1979 10th Anniversary Trans Am by Big Chris 

Such fun cars

Yes they only made 7.500 of these. I had one. Like an idiot I sold it when I got married in 2000. It had 45,000 original miles and let it go for $5,500. Nobody wanted these cars then! The only TA's anyone wanted were 1974 and below. All of these are dogs. How can you de-tune a 403 big block to less than 190 HP?

G U GP - I agree with you, something is up here. Overall, he’s trying to ‘sell’ the car just a little too hard, esp. with too much detail. I’m not an expert, however, me/mates turned our attention to late F body TransAm’s after Capri Mk1b 3.0 GXL’s... I had a ‘79 model TransAm 403 3-sp auto and learned that 6.6 T/A shaker decal was for the 220 hp 400 Pontiac 4-sp man., 6.6 litre for the 185 hp 403 Olds 3-sp. I thought the presenter did say 185 hp correctly in the video, btw... Even as I write this, I remember responding to this post a year (or 3!) to remind folks:- As the F body was nearing its end, it’s reported/documented that when Pontiac ran out of some parts (esp. for limited editions like this) they would use the nearest alternative available ‘in stock’... Most famous is the diagonal inner fender struts; from mid-79 production, Pontiac fitted both sides with RH strut pressings; on the left they used RH strut pressing fitted upside down, facing down... So, it is POSSIBLE that both the shaker and sail panel decals on this car ARE factory fitted...

@@jeffreynolds3848 Chances are it's a repaint or something was done in the past.

Hi @ Google User GP! Glad to hear you’re still keeping a close eye on this story...! Hey, I agree with you that chances are it IS a repair/repaint because of something in the past. For me, I like to keep an open mind an explore all the possibilities. Truth is, I don’t even like settling on which of the possibilities because then the fascination ends...! Also, it is well documented what car-makers get up to - I even had my own experience of this. In the ‘80’s I got short-listed for plant manager at a GM plant here in U.K. - Vauxhall, in Luton, Beds. Part of the week(!) was to shadow one of the section managers on final assembly of Cavalier, when the line was stopped because a spot weld was missing on the battery tray stay on ALL the cars between the battery tray station and final assembly! Before I got quickly shuffled away, I got to see this fault close up and it was bad! I’ve always wondered how those 100’s of Cavaliers and their ‘fix’ ended up...

Michael Lindquist - ‘sorry for long delay; ‘just happened on this post on 5 Sep ‘20... You’re quite right & this is very, very odd for a car that otherwise presents (well!) as described, incl. the identifying 4-speed manual trans., oil filler, etc. There’s another decal that is not ‘correct’; the eagle between door glass and rear glass is not standard. I also question something he said re: rear indicators. The build sheet I found behind the back seat of my Nov 78 built 79 model L80 (403/3spd) TransAm confirmed my car had been built for sale in U.K., but there were no changes to front or rear indicators on my TA. Back to the shaker decal... With the planned change to the L80 Olds 403/3sp auto for ‘79, in ‘78 Pontiac over-produced & stockpiled’ around 7,800 220hp/4sp man eng/trans to be fitted as an option to any Formula 400 or TransAm(incl. 10th Anniv) on a first come, first served basis until this stock ran out. 1,817 only of the 7,500 10th Anniv. TA’s produced were 220hp/4sp’s under this scheme...! Thereafter, only the L80 was available. I’m wondering if Pontiac ran out of the T/A 6.6 shaker decals before they ran out of 400/4sp ‘s...?!

@@jeffreynolds3848 No. Either it was a mistake at the assembly plant or it was repainted and the wrong decal was used.

@@googleusergp - thanks for your response! I admire that you’re so emphatic with your ‘No’. I agree that your suggestions are possible options (that I had also considered and decided not to include), but think these are less likely:- The mistake at assembly during assembly would be a pretty big mistake in the first place, and even bigger ‘miss’ by Quality Control - unless it was deliberate, as I suggested... Similarly, it would be pretty ‘big’ to make the same mistake to make after re-painting (which I question after all presented in the post). Folks with any interest in 25th Anniversary Trans Ams would steer a country mile away from making this kind of mistake or be accused of mis-representing the engine for the higher value option. Finally, Pontiac assembly have form on deliberately using alternate parts when stocks ran out of the preferred item. For example, one of the braces from the radiator clip to inner front fender ran out of production/stock. Final Assembly used the other hand fitted upside down to complete the last of 79 model year production... All of this to inform; I’m open to those who are better informed than me, which wouldn’t take a lot, lol...!

@@jeffreynolds3848 That's not entirely correct. GM does have alternate suppliers, but it's likely a mistake was made or this vehicle isn't as original as it seems to be. GM assembled these in both Norwood, OH and Van Nuys, CA. Van Nuys was a troublesome plant with poor quality workers who were often high and drunk, so to them, 6.6 LITRE, T/A 6.6, same thing. LOL. Both plants were assembling these as fast as they could, so quality control wasn't something that was held in high regard. If it had a decal, great. No one probably checked that closely to know if it was right or wrong. My '80 Trans Am has a "4 Wheel Disc" sticker on the right door handle, and the car isn't a four wheel disc car. My parents bought it new in 1980 and I went with them to buy it. It had that decal on the showroom floor. It was indeed a factory error.

Very well

403's were good engines. you have no idea what youre talking about.

john dillinger it's all up to opinion, I'm not into arguments, the 403 was great in a Oldsmobile, not very desirable in a Trans Am, they were under powered, and believe me, if I didn't know what I was talking about, but could read, and check values on cars, not real desirable in a Pontiac, and I do know what I'm talking about

john dillinger and one more thing, why do you think, Pontiac put a Oldsmobile motor in a Trans Am? Cause we needed something else to run like a Delta 88? Cause the Oldsmobile motor was better emissions wise, California wouldn't pass the Pontiac, since I don't know what I'm talking about, no disrespect, it's car talk, I would never tell someone you don't know what your talking about, unless I researched a little more, the olds ran cleaner, at about 20 hp less than the anemic 79 400 motor, which sucked, compared to a 71 400,

@@pontiacgrandprix733 all late 70s trans ams were slugs.it didnt matter what engine came in them.

john dillinger absolutely that's something we both agree on, even my 73 455 motor, it's a torque monster, but horsepower was diluted after 71, have a good night

400 Pontiac V8.

john dillinger Hot Rod magazine recorded a 14.6 quarter back in 79 with the 400/ 4speed manual stock. Some were fast the automatic added a second to that time. The ones with Olds 403 were 16sec cars.

@@dougsmith7908 i highly doubt the 4 speed was faster than the automatic.I have never seen a road test of one of these cars new where they did faster than low 15's

john dillinger do the research man back in the 60s/70s manuals were much faster. Look up the real road tests with a 4 speed manual , 400 V8 , 3.23 gears and WS6 package . They all ran mid to high 14s stone stock with the right options! I evaluated them . 79 TA was no slouch.

@@johndillinger8482 It was not only faster, it was more desirable.

@@dougsmith7908 that's total bullshit.manuals were slower than autos.