Rare 1979 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400 4-Speed
Thanks to the success of the Burt Reynolds click, Smokey and the Bandit, the Pontiac Trans Am was a best-seller in the late 1970s. It peaked at 117,000 units in 1979 as people couldn’t get their fill of the “Black Trans Am” that Sheriff Buford T. Justice was chasing throughout the South. A downside of the Trans Am’s popularity was that the other performance Firebird – the Formula – saw its demand peak that year, too. The seller’s ’79 Formula has a 400 cubic inch V8 and looks like a survivor-quality car, but just about everything mechanical has been rebuilt or replaced.
While 24,850 Formulas were built in 1979, only a few hundred came with the 400 “big block” and a 4-speed manual transmission. So that makes the seller’s car a rare find today. After this model year, Firebirds were seriously weened off high performance and even the Trans Am would have to make do with a 301 V8. While the Trans Am’s 301 had a 4-barrel carburetor, the standard engine in the Formula was the 301 with a 2-barrel, which we understand was rather anemic. So, if you’re looking for a pre-1980 Formula or Trans Am, the 1979 models are your last chance.
We’re told this Pontiac is numbers matching and the automobile is backed up by documentation from PHS. Given the equipment on this car and its various options (like T-Tops), the seller says this is a 1 of 1 machine. It comes with the W56 Special Performance Package, 4-wheel disc brakes (factory, not aftermarket), a Hurst shifter, and air conditioning (which has been converted to R134A – go green!). The gold paint is original, too, though after 45 years the plastic pieces don’t quite match the color of the metal ones. The interior is nice, but the front bucket seats look dirty.
The seller says that $20,000 has been put into the car to get it into the shape it’s in today at 96,000 miles. That includes a rebuild of both the engine and transmission, and a bunch of new stuff like the gas tank, exhaust, brakes, tires, and even the headlights. All of this is impressive, but also suggests the car was dormant or little used in recent years. Located in Thousand Oaks, California, the asking price here on craigslist is $25,995. The seller maintains that it could be an $80,000 car according to book value. That sounds quite ambitious. Kudos to Tony Primo for another great tip!
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Comments
My roommate ordered a 78 Formula new. Special order consisting of: No Formula stripes, 403 engine, solid white, blue velour interior, white wheels/mags, standard steering wheel. Most definitely a one of one. Stayed in West Texas for 5 years, began to rust badly around wheel arches. He sold it and purchased a new Honda Accord.
Good call on his part…I’d take the Honda any day over the Pontiac with a lame Olds 403 boat anchor in it.
Heavy beasts at 3700lbs.. this Formula version is the best looking in my opinion, but wouldn’t turn down a TA built like this 😃
Its equipped with the best pkg.
Hi-po 400 4-Barrel, 4speed, 3.23 positrac gear ⚙️ 4 wheel discs.
Seats “dirty” is an understatement. What in the world?
Cannot recall ever seeing automobile seats this black and greasy.
Yikes
I don’t believe that the seats are dirty or greasy – the upholstery material is just flat worn out. Pontiac called it “hobnail cloth” and was part of the optional “custom” interior. In this case, the tan (Pontiac called it “camel”) tufts of velour have worn off, exposing the black base material – it was really nice looking when new, as you can tell from the first two rows of the surviving hobnail material visible on the console side of the driver’s seat cushion. My first new car was a ’79 Trans Am, black on black, silver trim, 403, auto., WS6, NO T-Tops, and hobnail cloth interior. I traded it after four years and 47K miles, and if the seats were worn, it hasn’t noticeable.
I had a 1978 Bonneville moons ago with this fabric. This is just how it aged buddy!
Cool and unique car. Not sold new in California. It would be nice to know where it was originally sold and how long it stayed there and if there is undercarriage rust/corrosion.
Steve R
The time when this had the potential to be an $80,000 car has passed.
The seats are definitely dirty, but their appearance is mostly due to the nap wearing off.
Seller says he put $20,000 into the car, but couldn’t put in another $200 to steam clean the seats!
A Ziebarted (door jams) car from California? That car was sold in another state, be my guess. New cloth seat covers would make a big difference.
You also couldn’t get a 4spd in California in these years.
Steve R
Holy mismatched paint. Nevermind the seats, I’d like to know where the money was spent on this. Paint and interior were apparently not on that list.
Very rare spec for sure. For 1979 Pontiac only had about 1800 Pontiac L78 400’s that mated exclusively to the 4-speed manual box left. The majority of the 1800 went into Trans Am’s including the 10th Anniversary TA’s. Early in the model year I tried ordering a L78 manual Formula but all the engines were already gone. I ended up buying a dealer stock Trans Am but really wanted the black Formula with no stripes and no rear spoiler I’d originally spec’d. This is a rare car and unless there’s hidden rust looks like it would cleans up nicely.
Before the advent of water-based automotive paint, it was necessary to add a flexing agent to the paint for soft parts like this car’s urethane bumpers. Unfortunately, that flex agent could also affect color and shine, particularly with metallic colors, meaning that it wasn’t unusual to find a car with mismatched soft parts sitting on the showroom floor. Age had a tendency to amplify the problem, so this could easily be original paint.
This one’s a keeper.
Rebuilt engine & new gas tank at 96k miles?
My ’74 bird with 400 eng & 250k miles does not smoke or tick, has original gas tank & only has had timing chain replaced.
& when i bought it used in ’78 with 43k miles, the motor oil was black & oil filter was very dirty on the outside..