1979 Trans Am fast? Or fast for its day?

[Etherij]

I REALLY want to know, did the 1979 Trans Am with the 403 6.6l have any fast feel to it? I almost got one for graduation, BUT the guy wanted 10k for it when it had a numerous amounts of problems. Rusty exhaust pipes, rust build up underneath the paint in quite a few spots, hood would barely open, all the window seals were messed up, semi-torn dashboard, no original firebird on the hood, a leak in the main seal, and the motor had a good tone but sounded kinda rough. Who knows what's next to be replaced? Good gawd this guy wouldn't bring the price down any... and there it still sits in his driveway a few years later. Love my camaro

[Sir Nuke]

if it was in that bad a shape.....i would have passed. but in stock form, maybe it was fast IN ITS DAY, but a slug by comparison to our car now.....if fact an LT/RS now would have been able to take it in the long run.

[toesuf94]

I can tell you that I would highly doubt ANYTHING in 1979 was fast with all of the smog and pollution devices choking the horses before they could ever run. Hell, Dodge's little Red Express pickup was faster than a Corvette! I have always wanted the Firebird...black and gold please, just like Bandit 1...however, I don't think you could consider 185 horses and 320 ft/lbs in a 3,600 pound wrapper as fast.


I still want my chance to mimick the turn in which Bo and Frog slide that black Trans Am 100 feet sideways then take off down that dirt road to "play a little bridge"!

[2ndgenz28]

Originally Posted by toesuf94

I still want my chance to mimick the turn in which Bo and Frog slide that black Trans Am 100 feet sideways then take off down that dirt road to "play a little bridge"!

The trick to that is over inflating the tires

["prima"Donna]

I had a '76 Firebird back then, and for its time, it was FAST!!!

but, no comparison to my Camaro now......

[Etherij]

Originally Posted by toesuf94

I can tell you that I would highly doubt ANYTHING in 1979 was fast with all of the smog and pollution devices choking the horses before they could ever run. Hell, Dodge's little Red Express pickup was faster than a Corvette! I have always wanted the Firebird...black and gold please, just like Bandit 1...however, I don't think you could consider 185 horses and 320 ft/lbs in a 3,600 pound wrapper as fast.


I still want my chance to mimick the turn in which Bo and Frog slide that black Trans Am 100 feet sideways then take off down that dirt road to "play a little bridge"!

Yeah, I've always wanted to take an older muscle car down a dirt road and tear it up! I just recently saw the specs online and I thought the websites were kidding when they said 185 hores. I'm sure it sounded good though, its kinda like trucks these days... most are just loud and, don't go any where!

[SC2150]

Not fast, and not fast for the day.

Now a 72-73 SD 455 was unbelievable!!!

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by Sir Nuke

if it was in that bad a shape.....i would have passed. but in stock form, maybe it was fast IN ITS DAY, but a slug by comparison to our car now.....if fact an LT/RS now would have been able to take it in the long run.

Long run, short run or any run, a V6 5th Gen would drop a stock 79 T/A like a bad habit.

Great looking cars, but not fast by any stretch of the imagination.

[Xanthos]

***DISCLAIMER: I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this link***

Here's the list I use to get a rough idea of how older cars stack up. http://www.albeedigital.com/supercou...0-60times.html

It lists the 79 T/A as 6.7 0-60, 14.7 1/4 mile. Not terrible but not great either.
- X

[brandotron]

Originally Posted by Rogue Leader

Long run, short run or any run, a V6 5th Gen would drop a stock 79 T/A like a bad habit.

Great looking cars, but not fast by any stretch of the imagination.

[Skyblu]

my sister had one, seemed like it had get up a go but not fast. It was neat to look at that was about it.

[FinMan]

I owned a 78 and a 79 Formula Firebird (same engines as the T/A but no screaming chicken on the hood). Fast for the day, but not fast for today.

[Bowtie Junkman]

The "6.6 Litre" was the 403 Olds motor .... the same one used in Delta 88's, 98's, Cadillacs and Custom Cruiser wagons .... definitely not the first to come to mind when thinking of "peformance" motors ...
I had a 78 T/A with the 400 Pontiac / 4-spd manual combo (denoted by "T/A 6.6" on the shaker) ... with a mild cam and good open exhaust, it ran very strong ... but definitely more of a "torque-monster" than it was "eye-ball flattening" horsepower ...
However, where that thing really shined was in the handling department ... with the WS6 suspension package and some KYB Gas-A-Just's it was killer! The sway bars on that thing are huge even by today's standards ...
But alas, technology has improved by leaps and bounds, and now I just smile at what I thought back then was "The S^*t" ....

[MikeSVX]

Originally Posted by Etherij

I REALLY want to know, did the 1979 Trans Am with the 403 6.6l have any fast feel to it? I almost got one for graduation, BUT the guy wanted 10k for it when it had a numerous amounts of problems. Rusty exhaust pipes, rust build up underneath the paint in quite a few spots, hood would barely open, all the window seals were messed up, semi-torn dashboard, no original firebird on the hood, a leak in the main seal, and the motor had a good tone but sounded kinda rough. Who knows what's next to be replaced? Good gawd this guy wouldn't bring the price down any... and there it still sits in his driveway a few years later. Love my 'Maro

Both. I think they majorly underrated it's power. it's rated at 275hp I believe. I know it launches nearly as hard as my Camaro and I have pushed it up into the vacinity of 150MPH before it scared me enough to back off and it was still pulling pretty good. My parents had one when I was 17 years old.

Of course my preception could have been a little scewwed. My daily driver back then was a 1969 Camaro with a 307ci and a powerglide. It took about 15 minutes to get to 105mph and then would start to fly off the ground.

10K for that condition is nutz FYI.