not even Tylenol so far 3 and a half days in I CU I was wide awake and my nurse would allow me my Music my only help and when finally got home was supposed to be recovering for over a year but I was by myself and every afternoon after Big Valley my oldest brother had the Best Classic Rock Albums with all these Amazing Bands and I made my own class up each day Thank God everyone around us worked because I had volume up all the way mymailman Loved it and my Doctor could not believe how fast I was recovering and finally when I recovered enough the very first thing I got to go out side house and go somewhere my oldest Brother took me to my first Rock concert and great seats and that was it I found my hobby since 77 I am within a couple concerts of having gone to 700 concerts my favorite place to be but because my graduation was pushed back another year I had been searching for Trans Ams so my year now was 1982 and everything changed I finally told my Dad I trust what you pick and surprise me so before I graduated my Dad was working out of State he made arrangements at a car dealership in Dallas he told me to ride bus 3 hours and my brother picked me and my friend up and we go to this gigantic GM dealership lots of different makers and we had no idea what we were looking for a salesman that was looking for us finds me and takes me to his office some stuff to sign was talking his time and finally he said I guess you want to know what you got and takes me into this Dealership and on the showroom floor was this 1982 Camaro Z28 Maroon with Maroon interior rate and that car was stunning the very first time I liked the Z28 better than the Trans Am the 3rd generation was so different and the car I got had been named Car and Track car of year I drove back home and was at school early we had a pretty big Cheverolet dealership but those cars so new and so popular they could not get far a while and for a long time it appeared I had only Z28 in town my love life went up the car did everything I hoped the Handling package was really Nice first time these cars had struts on front end and the car was fun but the 305 V8 and metric 200 transmission was ok if you were only driving speed limit of 55 other wise I am sure the Chevrolet 243 V6 would run circles around this I remember one late Saturday night and hey 80 was the road people drove up and down and Music was my thing and setting at a red light and a Z28 I think it was a 1981 it had a 350 V8 and turbo 350 trans and I knew it could run circles around me and there were about 5 red necks and I still don’t know what made them mad and they turned around and started chasing us and I could see them catching up fast so I knew this neighborhood by where I used to work and I turned and you could hear them yelling and cussing and they knew they had me and when I turned left I knew this road was the longest curved road in town and there were these big yards and big pine trees and at first they were trying to pass but my car stuck to road my middle brother had gotten a brand new 1979 Z28 for graduation and I had driven and as we kept curving I looked back and there was all this dirt flying up and they had lost it sideways and was way up in these bushes and car could not go anywhere we were kinda concerned and went all the way and was coming back around well a police car was already there and they were all against car the police somehow saw them chasing us These guys were from one of the little towns around us and they had done this before and I just knew the police as we drove by were going to stop us they did but it was to tell us they saw what happened and so anyway I Really Love the 1979 model Trans Ams and this one of yours I remember that I had the red interior on my T/A and something about it stood out better than any other and your Car is Really Nice
If only it had the t tops! Wow that interior is cherry!
Ahh, one of the greatest cars ever made. God bless America! 🇺🇸
i have a 79 z28 and its very very similar.
Cool 😀
To be fair, the car was reasonably quick for its era - certainly not Porsche fast, but faster than most. Of course, most cars of that era would get smoked by the cars of today. And The T/A was fairly nimble, being one of the best handling cars of the day, doing skidpad numbers matching those of much more expensive sports cars of that time. Today even some Camrys might beat those skid pad numbers, however.
An American classic, painted Canadian colors!
RIP Pontiac ❤
And 31 years later, GM killed Pontiac.
Would do some illegal diabolical things to have one of those here in Australia
Are those rims factory. I’ve never seen that color
Headers and better dual exhaust, head work a better cam and rear end work and let the Focus try it again.
I mean, the 403 started with 185 horsepower and 320 lbs-ft or torque which peaked at 2000 RPM if I remember correctly.
Cool😍
You're a pioneer in your sphere! 🚀 ° "The sole place where success precedes labor is in the lexicon."
Why do you think it was unusual to have factory air conditioning in a 1979 Trans Am?
It’s just wasn’t standard like it is today. Lots of 70s cars I drive don’t have it
Oh Lynn!
The bird on the gasoline cap, is from 1981. 79 TA did not come like that.
12:38 fr? I only saw the Chevy blazer ev and the suburban lol
The late 70’s Camero was nice, but the Trans Am was so iconic. The big firebird on the hood made it seem so beefy and fast when it really wasn’t. But who cared?
😂 I live in Louisville Kentucky!!! And I have a trans am.
It’s hard to make a white car look sexy, this thing is sexy. Damn.
My Uncle Tom had a flamin chicken in gold in the early 80’s when I was a kid.
sammy hagar wrote the song trans am and cant drive 55
get in the passenger back seat no steering wheel so you get more space....
never new about the 403 olds thought it was a 400 chevy so many different engines
Make me gag a 400 Chevy in a Pontiac Trans am the 403 Olds was bad enough the 400 W72 Pontiac Was the way to go.
What happened was that Pontiac was phasing out the Pontiac 400. 1979 would be the last year. The last 400's were made in November of 1977 and stockpiled to be used for both the 78 and 79 model years. With the popularity of the Smokey and the Bandit movie in 1977, they sold more Trans Ams in 1978 than ever before, which used up most of those 400 engines. There were only about 8600 400 engines left for 1979. Since there weren't enough 400 engines left for all the 79's, they decided to put 403 Olds engines in them, so they'd still have a large cubic inch engine for the Trans Am. They had already been using 403's in California Trans Ams in 1977 and 1978, so it wasn't a new thing for them to do. They sold more Trans Ams in 1979 than any other year in history, about 117,000, as he said in the video. The ones with 403 engines had automatic transmissions, and since most people bought automatics, the vast majority of 1979 Trans Ams have 403 engines. The remaining 8600 Pontiac 400 engines only came with a 4 speed manual transmission, which makes a 1979 Trans Am with a 400 and 4 speed much rarer than the usual 403 automatic Trans Am. The Chevy 400 engine was never used in the Trans Am. The Chevy 400 was last available in Chevrolet passenger cars in 1976. In 1980, both the Pontiac 400 engine and Olds 403 were gone. In 80-81, they did put some 305 Chevy engines in some of the Trans Ams, along with the 301 Pontiac engine.
@grand73am they stockpiled the 400's and kept a few back because they felt it only fitting that at least some on the 10th anniversary Trans ams would have a 400 performance engine. They could have played with the 403 olds and made a little more power, but didn't the 400 W72 package which had came out in 1977 rated at 200hp was made even hotter for 1978 boosted to a rated 220hp. Up intil mid 1978 you could get an automatic with the W72 , in 1979 only manual transmission were available. Now the odd thing is that the automatic transmission has more of a loss of hp than a manual yet this was not reflected with the factory ratings.
Smokey and the Bandit....2 lol
Bitchin' 🤙🏼
All its missing is a cb radio and a t-top and it'll good enough to outrun smokey
did he expect an air bag???
turbo hydromantic 3 speed????? TH350> Th400?? Both 3 speeds oh let me help TH350
I thought that front bumper was 80 81.
The first year for that front nose (and rear bumper/tail lights) was 79, and continued for 80-81.
@@grand73am yeah found out later. I thought. 78 was first 4 light front. Turns out 77 was. That's was threw me off.
LS swap please.
Cars used to be made with passion…
It rides like its on rails but its built too show off with a blond girl
Well that was the laziest off-line start of a performance vehicle. 5 spd manual, please. And better engine
He probably didn't want to abuse the lady owner's nice car that she'd owned since new. Even so, most 1979 Trans Ams with the 403 Olds, which only came with an automatic, have a 2.41 rear end gear ratio, which was the main detriment to off-line take-off. But it cruised real good on the highway, with decent gas mileage.
Mary Barra has ruined General Motors....
It took a woman to ruin it
East bound and down good buddy 😁.
You clearly understand these cars. Great review!