51,712 Miles/2 Owners/403ci V8/TH350 Auto

1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Special Edition

For consignment, not as 'loud' as the Gold Special Edition Trans Am, and not quite as menacing as the Bandit Edition Trans Am, not as bedecked as the Silver 10th Anniversary car, this 51,712 title verified mile Special Edition black beauty combines a typical Pontiac attitude with a refined look that was way ahead of its time.  Brought to our Hallowed Halls by the 2nd owner, who purchased it from the original owner after the car was parked in a garage in 1988.  As the story goes, the original owner had quite the trophy wife and she was made to feel uncomfortable, always being hit on while behind the wheel.  Complete with the “screaming chicken” on the hood, not as huge as the 10th Anniversary bird, and all nicely preserved, we give you an interesting power plant, original interior, rust free version of the 1979 Trans Am, and the last gasp of muscle car freedom for the 1970's.

Exterior
Finished in the factory correct code 19, Starlite Black bathes the exterior of this 51,712 original mile car.  It will stand out in a crowd, and with the brown, gold, beige, and gray screaming chicken decal, gold and brown decal badging and gold snowflake wheels we have a first-place winner.  All fender flaring and neoprene bumpers are matching the body black and a rear spoiler looks fab.  With only a few dings, bubbles, scuffs and runs as well as numerous chips, and a small spot of surface rust are noted throughout the body.  Up top we see the black smoked Hurst style T-top roof.  All trimmings for the windows are in black and present nicely.  A shaker opening with the scoop looking out through the hole in the hood, badged 6.6 Litre, a clue to what lurks beneath the long lean hood.  And bottoming it off are the gold snowflake style wheels which are wrapped in 225/70SR15 radials all around.  A survivor original car except for possibly the paint, presenting just fab thanks to the dealer installed rustproofing!

Interior
Buckskin is the color motif for the interior chosen because not only does it match the decaling, but also provides the perfect contrast to the black.  Swinging the long doors and getting past the Buckskin colored vinyl door panels showing power lock and a side view mirror toggle, we are greeted with high back buckets in front and a 2 plus 2 bench for the back.  These seats are all in worn condition and show in Hobnail cloth with slightly darker tan inserts with a dark brown small square pattern, which seamlessly melt into light tan bolsters in velour with some butterscotch colored piping as a highlighter.  The rear tubs for the buckets are showing this same motif as well.  Racing toward the dash is a buckskin plastic console with a small glovebox, power window toggles, and the automatic shifter.  This meets up to the dash with a small storage cubby and the factory AM/FM/Cassette stereo.  Upfront a gold circle machined aluminum dash houses black faced original gauges.  This car comes with the removable Hurst hatch roof panels, air conditioning, tilt steering wheel, and rear defogger.  Buckskin colored deep pile carpeting floods the floors and shows with some soiling as well as color fade.  Within the black felt lined trunk is a full size spare, the jack and black GM t-top bags. 

Drivetrain
A lift of the long bird dressed hood reveals a pleasant but puzzling surprise.  A correct and original appearing 403ci Oldsmobile V8 rests between the fenders. This blue painted mill is topped with a 4bbl carburetor and requisite Shaker assembly atop the fender ducted air cleaner.  Bolted to the back of this mill is a correct TH350 3-speed automatic which sends power back to a 10-bolt rear axle with 3.23 gears.  Now here's the puzzling part...the unit number in this car's VIN is 130164.  Both the engine and transmission are wearing partial stampings from car number 130163.  After consulting with my crack decoder we cannot call this car numbers matching, but it does make for an interesting story as none of us were on the assembly line the day this car was built.  Was 130163's body damaged and pulled from the line, or possibly the employee who stamped the drivetrain forgot to change the stamp number?  Maybe there was a paperwork SNAFU....the world may never know.

Undercarriage
Up in the air the underside looks very nice with slight surface rust on the usual suspension subjects and drivetrain, but the floor pans and seat tub looks like new.  We do note some rust bubbling behind the rear bumper in the rear steel panel but all else remains solid.  Power disc brakes are on the front and in the rear we see standard power drum brakes.  An independent coil spring suspension works with a leaf sprung rear arrangement to keep this wild bird on the road.  A stock dual exhaust remains and presents with rusted out mufflers.  

Drive-Ability
Slipping into this car was a time capsule ride harkening back to the Smokey and the Bandit days of the late 70's.  She fired right up and performed swimmingly on our test track.  All functions save were wonderfully working including the power windows performing flawlessly.  Of special note, very few creaks or rattles were heard on our drive, a rarity for a 2nd generation F-body car.

2 owners, low miles, an original interior, and retaining all of its late 1970's charm, this screaming chicken bedecked black beauty will have you longing for the days of yore.  It still looks great, drives smoothly and is a great car to take to a show, or just go for a Sunday drive (remember those?).