1979 PONTIAC 10TH ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITION TRANS AM

DOES READING THE NEWS make your head hurt? It could be worse. Like 1979 worse, for instance. Here are just a few of the top headlines from 40 years ago: a partial reactor meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant; an energy crisis that rocked the U.S. economy; 52 Americans were held hostage in Iran; and if that weren’t enough, an out-of-control space station made a nosedive back to Earth. (NASA couldn’t say where it was going to land exactly, but was keeping its fingers crossed that it didn’t hit you or your house.)

ENGINE

In stock, well-maintained condition the 403 Oldsmobile 6.6. Litre and the Pontiac 400 T/A 6.6 are almost boringly reliable but gutsy performers… by mid-to-late-1970s standards. The 403 wasn’t designed to make a lot of horsepower and the block has some inherent weaknesses, but it can be coaxed to run better. The 400, on the other hand, is eager to make more horsepower and there are plenty of options for doing that. From a price and value standpoint, the 400 is also the leader, and the only way to get a factory manual transmission in these cars.

TRANSMISSION AND AXLE

The 403 was paired only with the Turbo Hydra-Matic