[79TA455]

It is the same around here. I get more thumbs up and "nice car" remarks while driving around then at local cruise nights. The last one I went to, I was the only 2nd Gen T/A (only T/A for that matter) and only a couple of people actually stopped to look the car over. My '79 did only got attention while driving around too and it was Arctic White with Firethorn interior.

Like someone hinted to above, the '81 is not fast (orig. 305 replaced with a '77 400) but I enjoy driving the car. My father said the same thing about his '69 Dart Swinger 340. LOL!

[Skip Fix]

Those '69 340 Darts could be made pretty quick!

[79TA455]

Originally Posted by Skip Fix

Those '69 340 Darts could be made pretty quick!

His was and was raced for years. When my father bought it, the K-frame was busted so he fixed that and did a resto on the car. He never rebuilt the motor despite being told he should and now the 340 is tired from it's strip years. As a result, my father will not push it too hard. Funny thing is, he had the exact same car 40 years ago.....when he was 19.

If I may....a pic....

[ta man]

My 80 attracts a bit of attention cruising...with a 500hp plus 462 breathing through a set of 3 inch pipes with an x crossover..nothing else around here sounds like it.Last time I went to the track a neighbor had his 69 GTO there...only problem it had a bigblock chevy in it ...sounded really healthy he ran in the 12.8 range at 106/108.He asked me what my car should run I said low twelves...went out and ran first pass easy at 12.2 at 112.5..had some tranny issues never got into the 11's but ran 12.09 shortshifting,he hung around my car most of the nite when I was tuning it...I never did go look at his carSince it was a big race weekend..there were a few hardcore racing families there,had quite a few people stop by and check it out.

[79TA455]

Originally Posted by ta man

My 80 attracts a bit of attention cruising...with a 500hp plus 462 breathing through a set of 3 inch pipes with an x crossover..nothing else around here sounds like it.Last time I went to the track a neighbor had his 69 GTO there...only problem it had a bigblock chevy in it ...sounded really healthy he ran in the 12.8 range at 106/108.He asked me what my car should run I said low twelves...went out and ran first pass easy at 12.2 at 112.5..had some tranny issues never got into the 11's but ran 12.09 shortshifting,he hung around my car most of the nite when I was tuning it...I never did go look at his carSince it was a big race weekend..there were a few hardcore racing families there,had quite a few people stop by and check it out.

If I am ever up your area or you are up this way, I would love to see your car.

[Warren Seale]

Originally Posted by gtohurstjudge

here are more pics......

He he. I've got your clone. I'm an original owner. The car was ordered with the 400/4spd. I waited 6 months then the dealer told me I had to settle for the 403/auto. They apparently weren't high enough on the totum pole to get one. Or they may have sold it out from under me without letting me know. Who knows with dealers. It currently has 115000 miles on it.



















Warren

[ta man]

Originally Posted by 79TA455

If I am ever up your area or you are up this way, I would love to see your car.

Sounds good...my 76 4 speed came from Carleton Place....

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by gtohurstjudge

Just wondering, what kind of reaction do you get with your late
70's T/A at car shows? I own several no. 1 condition show cars of the muscle variety,
but the last few years when I show my 79 T/A at an all makes show or even a Pontiac Show
I sometimes feel like the Maytag repairman! (loneliest guy in town). Usually one or two people
at a big show will go nuts over it and stare at it for twenty minutes because it is the nicest one they've seen, but these people are always previous owners of a 79 T/A back in the day.
The other folks other than previous 79 owners look at the car like it's a rusty Volkswagen
Beetle. As a point of reference, this car is a POCI 400/400 points concours D'elegance winner
and has beaten all the stock 79's on the showfield at the T/A nats the two times it was there.
When I show my GTO or Chevelle SS they have a crowd around them all day. Does anybody
other than previous owners of the cars give a flip about them? Just wondering what kind
of reactions you guys get at shows. Personally I love my 79 T/A and think that nobody
ever built anything better looking or cooler to cruise around in, but Joe public just doesn't care. I've owned my T/A a long time, and this attitude from the general car show public
seems to get worse every year than the last in my experience. What do you guys think?

The “no respect” aspect you mention could be from the redesign for 1979. Some are from the “love it”, some are “hate it” only liking - insert any years from 19701/2 to 1978 here - that year as "the best" camps.

“A nose only a mother could love”!

...were my first thoughts back in the fall of 1978 when I saw the restyled front end of the then new 1979 Trans Am.

At the time, the “Mean Look” nose on the 1977 & 1978 Firebird was the best ever to me. How could they have been so blatantly ruined it!?? The Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am didn’t look like this!!!
At the time, ALL of the gear heads in school agreed that it was a major styling mistake! But, after time, it grew on me. Now I really like it. So much so, that I bought one.



Although the new nose was questionable to me at the time; I instantly loved the new, for 1979, “black-out” tail light treatment.


I especially liked the look of the - contrast at night - car wide reflective treatment (our car below). It was very stealthy, very cool.


So, over time, tastes and acceptance of styling can change. Mine sure did. And after all: That was 33 years ago – wow!!!

[Greg Reid]

I think the negative perception of the nose has a lot to do with how they aged. Back in the 80s and 90s, those warped, sun faded and peeling noses were everywhere. When it's right, it looks good though.

[hada76]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

I think the negative perception of the nose has a lot to do with how they aged. Back in the 80s and 90s, those warped, sun faded and peeling noses were everywhere. When it's right, it looks good though.

plus it is said to have increased top end by a few MPH

[hada76]

Originally Posted by Cruiser

I agree somewhat,I recently attended a local car show & took out my 79 T/A Red/Red int. T-Top 4spd that i've owned since 88.The car has been sitting for a long time I detailed it got it running good & decided to take it out.I talked my wife into taking her 08 GXP Turbo/Solstice Red/Black Int.We parked beside each other. I probably had more comments from people on her GXP than my Trans Am.There was one other Firebird there a 78 formula.Every street rod there had a big or small block chevy in it.There was one blown 71 Olds cutlass that sounded real nasty, but it had a big block chevy as well.I didnt stay for the judging.I went mainly to get the T/A out and spend some time with my wife.I believe that Pontiac made so many 79-81 T/As that they dont get the respect that say a 70-73 T/A would get.I don't care I like em i've got three of them!
Mark

thats the TATA decal right? i have often thought it should be offered in diff colors for other combos

[Ben M.]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

I think the negative perception of the nose has a lot to do with how they aged. Back in the 80s and 90s, those warped, sun faded and peeling noses were everywhere. When it's right, it looks good though.

Also the fact that they are bottom breathers and missing spoilers or parts can cause overheating issues that the earlier cars with open front grills didn't have.

Personally I think the '77-78 noses look the best, followed by '70-73. I would only own a '79-81 nose car if it had a turbo because I'm a sucker for vintage technology that is an underdog.

[Cruiser]

Update The car show I entered My Red 79 had about 200-300 cars most of them GM cars from various years. Like I said I had some people talk to me about the T/A. I stayed for a couple of hours however I didn't stay for the judging and left early( I didn't think it would do anything).
I just got a call & letter from the show sponsers they said my car WON 1st PLACE - For BEST GM Vehicle! That suprised the heck out of me.I guess the judges do like trans Ams afterall.
The car does have T/A T/A bird & stripe package.It was that way when I bought it in 1988.I liked it so when I painted it in 1989 I did the same colors Red(1985-86 Fiero Red) & (Metalflake) metallic Black Trim(basecoat clearcoat) & reapplied the T/A T/A bird & stripe package.This car was painted over 22 years ago & still looks decent.
It is a Z vin 400 4spd car.It's got a mild 455 it runs 12.30s 12.40s on street radials.This was my dads car that I bought a few years back.My oldest son has his eyes set on this car.So it will hopefully stay in the family for a long time.I have all of the parts to turn it back to origional if I decide to later.a few more pics Thanks Mark

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by Cruiser

Update The car show I entered My Red 79 had about 200-300 cars most of them GM cars from various years. Like I said I had some people talk to me about the T/A. I stayed for a couple of hours however I didn't stay for the judging and left early( I didn't think it would do anything).
I just got a call & letter from the show sponsers they said my car WON 1st PLACE - For BEST GM Vehicle! That suprised the heck out of me.I guess the judges do like trans Ams afterall.
The car does have T/A T/A bird & stripe package.It was that way when I bought it in 1988.I liked it so when I painted it in 1989 I did the same colors Red(1985-86 Fiero Red) & (Metalflake) metallic Black Trim(basecoat clearcoat) & reapplied the T/A T/A bird & stripe package.This car was painted over 22 years ago & still looks decent.
It is a Z vin 400 4spd car.It's got a mild 455 it runs 12.30s 12.40s on street radials.This was my dads car that I bought a few years back.My oldest son has his eyes set on this car.So it will hopefully stay in the family for a long time.I have all of the parts to turn it back to origional if I decide to later.a few more pics Thanks Mark

Congratulations! Must be a great feeling.

[77 TRASHCAN]

CRUISER,
What are those front seats???

[Cruiser]

They are out of an early late 80s or early 90s grand prix or grand am i don"t remember (It was back in 89-90s that I did the car) I had the back seats covered in matching material.

The engine is a 1971 455,it has a Ram Air IV intake,Blocked heat crossover,a mild crane hyd.cam,750 annular discharge holley carb,Ross pistons,Forged SD Rods,Harland sharp roller rockers,S.S. valves,hooker headers,2.25" pipes, turbo mufflers.I ported the 670 heads myself.
The transmission is the neatest part it is a special built 4spd with a 2spd auto behind a heavy duty version of a doug nash 4+3 that was used by Gale Banks in the late 80s early 90s to set a LSR at Bonneville it was a spare that was built & never used ( the guy who built it built 3 of them).It can be shifed in any gear up or down by pushing a button mounted on the shifter.It has a very tall overdrive that is nice for cruising.I tried to run slicks on this car but being a t-Top car (even with subframe connectors) a friend observed that it started to distort the rear quarters.So I just run it with v rated radials.Two of my other trans ams are Much more radical, one runs high 11s the other low 10s but all are street driven. Thank's Mark

[Larry Navarro]

Congrats.....that's awesome !!!!
I like seeing mild resto-mod t/a's at the shows and talking to the folks that build them.
Always good information to be had.

Stock on the outside.......and tricks on the inside.

[79TA455]

Originally Posted by Larry Navarro

Congrats.....that's awesome !!!!
I like seeing mild resto-mod t/a's at the shows and talking to the folks that build them.
Always good information to be had.

Stock on the outside.......and tricks on the inside.

I have always loved the look of your car and wanted to eventually do my '79 (an original Y84 SE car) like yours but the car required too much work for me. I stll have the 455 that resided in her though in place of the original 403.

[Larry Navarro]

Thanks!
Yeah. i still have the original 400 engine just in case I wanna change back to original.

[ta man]

Originally Posted by Larry Navarro

Congrats.....that's awesome !!!!
I like seeing mild resto-mod t/a's at the shows and talking to the folks that build them.
Always good information to be had.

Stock on the outside.......and tricks on the inside.

Car looks good Larry...someday I will get my 80 looking that good again!But when its running 115mph plus at the track who sees the imperfections!