The Pontiac Firebird is an American automobile that was built and produced by Pontiac from the 1967 to 2002 model years. Designed as a pony car to compete with the Ford Mustang and Mercury Cougar, it was introduced on February 23, 1967, simultaneous with GM's Chevrolet division platform-sharing Camaro. This also coincided with the release of the 1967 Mercury Cougar, Ford's upscale, platform-sharing version of the Mustang.

The name "Firebird" was also previously used by GM for the General Motors Firebird in the 1950s and early 1960s concept cars.

Second generation (1970–1981)

The second-generation debut for the 1970 model year was delayed until February 26, 1970, because of tooling and engineering problems; thus, its popular designation as a 1970½ model, while leftover 1969s were listed in early Pontiac literature without a model-year identification. This generation of Firebirds were available in coupe form only; after the 1969 model year, convertibles were not available until 1989.

1979

1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans AM, in T-top and coupe versions
The front end was restyled for 1979, which also marked the 10th anniversary of the Trans Am. A limited-edition anniversary package was made available: platinum silver paint with charcoal gray upper paint accents and mirrored t-tops, and a special interior featuring silver leather seats with custom-embroidered Firebird emblems and aircraft-inspired red lighting for the gauges. The 10th-anniversary cars also featured special 10th-anniversary decals, including a Firebird hood decal that extended off of the hood and onto the front fenders. Pontiac produced 7,500 10th anniversary cars, of which 1,817 were equipped with the high-output Pontiac T/A 6.6 W72 400 engine, the last of the line of the Pontiac large displacement V8 engines (and coupled with the four-speed Borg Warner Super T-10 manual transmission). The only option on these cars was the engine (the 400 was not certified for California, nor was cruise control available with it), which dictated the transmission and the gear ratio (3.23 on the 400 cars, 2.73 on the cars with the Oldsmobile-produced 403 engine and the TH350 automatic transmission). Two 10th Anniversary Trans Ams were the actual pace cars for the 1979 Daytona 500, which has been called the race that made NASCAR. Car and Driver magazine named the Trans Am with the WS6 performance package the best handling car of 1979. During period dyno testing, the National Hot Rod Association rated the limited-availability T/A 6.6 high-output Pontiac 400 engine at 260–280 net horsepower, which was significantly higher than Pontiac's conservative rating of 220 hp. In 1979 Pontiac sold 116,535 Trans Ams, the highest sold in a year.

1979 PONTIAC FIREBIRD TRANS AM

• CLEAN CA TITLE
• LS1 FUEL INJECTION V8 ENGINE WITH 4K MILES
• AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
• POWER STEERING, POWER BRAKES
• REPROGRAMMED ECU
• NEW BRAKES; FRONT DISC BRAKES
• NEW EXHAUST
• DIGITAL GAUGES
• POWER WINDOWS
• STEREO SYSTEM
• WELL MAINTAINED, GARAGE KEPT
• RUNS AND DRIVES