Today Feb. 18, marks the official unveiling date of the 1979 Tenth Anniversary Trans Am. On that day it was the pace car for the Daytona 500.
Production started in early January and ran into early May of 1979. They were available to dealers Feb 1. Total production was set at 7500 units of which 1817 were manual transmission 5683 were automatics. There were no available options as the car was fully loaded. With the purchase of the manual transmission the cruise control was eliminated.
Pricing by comparison:
Tenth Anniversary Trans Am $10,619.
Base Firebird $4824.
Trans Am $6299.
Corvette $10,200.
Fleetwood Cadillac $13,000.
Lincoln Continental $16,000.
These were not inexpensive automobiles. Something not thought about was that the prime lending rate was at a near all time high of 16% or more. In 1980 it reached its highest point ever of 20.5% which means that it was even more expensive to finance this car!
Jimmy Carter was President of the United States.
Pittsburgh was the city of champions as the Pirates won the world series that year and the Steelers won the super bowl.
Terry Bradshaw of the Steelers was given a Tenth Anniversary Trans Am for being MVP of the super bowl. I have read that he later traded the car for a horse.
Top 10 movies of 1979:
1-Superman
2-The Amityville Horror
3-Rocky II (which featured a Trans Am)
4-Star Trek
5-Apocalypse Now
6-The Muppet Movie
7-The Jerk
8-Moonraker
9-Alien
10-10
In regards to the Daytona 500, the race was significant in its own right. It was the first Daytona 500 to be a televised broadcast from flag to flag. Also the first to use in car cameras.
The race came down to the last lap with Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison running neck and neck with a commanding lead. The two cars became entangled with an ensuing crash, Richard Petty passed and was the winner driving an Oldsmobile.
A fight broke out between Yarborough and Allison as a result!
