1979 Pontiac Trans Am - Matt Garrett

1979 Pontiac Trans Am. 14K Original Miles 6.6 Liter, Auto, G80 Posi, REAL WS6 4 wheel disk car, Rare Atlantis Blue, Loaded, Special Order Car.... with Radio Delete. First....If you follow my cars and my history... these cars are really a car I know like the back of my hand. I ate, slept and breathed these things back in the day. I know them well enough to never want another again if its not damn near brand new and unmolested........ With that said, this car retains 100% original Day 1 paint on it. I am talking the paint the Norwood factory put on it... Not some "under warranty repaint" car either like many get away with calling original. Its the real deal original... And for being original it is NICE! Its as least as good as my 1000 mile 10th Anniversary 79 but I think its a much better color than silver too. It retains its original exhaust system, catalytic converter, belts, hoses. even the water pump has some how survived where my 10th did not and I replaced it. The tires are not the ones the car came with, but better yet, they are more of a timepiece than the originals. They are 1980 Corvette 255/60 15 Eagle GTs. If you bought a 79 TA new and had any money left over, this is what you put on the car as the Eagle took tires to a new level when these came to market, and the look these give the car was so good it was the tire of choice in 1981 on the WS6 TA. These original Eagle tires are harder to find than the 225/70 15 polysteel tires the car came with. This entire car was the king of its breed in the day, driven lightly for about a year new and put away as a collector/toy since then. All docs, all history with it and more. It is a true time piece left over from many of our youths just as it was in 79.

I have this car because it is one of the finest original TAs I have ever encounter NOT being a brand new 10th. As you may have seen, I have a brand new 10th Anniversary... Many collectors do. They were a car that was often saved as new by collectors and there are many good ones alive today.... But try and find anything like this Atlantis Blue car here is not as easy. If you think you have found it, it probably will be far from honest. The original owner had this, a 10th and an 79Z too... all new... This is the one I wanted... He was a car dealer/collector too.. so the car has had the right home.. not a mom/pop throw in the garage and forget car. This car is a rare bird for sure and the color is also quite attractive. In fact its a car that people really just fall all over. This sitting next to my 10th, they dont even see the 10th. This car was special ordered as you can see on the build sheet and window sticker. It has options like the HD Cooling 4 core radiator, HD alternator, all the TA luxury options, cruise, T-Tops, and most important the WS6 package with the 4 wheel disk brakes, larger sway bars, tighter springs, quicker steering ratio and of course the easily to fake on many but original to this car, the attractive 15x8 Honeycomb wheels that have NOT been restored. What this car did not get was a radio... It is a factory RADIO DELETE car.

Other than this car being original, being a true timepiece collector that was cared for all of its life, never neglected, never forgotten, multiple show winner history and more; It is also an equal timepiece to what was the envy of all car audiophiles of the era. Put in new was the famed KPX-9000 Pioneer Component Supersystem of 1978/79. This was not the cheap kid stuff... this was Pioneer Component... if you don't remember what that is, I will remind you a massive description below. It was about 15% the price of the car new! It is done just like factory. This was a no expense spared addition in the day done as tastefully as the factory would have done it.

The combination of this car being original, and as nice as any 14K mile perfectly save car could ever be, being a fully loaded car with every option... some that very few cars got like the WS6, HD cooling and more, being a stunning and rare color, having a 6.6 Engine, T-tops... then having the car all stock, really puts this car in a category I have not had a long time in my collection.... Something I actually have a hard time staying out of. I would put this car as the #1 coolest car in my collection right now.

CLICK ANY PHOTO FOR AN EXTREME BLOW UP!

One of the best looking, if not the best looking F-Body ever done.

All original car, paint, interior, belts, hoses and more

Original exhaust, mufflers, catalytic converter and all.

Click any photo for blow up. Original WS6 car with 4 wheel disks and all the WS6 suspension hardware.

Perfect nose, all original headlamps..... what else should you expect!

This car had trans am mud flaps on it all its life too. I took them off but I dont move it much. Not a rock chip anywhere.

Under hood incredible. Note all the tags, markings, hoses, clamps, etc. This is NOT a restoration.

Original belts, hoses, water pump... everything. Zoom in on AC... You will see the condensation.

Nothing altered, nothing touched up... nothing out of place.

This is original... Not your typical F-Body "Cad magic" painted booster, etc. Note the tag on the master cyl.

Yes it works and it is R12. In case there are any questions, yes that is condensation you see there on the dryer and low side.

Original water pump. This is what amazed me. I had to change the one on my 1000 mile 10th.

Original plug wires, breather hoses and all.

Delco Freedom Battery.... No this is not original... Cant be.... Impossible to get one to last 4+ decades.... but this is a topper I contracted to make using the original dead delco. They are now sold on Ebay. This was the first.

Straight as an arrow. Side molding is factory as noted on window sticker and this is NOT the rivet type.

This should be a reference to all those that misplace this sail panel bird in their "original" restorations. This is where it should be... This is original.

The dual pin stripe is added and is tape. Also done when new and very correct to the style on the 10th.

Note the perfect hood bird and the prized 255/60 15 Eagle GTs. Find a set of those now!

Zoom in.

9400.00.... A fully loaded 10th was 10,500.00. This car was a RADIO DELETE. So you see how loaded this car really is compared.

15K original miles

Factory Ratchet Shifter.... not many people knew how to use these or even knew they had it on the good optioned cars; http://allgentransams.com/tech/gen2/intior_ratchet_shifter.html

BELOW

Vintage Pioneer Super Tuner Component Supersystem!

Ok purists and original fiends, here is a catch 22 for you that will certainly put you in a quandary. You may even be saying "boo" right now... but read on a little. As said above and as noted on the window sticker and build sheet, this car has ever option you can get.... BUT is a RADIO DELETE car.. It was ordered just that way with an intention.... And the intention was the absolute best one the world had to offer, money no object. Installed new in 1979, and still as new, is a complete top of the line Pioneer Super Tuner Component Super System. If you were into car stereos in 70's, prior CD days and late 8 track days, you may know that this Component Super System was the dream of every person wanting the best of the best with money no object. And today, the quality of this system is VERY hard to rival... Yea I know sure..... But really, if you think I am a little green in what I am saying.... This is my other hobby; http://www.mcsmk8.com/system1/MAVICA.HTM Thus this system is attractive to me as the car.

When I was cruising in the late 70's in my old Pontiac, you knew when you came up to a car with one of these systems in it. They were the only ones of that era that had really good sound. On top of sounding good, they could also be very loud while still sounding very good. This was a very new experience in those days as most every car stereo was pure junk and the young generation of the day would lay them over so hard into clipping, they were pure distortion on top of the junk. Kraco, Audiovox, Blaupunkt, Clarion, Craig, lesser Pioneer and more were all the rage of the day with the privileged kids that had these cars. Speakers laid up on the package trey, speakers cut in the doors, radio station bumper and window stickers and more reading; Zeppelin, Van Halen, Bowie, AC/DC... the whole gamut that both you and I listen to still, but wont stick on our cars. But there were very few "kids" with this system. They all wanted this... and their parents may have paid 7-8K for a car for them... but adding another 1500 on for a stereo is where they cut little Billy off. Still there were lots of kids with Trans Ams, few were really loaded though. This Pioneer line was the predecessors of the mega systems you would spend 10s of 1000s today to have. There are no things like subs on these... but you will swear its there. The technology of the Super Tuner is what went into later factory radios, stereos and more. The bi-amp design was the first of its type in a car. The pre-only head unit was also the first of its type. Although this is a very conservative stereo today in this car compared to what some people do crazy, it was the highest quality money could buy in those days with a true 120 Watt RMS (real rating some would call 1000 today) out of the massive Pioneer GM-120 on the rear and 40W RMS on the smaller Pioneer GM-40 front amps. This system also boasts the rare dual amp Balancer unit CD-606 and its a 6 channel separate system with the 5 component pieces. Each piece was its own part of the total system all connected by a big Pioneer DIN plug to the other pieces. There are 5 separate components to this system consisting of the head unit, 3 amps and the amp balancer all discretely mounted under the seats... with NO adverse wiring, rigs, cuts, or taps done by the best in the day. In the Pioneer Component family, nothing could work on its own without the other and nothing worked with any other brand, much less the lesser Pioneer models the layman will often mistake for the same things as a the Component. Thus it was called the Pioneer Component Super system. This is the KPX-9000 Super Tuner Cassette Component head unit... some brochures are here for it below... Since I have been able to demo this system in all its glory, many that I have shown this to are all wanting to piece together one for their trans ams, etc... but its NOT easy to find or cheap. Yes I could easily put a stock radio in this car... put original grills on the back, call it all original to you and no one would be the wiser... but this is the best of the era and it is as authentic as the car and it actually IS original to 79 as it was done new.

This is the system I wish I could afford in those days, It was a good 15% of the price of this car to have it then...... but as life goes, I could only afford it 30 years later, ironically when it cost even more! Only thing lacking that many want on a high end system is a CD of course. It can be added actually in the inputs, but I leave it alone.. as this is as correct to the car and era as the car is as correct of an original Trans Am as there ever was. Although electronics has come a long way since this stuff was made, build quality has gone way down. I can tell you that car build quality has gone WAY up since this trans am was made... but as far as these high end electronics... Its the dead opposite, especially on the amps...and the sound this stuff creates is still hard to rival. Really... you just have to experience it to know. Keep in mind my limo has the best modern Pioneer head unit, 4 BIG Fosgate amps, 8 speakers, 2 12" subs, 21" drop down DVD all hidden in it, a price tag of over 7K in that.... The limo has a good SPL... so does this... but this sounds better.. actually a lot better. Due to that aspect and just the nostalgia of this system, people in the know are going back with this equipment in many vintage restorations making the Vintage Pioneer Component line probably the only car audio equipment that is worth as much now if not more than it was new. Just do not confuse a regular Pioneer with one of these Component System pieces... It is nothing the same... It would be like mistaking a 4.9 trans am for a 6.6... actually more drastic.

Keep in mind, that price above does not include the GM-120 Amp below, another GM-40 and a CD-606 Amp Balancer... OR speakers/installation!

The Pioneer KPX-9000.

Factory mounting positions, no cuts... OEM grills can go over these actually, but will limit the articulation and sound of this system.

Antenna.NOT STOCK. Since it was a Radio Delete car there was no antenna. Not in the window either. This is where it was put. Actually good position when you look it over.

This car has the additional entry lights too and map lights.

These are steel grilles.... not the plastic you think. They are some high quality stuff. I thought about putting OEM over them... but no.. This is nice.

Original mufflers, cat and entire exhaust. Note the LSD tag and WS6 rear bar.

Original exhaust splitters and everything. Note the tags on the leaf springs.

Spot above is dirt on lens.

Click Here for TONS of info on my 10th,and My Trans Am Story!

Thank you for visiting;

Click here for My Car Hobby Home Page

You can email me at Cadillacman@mcsmk8.com