What is the reaction to your T/A at car shows?
 

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?

I have the exact opposite reaction from people. When they come over all they want to do is talk about how they always wanted this car in high school. And when they find out its the original 8 track player thats playing that Deep Purple song they freak out!!!

1979 was the most Firebirds ever made in a year, and Trans Ams for sure. Thats over 1/4 million. So these cars got plenty of visual on the public.
Aside from the 301, I think that the 79-81 are the pinacle of the TA, and with the right equipment has the best of all worlds.
I never showed mine ( ws6 400 4 speed), but everyone loved the blue hood bird and blue leather interior.
I always stop and look at them, especially the Esprit and formulas for odd options.
beautiful car, just not that "old" in peoples mind I guess?

honestly.... i try to avoid being around my car at all costs
i never in my life get so depressed about the stories people tell about these cars, which then leads to life

as far as being the loneliest one, i sorta agree with ya
i think part of the problem is its not a chev/ford so alot of people dont understand about pontiac torque/power

I usaully have people comment on how nice my T/A looks. Even though it clearly has Formula in big letters on both doors. lol

there isnt any at the shows around here. i would love to see them i get tierd of all the chevelles and camaros

My car, '78 BRE Clone, the reaction....

Hey, thats wunna dem dere bandit cars!!! I had wunna dem with a factory 455..... or my favorite.... Nice Camaro!!!

Around here if it's not a Chevelle or a Mustang it's a Camaro no matter what it is..

Yes! Like FormulaBruce said! I guess you could take it another way too. The styling on these years has stayed , IMO very fresh and even up to this day they look sooo cool. So maybe some don't realize they ARE as old as they are! :)

People will stare for hours at my '69 Oldsmobile W31 and my '70 Oldsmobile Rallye 350 bench 4spd car.But when it comes to my '78 martinque blue W72,4SPD,WS6 with48K they walk right by it like it doesn't even exsit.

You should have gotten one with the Olds engine. At least that's what one guy told me at a show. He says "Yeah, some of them cars came with Oldsmobile engines, now that's the ones ever'body wanted"

I actually think you have a very valid point there. The quad headlight TAs just don't look like old cars.

My car looks terrible in it's current state(compared to when it was new), but is still recognized a a 77 black T/A. When I putt around town, I get thumbs up, and nice car compliments, more often that I'd think.
I had a cheapo paint job done on it around 10 years ago, to help preserve the car, the old paint was getting thin, had some rust spots repaired, and all decals removed...

I've never really raced (or WOULD race them) anyone, but went for a ride in a 403 T/A. The owner told me how much more powerful his car was, than mine.....LOL

I then took him for a ride in my 180 HP base T/A, automatic......it shut his big yapper up, no more bragg'in...:)

I guess some of you are just getting comments, from the "fringe", I guess. Teenagers recognize my car....

Someone asks me about the Olds engine deal, I might just ask them if they are gay...:D

I went to look at a '77 yesterday that has had zero done to it with 60k miles on it as a base model 400... and it was REAL quick off the line, quicker than most cars I've ridden in before. It's quite amusing!

I get the opposite reaction....

Dude, I get more attention in my trans am than in my Viper with a GT2 wing! I have to walk away at the local drive in carshow, or I won't be able to talk to my wife! The car might as well be a freakin' lamborghini!

I took my car to the Pontiac Southern Nationals in Dallas. Everyone loved it! Lots of attention and girls getting their photo on the fender, etc. But the judges HATED it. I didn't even place out of 5 cars in my class! Go figure. Maybe they wanted a quadrajet under the hood instead of that Demon...

Another interesting tidbit............my wife has a new 2010 camaro with the
ralley yellow /black stripe transformers package and 20 inch wheels, and I drive
the car occasionally, and when I do, everybody comments on it all day long. I can drive
my 79 Trans Am around and it might as well be invisible!

opnwide, I was at PSN and thought your car was awesome! Over the top!

You want no reaction, try driving a turbo formula. :eek: I don't care, I didn't buy it to impress others

What color is it? Some colors were more popular than others. You got decals? Other than those things, I can't think of why it's not getting more reaction. Maybe it's your neighborhood :D.

I agree with what FormulaBruce said about the 79-81 style being the pinnacle. The 79 is the best looking inside and out to me. And his point about them not seeming old enough to the public might be valid. It's the newest car I own :D.

And as far as car shows are concerned, a lot of those people don't consider anything newer than 72 as being worthy of attention, with the exception of something like a Super Duty, if they even know what an SD is. If it's not considered high performance, it's not as "popular". But, I don't pay much attention to their cars either, since I collect the cars I like, and I don't have any of those.

I have a 79 TA with the old worn out gold paint on it and cracked up hood bird decal and dents, and worn out interior, but people still want to talk about it at gas stations, or wave on the road. Maybe it's because my 79 does look old :) . Hard to believe that I'll get less attention when I restore it.

The car is white with red decals and interior

I have both kinds, a 1981 dark metallic blue TA hardtop, rally IIs, no hood bird, no radio but custom blue doeskin int and a/c. The car is immaculate survivor condition. It gets lots of attention from firebird fans but not many questions asked. My 72 GTO is a 455 hardtop with lots of popular goodies from the factory and Cardinal Red with black int. Condition wise its an older resto done with mild day two touches. People love the car, it gets waay more attention than it deserves. I've been very lucky that the attendees at cruise nights don't get into b*&tch slapping owner's cars. I don't do it myself and I lose respect instantly for anyone who does.

Was this yours!!!! This car was freakin awesome!!!! I can't believe it didn't place let alone take home 1st.... Great car man, the drool you probably found on it was from me, sorry....
http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/y...0/IMG_1057.jpg

:fencing:

sorry, the 79-81 nose make me gag. replacing it with a 70-72 nose, hood, scoop. Was going with a 76 nose but daughter says no.

1 1979 bumper for sale here.

Not cool....

I don't have a Firebird or Trans-AM, I have a 65 GTO, and I think it's funny when I go to the local cruise nights how I am the only 65 GTO there yet the people will walk right past and look and the dozens of 55-57 chevies, 66-67 chevelles, 68-69 camaros, 64-69 mustangs.

But I still go, it is a night out for me, the wife and the car, and I am glad I don't own any of the above cars mentioned.

Mark

"Nice sunroof" followed by snickers. Unfortunately, I think I have the only 79 TA with a sunroof. Collectors item?!

that car is absolutely gorgeous
probably the way mine looked when new

im sure the color matters just because of "the movie"...everyone has seen "the movie"

403 Automatic?
 

I own a 79 T/A ws6 - maybe #3 condition - original carmine interior, about 70 % of the cameo white paint. i take to shows around the southern tier of NY and northeast PA almost every weekend. lots of people approach me at shows and ask questions.yea,lots of the the people talk about the one that got away,but a lot of younger people are new to the Pontiac brand and are restoring a t/a.they ask how long i've owned the car,where they can find new/used parts,tech info,etc. must of told a 100 people to become a member of this forum and join a club.
can i beat a 67 RS or 69 Z-28 - not very often. most of the trophy"s i've won i donate to a trophy shop that redoes them for the special Olympics kids.
wish more people would stop by and chat.That's why i attend the show in the first place.

Yes it is an original numbers matching 403 car with every option except rear window defogger. It was special ordered with every option, but the build kept getting delayed because first one or the other option was temporarily on backorder......Pontiac was overwhelmed with orders for 79 Trans Ams and they were constantly running out of parts for them on the assembly lines. This car was built in February 1979 at the same time the
tenth anniversarys were being built and they were holding back all the rear window defogger back windows for the TATA cars which had to have them installed. The original owner told them to build the car without the defogger. When the car came in at the dealer
it was an absolute mess. All told it had about 25 glaring mechanical and cosmetic issues
when it was delivered and the dealer wound up repainting most of the car when it was 6 weeks old. I used to service this car at my car repair shop when it was a brand new car,
and the original owner and myself did a frame off resto on it in the early nineties, after
the purchase of about 12,000 dollars worth of nos GM parts from the dealer. It has only been driven about 10,000 miles in the last twenty years and currently has 48,000 miles
on it. The body has never had a speck of rust on it anywhere nor has it ever had so much as a door ding in it since it was new. I purchased the car for my wife in 2000 when she decided she wanted an old car to have fun with. Watch for a feature on this car in Hemmings Muscle Machines in the near future......they did a shoot
on the car last fall and it should see print in the near future.

here are more pics......

Very nice car! The block heater cracks me up ;-)

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

Nice car cruiser and a very unusual color combo. Not sure I've ever seen one like it...

I had a block heater too on my 75 Lemans Sport. The car was bought in North Dakota, so it made sense. I bought the car there and drove it to where I live in the Atlanta area. I used the block heater on a couple of cold winters and could tell a difference when starting in subfreezing weather. But, it became a problem, since the thing is installed in a freeze plug hole in the driver side of the block. Mine blew out of the hole while I was driving on the interstate, losing all my coolant and causing me to have to go through alot to get the car home. Fortunately,after I got it home, I was able to reach the hole and install a freeze plug without moving the engine. Had to make a special driver tool to reach the hole to drive in the plug, and removed the starter to have room. After seeing how the block heater was installed, I wouldn't want another one.

Definitely a nice and good looking car. I've seen a couple of white with red ones on the internet, and they were sharp too.

I think most people at car shows don't consider anything after the early 70's as having any performance image. And alot of them don't know anything but Chevys. I admit that I have only been into Pontiacs for the last 10 years, so I didn't know much about them until I got one either. The 403's don't have a good reputation for performance, even though I know they are good running engines. But, I've always liked the 79 TA styling since they were new. So, like you, I don't care what others think about them...I like them. That just leaves more for us :) . So, I've collected 3 79's and 1 81 over the last 6 years. 2 of them run, and they all need fixing up, but I got 'em. Car show reaction may not be great, but when I drive one of my worn out looking drivers, I still get good reaction on the street and at the gas station.

My Can Am has a factory block heater. The car was originally sold new in Iowa.

That's not a block heater, it's an electric Trans Am, precursor to the Chevy Volt. http://www.smilieshq.com/smilies/happy0193.gif

My '79 S.E. car draws a nice crowd anytime I take it to the local Sat night show.
The reaction and puzzled look from folks when they notice the T/A-7.6 on the shaker is most enjoyable.
After a brief explanation and then opening the hood, it garners more attention.;)

When my daughter was driving the black 81 in high school she said lots of "old guys" would come up at the gas stations and tell her they had one and loved it. I never put the SE stripes on it eventhough it's an SE car. On the list to do maybe. Swapping a shaker hood on it instead to the Turbo Bulge.

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!

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....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...5/DSC02363.jpg

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 car:DSince 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.

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.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...0016comp-1.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...0007_2comp.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...0004_2comp.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...0021comp-1.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...0001_2comp.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...G_0071comp.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...G_0073comp.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...G_0091comp.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...G_0088comp.jpg

Warren

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

1979 Redesign
 

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