1979 Pontiac Firebird

1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am T/A 6.6 — Restored Black and Gold, 400 V8, 4-Speed Manual


Why This Car Is Special

The 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am sits at the absolute peak of the second-generation Firebird's cultural moment. By 1979, the Trans Am had already starred in Smokey and the Bandit, and sales were through the roof — Pontiac moved over 117,000 Trans Ams that year alone, making it the best-selling year in the model's history up to that point. These were not quiet, understated cars. They were exactly what a performance car buyer in the late 1970s wanted: big displacement, manual transmission, aggressive graphics, and a shaker hood scoop that told you exactly what was living underneath it before you even opened the hood.

This particular 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am carries the T/A 6.6 engine option — the 400 cubic inch Pontiac V8 — backed by a 4-speed manual transmission. The VIN confirms this is a coupe body style with the 6.6-liter engine and manual gearbox combination, which is the spec most Trans Am buyers today are specifically searching for. The automatic was far more common by 1979, so a correctly optioned 4-speed car like this one is harder to find. The engine code in this VIN decodes to the Pontiac 400, which by 1979 was being phased out in favor of the Oldsmobile 403 and Chevrolet 350 units that made their way into many Trans Ams that year. Getting the actual Pontiac-built 400 in a 1979 car with a 4-speed is a combination that collectors specifically seek out.

The restoration on this car has been done with an eye toward driving quality and mechanical correctness rather than trailer-queen show points. The result is a 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am that looks right, sounds right, and is built to be used.


Features List

- T/A 6.6 Pontiac 400 cubic inch V8
- 4-speed manual transmission
- Functional shaker hood scoop with T/A 6.6 identification decal
- Milodon performance oil pan
- Dual exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers
- Power steering
- Power front disc brakes
- Air conditioning
- Trans Am Firebird steering wheel with center cap
- Full gauge cluster with tachometer, water temp, fuel, and voltmeter gauges
- 4-speed center console shifter
- High-back bucket seats with correct dot-pattern cloth upholstery
- Period-correct retro radio
- Clean door panels
- Intact headliner
- Clean carpet
- SE decals
- Rust-free floorpans
- Clean frame rails
- Clean rear axle
- Blue-painted Pontiac block


Mechanical

The heart of this 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am is the Pontiac-built 400 cubic inch V8, badged and sold as the T/A 6.6. By 1979, emissions regulations had tightened considerably compared to the muscle car era, and Pontiac was working hard to maintain performance character within those constraints. The 400 was the last of the true Pontiac-displacement big-inch engines available in the Trans Am, and it was on its way out after this model year. That gives 1979 a specific historical significance — it is the last year you could order a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am with a genuine Pontiac V8 under the hood.

The engine bay on this car has been carefully restored. The Pontiac block is painted in the correct shade of blue, and the shaker air cleaner assembly sits properly on the intake, functional and visually correct. The shaker scoop on the 1979 Trans Am was a meaningful piece of equipment — it was directly connected to the air cleaner and moved with the engine, providing a cold-air induction path that made a visible difference at wide-open throttle. It is not cosmetic.

Underneath, the builder fitted a Milodon performance oil pan in place of the factory unit. Milodon has been a respected name in engine oiling systems for decades, and their pans offer increased oil capacity and improved oil control under hard acceleration and cornering — a sensible upgrade for a car that is meant to be driven. The dual exhaust system uses Flowmaster mufflers, which provide a tone consistent with the era without being obnoxio