1979 Pontiac Firebird

1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am — White with Red Interior, 6.6L V8, T-Tops, and a Full Option Load

Why This Car Is Special

The 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am sits at a crossroads in American automotive history. By this point, the second-generation Firebird — introduced for 1970 and running through 1981 — had become the best-selling sports car in the United States, outselling even the Corvette. Pontiac moved more than 211,000 Firebirds in 1979 alone, a record for the nameplate that still stands. The Trans Am variant was the performance flagship, and the 1979 model year arrived on a wave of cultural momentum that included the massive success of Smokey and the Bandit in 1977, which put the black-and-gold Trans Am on every poster and bedroom wall in the country.

This particular car, however, was not ordered in black and gold. It wears white paint over a full red interior — a combination that was decidedly less common and more refined than the film car colors, and one that holds up exceptionally well forty-five years later. The white exterior with red accent striping alongside a fully red vinyl interior gives this car a clean, period-correct look that separates it from the crowd of dark-colored Trans Ams you typically encounter.

The 1979 model year brought a significant upgrade to the Trans Am's standard equipment list and represented the last full year before the next round of federal regulations began to tighten further. For buyers who want the full Trans Am experience — the shaker hood, the firebird hood decal, the snowflake wheels, t-tops, and a real V8 under the hood — the 1979 is considered by many enthusiasts to be the sweet spot of the second generation.

A note on the engine: The VIN on this car encodes the engine designation as a K, which identifies the 6.6-liter 400 cubic inch V8 built by Pontiac. In 1979, the Trans Am was offered with two 6.6-liter engines — Pontiac's own 400 and the Oldsmobile-sourced 403. The K-coded 400 is the Pontiac engine, and the T/A 6.6 air cleaner badge on the shaker confirms the displacement. This distinction matters to knowledgeable buyers and collectors because the Pontiac 400 has a stronger following among purists than the 403.

Features List

- 6.6L 400ci Pontiac V8 (K-code engine per VIN)
- T/A 6.6 shaker hood with factory air cleaner badge
- Firebird hood decal
- 3-speed automatic transmission
- Dual exhaust
- Radial Tuned Suspension (RTS)
- Front and rear sway bars
- Power front disc brakes
- Power steering
- T-tops
- Snowflake aluminum wheels
- Rear window louvers
- Front and rear spoilers
- Factory tachometer
- Factory clock
- Center console
- High-back bucket seats
- Tilt steering column
- Air conditioning (reported cold)
- Power door locks
- Sony aftermarket stereo upgrade
- White exterior
- Red vinyl interior


Mechanical

Power comes from the Pontiac-built 400 cubic inch V8, which was rated at 220 horsepower in 1979 — a meaningful number for its time given the compression reductions and emissions equipment that had been applied across the industry through the mid-1970s. The 400 was Pontiac's own engine architecture, separate from the Chevrolet, Buick, and Oldsmobile V8s used elsewhere in the GM lineup during this period. It shares no major components with the Chevrolet small-block or big-block, which is part of why Pontiac V8 enthusiasts follow the engine closely. Backed by the 3-speed automatic transmission, the combination is well suited to how most Trans Am owners actually drive these cars — relaxed cruising with strong torque available when needed.

The Radial Tuned Suspension, which Pontiac branded as RTS, was a specific chassis package that included recalibrated springs, shocks, and front and rear sway bars tuned to work with the radial tires that were becoming standard equipment by this era. The dash badge reading 'Radial Tuned Suspension' is still clearly visible on this car's instrument cluster, confirming the package is intact. The suspension compone