For motivation, its original owner was one of the 8,326 wise Trans Am buyers to snap up the remaining stockpiled L78/W72 400-cubic inch Pontiac engines. Though some 10,000 of the 400s were intended to be set aside for 1979 production, 1978 sales cut into that reserve, making the last of the lot a bit more rare.
Twisting the key to energize the HEI ignition via the heavy-duty battery, the venerable 6.6L breathes through a four-barrel Q-Jet perched atop a cast-iron intake with restricted diameter secondary openings. Valve events in the 8.0:1 compression ratio 6X cylinder heads are controlled by a dual-pattern cam providing 274/298-degrees duration and 0.364 inches of lift. A pair of 2.5-inch head pipes takes the exhaust gases from log manifolds down to the single catalytic converter before splitting back into two 2.25-inch pipes to twin resonators, and finally heading over the axle and out the splitter tailpipes.
VIN code Z in 1979 put a PWH-code...
VIN code Z in 1979 put a PWH-code L78 400-cubic inch Pontiac powerplant under the hood of Trans Ams and Formulas for the last time. This one has only had its coolant and oil changed. All else is said to be pure factory stock.
The rotational inertia generated by the 220-horsepower Pontiac mill is transferred from an 11-inch flywheel and clutch to a code M21 Borg Warner four-speed gearbox before hitting the pavement through Goodyear steel-belted radials via a set of 3.23 Safe-T-Track gears in the 2PP code rear axle.
Once the owner selected his powerplant option-a $90 expense-a further $434 was pried from his wallet in the form of the WS6 handling package. It consisted of the beautiful snowflake 15x8-inch rims, here trimmed in gold and shod with 225/70R15WL rubber, new-for-'79 4-wheel power disc brakes, specific rate shocks and springs, 1.25-inch (same as standard T/A) and 0.750-inch diameter front and rear antisway bars and a 14:1 constant-ratio power steering box.
The model base price on the sheet started at $6,515.45, but once the salesman tallied all the options, and destination and delivery fees, the original owner paid the grand sum of $8,430.55 to R.L. Brookdale Motors in Brookdale, Minnesota. Not 10th Anniversary Trans Am territory-which broke the $10,000 mark-but a princely enough price to be sure.
Awash in a sea of Carmine...
Awash in a sea of Carmine Red Lombardy velour and Mayan Red vinyl, the Trans Am's command central looks untouched from the day it left the factory.
When he first laid eyes on it 27 years later, Denny described it as a rare find, condition-wise. "It was garage stored; the interior was perfect. There was no bleaching or fading of the upholstery or headliner. There's no wear on the seats or the original floormats. All I had to do was some cleanup and detailing of the under-carriage and engine bay."
Little wonder, given that to date this Mayan Red piece of Pontiac history has only 3,000 miles on it. The engine and transmission have never been unbuttoned, save for fluid changes and the belts, hoses and air filter are all original. Denny pored over his assembly manuals to make sure that all such items bore their correct numbers/codes. Surprisingly, that dreaded affliction of most owners of Pontiacs has not reared its ugly head. "It doesn't leak one drop of oil. Now my Gold '79, that one gives me a tiny drip after I put it away," he points out.
The exterior, however, was a different story. "When I looked at it, I thought the red appeared to be a little dark," he says. In researching its past ownership-which puts Denny as the "unofficial" fourth owner-he learned that the dealer he purchased it from had never titled it. He was told by the second owner that, "he felt the red looked too orange," and that owner decided to respray it with a darker-tinted red. "At the time, the original paint had apparently been buffed out too much and was starting to wear through. When they did the paint work, they didn't do the jambs or anything like that, they just taped it off." In addition to the tape lines and mismatch, Denny also explained that some of the decals had also been reapplied in incorrect positions. "Otherwise, the quality of the paintwork, which had been done in lacquer, was really nice," he adds.