“STROKE ME STROKE ME…..STROKKKKE” the music blares through the speakers as I violently nod my head fore-aft, my mullet moving like a rabid raccoon and my left hand making the rock on sign high in the sky out of my driver’s window. My right hand has two fingers on the wheel of my 6.6-liter 1979 Pontiac Trans Am V8 with the legendary screaming chicken on its hood. Feeling like a total boss, I slam the accelerator as the light turns green and…almost nothing happens. My bright yellow sports car accelerates gingerly and quietly through the intersection; an old lady in a Toyota Avalon blows my doors off.
This is the 1979 Pontiac Trans Am in a nutshell. Its over-the-top design writes checks the car does not cash. Despite being well acquainted with the Malaise Era in American car history and how emissions regulations and high gas prices yielded all-show-no-go cars like this Trans Am, I still found myself surprised by the contrast.
[Welcome to Trade-In Tuesday, a weekly series where David drives a cool car that Galpin Motors is selling. Why am I writing about myself in the third person? Who knows… -DT]
I mean, look at this car. Everything about it exudes SPEED. From the huge hoodscoop touting the V8’s “6.6 Litre” displacement:
To the truly perfect mag wheels, that big chin spoiler, and that giant fender duct:
To that awesome trunklid spoiler to the dual exhaust to the sleek, hidden fuel filler between the wide, aggressive taillights:
And of course, to the screaming chicken:
There are very few cars in this world that scream “I’M FAST!” as loudly as the Pontiac Trans Am does, and yet, when you lift the door handle labeled “4 Wheel Disc” you don’t enter a blacked out, rock ‘n roll cabin with heavily bolstered sports seats and a funky shifter, you enter what feels more like a Swedish lounge:
Everything is brown, the seats give off a twead-suit vibe, the polished aluminum dashboard (edit: As reader LTDScott points out, this dash is called “engine turned”) is the same as was on my 1979 Jeep Cherokee, and the tall automatic shifter looks like it would be at home in a conversion van.
I don’t mind that, really. I like it when a car is sporty on the outside and be a bit more refined inside (my BMW i3S is similar), and I have to give the Trans Am high marks for general comfort. Those seats are great, those crotch vents lead to elite-levels of testicular comfort thanks to an AC system that blows cubes while probably robbing far too much horsepower from the engine, and the power steering is pure butter.
In truth, everything about the way the Trans Am drives is pure butter. The 6.6-liter (403 cubic-inch) Oldsmobile V8 — which Car and Driver described as a “basic utility other that [lends] low-end oomph to other basic utility devices such as Catalina and Bonneville Safari station wagon” — provides a nice burble at idle but when revved sings quiet, calming tunes while offering rather modest acceleration. The three-speed Hydro-Matic shifts cleanly and comfortably. The leaf sprung solid axle rear suspension and coil sprung independent front suspension provide a waterbed-like ride.
The Pontiac Trans Am is a personal luxury coupe of the highest order, and when looked at in that light, it’s a fantastic machine. It looks amazing on the outside and it’s extremely stylish and comfortable to drive. Will people probably pull up to you at a stop light to see if you’ve got the stuff to cash the checks being written by your bright yellow paint, your screaming chicken, your spoilers, and your big vents? Sure.
But pay those folks any attention. Crank up The Stroke, throw that Rock On sign out your left window, and just cruise like the badass you are in the most 1970s car of all time.
All screenshots: Griffin Riley
Ok, I am overqualified to comment on this one, as I have owned a 1979 Trans Am WS6 for the past 24 years.
Unless you got the W72 Pontiac 400 (this one’s an Olds 403, BTW, not a Pontiac 400), these were about as fast stock as your grandma’s Delta 88. GM knew this, and that’s why they made them HANDLE. This one has the optional WS6 package, which gave you all sorts of handling goodies, like wider 15×8 wheels, bigger sway bars, a tighter steering box, small subframe connectors, different suspension components, and the aforementioned 4 wheel disc brakes. It was actually rated the best handling domestic car of 1979 by some of the car mags back then!
These were best as “Day Two” cars, and there were aftermarket tuning houses that would turn your cash into performance. Someone did this with mine back in the day, so it has a few period performance parts that helped it hang with the older muscle cars.
Wow, Tony thank you for being here! An expert! I’ll pin your comment to the top.
Well pinned I must say 🙂
You got it, dude!
You’re absolutely right about “Day Two”. The emissions controls were very primitive and most states didn’t have emissions testing yet. Intake, headers, and a distributor recurve would wake these engines a LOT.
On day two in 1979, my uncle dropped the entire exhaust from the manifolds back out of his brand new Trans Am. True dual exhaust was the very first thing he did to the car. The neighbors were not happy when he left for work the next morning around 4:30, because he didn’t have an appointment at the muffler shop until after work. The catalytic converter from that car sat under an azalea bush by my grandma’s back door for over thirty years.
Mid/late 70s cars would wake up if you breathed on them, but you had to blow pretty hard on some of them.
Yeah, that’ll certainly help, but the 8.1:1 compression ratio is what’s gonna prevent you from getting any serious performance out of it.
Malaise era engines are a cam, heads, and exhaust away from being rocket ships. The engine in that ’79 is the same engine as the ones from late 60’s to early 70’s, just detuned.
The W72 400 really does fit that description. The 6X-4 heads on them were close to the late “Musclecar Era” heads and flowed well, and they really were a weekend and about $500 (of late 70’s money) away from keeping up with the big boys.
The Olds 403 was not as good, but throwing a cam and intake at one would at least make it a bit more entertaining.
Usually, but some are destroked/debored and no bolt-ons will fix that. I’m looking at you, Ford 255.
One still has to deal with low compression (~8:1) pistons, a product of the switch to unleaded gasoline in the early ’70s.
If one is changing a camshaft, that’s an engine out affair.
At which point, I’m thinking I want a better starting point that an Olds engine with less-than-fantastic aftermarket support.
If this was a Pontiac engine or Chevrolet, sure, the potential is totally there.
Yup, it’s the weak compression ratio that’s gonna stop you. Swapping the cam ain’t gonna do squat unless you get the comp ratio to 9.0:1 or higher.
Indeed – it’s still a bloody huge engine. Wake the thing up, emissions be damned. At least if you don’t live in Kalifornia. If you do, that is a self-inflicted wound, no sympathy.
Though IMHO, saying this car is the best handling domestic car of 1979 is like saying “ohh – she’s the hottest chic in the leper colony”. But I am biased by my love of European cars that actually do handle (and ride and steer) properly. Something the domestics didn’t really figure out for a decent few more years.
“At least if you don’t live in Kalifornia. If you do, that is a self-inflicted wound, no sympathy.”
Yes it’s absolutely terrible here, truly a Hell on earth. If you don’t live here already don’t come. Got to Florida instead. If you’re already here you should leave for Florida.
No in the hell you don’t.
Sorry, folks, Florida’s closed. The alligator out front shoulda told ya.
Fine, Alabama then.
They certainly can use the help.
I like visiting the place, but they literally don’t pay me enough to live there. It is, for me, pretty much hell on Earth. Too many people, and the parts with no people are not where I would want to live.
Nowhere is perfect, but I find Florida to be a very reasonable, and MUCH less expensive compromise.
Very true. I live in Florida and was just in California all last week…San Diego all the way up to Monterey and back down again. Hit a lot of interesting spots along the way. Beautiful State with great weather but man is it expensive!
When I bought my house here in SW FL in 2017, I had a project in San Diego just before closing. One of the guys I was working with was closing on a house there at the same time. Almost identical in size and similar layout (750sq/ft, 2bd/2ba), smaller yard, but NO garage or driveway – street parking only. And in an OK, but not stellar area of SD. My house was $90K. His house was *$990K*. My house cost less than the down payment on his house. The weather there is nice, but it isn’t THAT nice, and I can afford to have a summer place in Maine to get away when it’s not so nice. And literally EVERYTHING else is more expensive in CA too, if for no other reason than the sales tax is 1% higher (and of course he and his wife pay a small fortune in state income tax). I just re-registered two expensive cars and a utility trailer for *2* years for less than $200…
I made a little more than he did salary-wise, but I would make $0 more living in CA. Nope, no thanks. I don’t know how people even manage it out there, other than you pretty much have to be coupled-up or seriously high-paid to own a house. If I want to enjoy the natural beauty of CA, I can afford to vacation out there – he and his wife are slaves to that house payment. I paid my place off in three years.
Florida is full. Stay in CA
CA is much fuller. Move to Florida.
Extremely true. Other than within a handful of miles of the Gulf Coast, my county is *empty*. There is literally nothing in 80% of it but cattle.
People who complain about the traffic here on the Gulf Coast of Florida REALLY need to be airdropped into LA or SF for a day.
Florida also has more coastline, especially beaches. A better singles scene too. And the food is amazing, way better than California’s Oh and the oranges, it’s not even close! Move there instead.
I did, nine years ago. 🙂 Kind of on a whim, but it was the best financial decision I ever made, getting out of the $$$$ Northeast.
Can’t really agree about the food though – that’s a wash, though it’s LOTS cheaper here in Florida. Fresh oranges are lovely – but you can get those in CA too.
Comparing Florida oranges to those from California is like comparing a perfectly seared Waygu A5 steak to chewing on a cardboard box.
But if Florida is too ritzy Alabama has coastline too.
https://hofftoseetheworld.com/the-20-best-redneck-riviera-beaches/
LOL – I guess I am just not an orange connoisseur. Nor steak either, to be honest. I will take a plain old $35 Longhorn or Outback bone-in ribeye over a fancy Wagu steak any day. I’m a man of simple tastes. 😉
The Panhandle is just eastern Alabama anyway. That is waaay too “south” for me. I am in the “the farther south you go the more north you are” part of Florida. I don’t do redneck.
Well if its more relevant to your tastes my original comparison was Florida oranges as a Maybach and California oranges as a goat chewed Trabant running on pruno and used tractor oil.
Lol – as a former Trabant owner I can relate to that.
A man of simple tastes indeed.
Yeah I just commented about the 79 we just got last year and glad it has the WS6 package for the 4 wheel disc and it doesn’t have the stock 301 anymore haha
Mine has a questionable .060-over 1974 400 now displacing 414ci that I call the Ponti-Mutt. It also has a pretty beefy cam, 1971 GTO heads, nodular rotating assembly from a 1968 350 HO, roller rockers, and other goodies. It’s still waking up from being dormant for a very long time, but it’s extremely entertaining.
Hey! My mother’s Delta 88 blasted off the line – with almost no throttle tip in. A friend once drove my mother’s car for a little bit and said “I take back all the bad things I said about your driving – this thing has an on/off switch, not an accelerator!”
I’ve owned an ’80 Formula since 1986 (my first car) (profiled here: https://www.theautopian.com/firebirds-classic-bikes-and-antique-trucks-youve-probably-never-heard-of-members-rides/) and I can confirm that these things respond very well to modification. The foundation of the car doesn’t get the credit it deserves because they handle very well out of the box and some simple upgrades will have others at the track day wondering just where the hell you came from.
Which is among the reasons the RWD X sedans were the preferred ride for Police Departments for many years – as they shared the platform with the F body cars.
“It was actually rated the best handling domestic car of 1979 by some of the car mags back then!”
Better than the Corvette?
Somehow, yes? Well, at least to one major publication.
Car and Driver did a test back in ’79 and pitted a Trans Am against the L48 Vette, Z28, Fox Body Mercury Capri, and even a FWD Pontiac Phoenix SJ (huh?). The Trans Am won. I don’t get how this 3700lb nose-heavy beast did it, but it did. Mine still handles surprisingly well for what it is, even with some really worn suspension bushings that probably haven’t been fully present since the first Bush Administration. All those little WS6 bits and pieces help keep it glued.
“Somehow, yes?”
A flat glass smooth test track would be my guess. I don’t see anything with a live axle beating its IRS sibling on anything else.
Edit. Thanks to Joe the Drummer for providing a link to the shootout. They did test on real world roads, yet the live axle T-bird came out on top. Not sure if that’s a credit to Pontiac or a demerit to Chevy but given they point out none of their American cars are even close to what the Europeans were offering it sounds like the latter.
A really well developed inferior technology often beats mediocre superior technology. Decades of refinement on stupid rear-engined 911s, for instance.
I think Porsche has tried to kill the 911 a few times now.
Chrysler Horizon?
Yes.
https://www.caranddriver.com/photos/g15315062/in-search-of-the-best-handling-american-car-gallery/
Thanks. It sounds like 1979 was a good year to buy something from Europe if handling was your goal.
I just about lived at the drag strip when these were still fresh and I paid attention as I planned on building a 1974 Formula as a bracket car. Anyway I remember a stock ’79 Pontiac powered one running low to mid 15’s and an automatic Olds engined one stuck running low 16’s. In later years the Olds powered car’s owner swapped a 9:1 383 regular unleaded SBC in and changed the rear gearing it was his daily and would turn mid 13’s all day..
Did it sell? I couldn’t find it on their site. Kind of surprised there isn’t a link.
Fun, fast article. Ready for the next one…
Man, the rear spoiler is misaligned on every single one of those things, isn’t it?
70s GM build quality. I’ve gone and looked at several of these with my dad or brother and most of them have spoilers that are misaligned to some degree
1979 was the highest production year for the Trans Am. Combine that with typical Malaise Era build quality ( or lack thereof), and yep, misaligned panels all over the place.
You have no idea how bad everything else was in 1979.
I haven’t looked at the pics in detail yet…man, what a…spoiler.
I’ll see myself out…
As the former owner of a ’78 Camaro I can say I like this with no shame. Somebody took care of this car and didn’t try to make it do what it couldn’t. Nice to see an unmolested example. No t-Tops is a structural blessing. From day one, however, I always hated that gaudy hood decal. I preferred the Formulas.
How many Herb Tarleks were skinned for that seat fabric? These things and every other ‘muscle car’ of the era where unable to cash the cheque. The late 60’s and early 70’s previous gens were way faster but didn’t handle quite as well. I also found them to have terrible build quality with maddening rattles, clanks and thumps appearing from new.
They were easily modified as where their higher quality peers from Europe.
“As God as my witness, I thought
turkeysfirebirds could fly.”Oh, the humanity!
That is why my 70s sports car go to was the Jensen Healey. Had great acceleration and could easily exceed 100 mph. I had the tickets to prove it.
My TR-6 was plenty quick. Even better when I swapped in corvette small black and 4 spd with a Nissan R200 diff and custom axles. Many grins had in that car. I wish.
FIREBIRD!!!!! Funny thing is the new old firebird we got from my dad’s buddy last year, a 79 formula, originally has a 301 in it luckily he had a 455 bored over to a 468 into it when he restored it back in the late 90s/early 00s also it has a 4 speed and it is such a nice cruiser much better road feel then my 89. Having issues with the power steering currently but that happens when the thing only has 35k miles on the body and probably a couple thousand on said rebuild.
If you think THIS is slow, just imagine a similar-era Firebird with a V6 in it — 105 horsepower of Buick boat anchor.
My friend had one in high school, silver with t-tops and wire wheel covers, and the car was immediately nicknamed the “Silver Bullet” for the obvious irony.
This is a trade-in? And not a FB Marketplace sale in some sketchy wooded area?
*Dueling Banjos playing*
I have a special place in my heart for these cars after growing up watching innumerable hours of “The Rockford Files” that guaranteed at least one car chase per episode (David – please tell me you know this iconic show!) with Jim Garner doing most of the driving of his Gold Firebird. Apparently it was a Trans-Am underneath but they replaced the hood etc to make it look like more of an “everyman’s” car. Garner apparently refused to use the new ’79 model because he hated the new sloped front.
I think I’ve heard of it? But I’ve never seen it.
I grew up on AFN.
It’s free on Pluto TV.
One of my best friends in high school had a brand new 1976 Trans Am in that yellow. It had a 455 (the last year it was available) and a manual. His mother bought it for him. I had a Toyota Corolla ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
He learned to use a manual in my Corolla (abuse!) and was not a natural. When he needed to parallel park the TA, his girlfriend had to do it for him. The 455 still had “some” power and the manual helped it get along.
I’m familiar with these as common used cars when I started driving and have driven quite a few of them, including 6.6 and 4.9 turbo variants.
I see these and expect your driving experience.
No matter what exterior styling you chose, every American vehicle from that period drove pretty much the same.
It’s s so damn beautiful, though! Inside and out!
IMHO these cars were the auto equivalent of a fat girl in spandex.
And that ain’t right.
This provokes so many questions.
Who trades this sort of car in?
What did they buy from the dealer?
Does this car get put on the lot, or just wholesaled out?
Are these kind of cars cool again? Or are they still redneck cars?
As a salesperson, how do you even value this sort of thing when it rolls onto the lot?
It’s the cleanest version of a tacky, over-the-top, crappy Malaise-era car. The fact that it’s a slow, poorly built pile is a given. Who is the potential next owner and why does it appeal?
Inquiring minds, and all.
You’re right. I need to get answers! Thank you for the great questions.
The next potential owner is someone like me (but not me). When I was a kid I had two toy cars, a Lambo and a Trans Am. My dad asked which one I liked better and it was no contest, the TA. He said (something like), “Good, you might be able to afford that one some day.” I don’t know why I remember this, but I still like the TA.
I was born in 1971, so Trans-Ams and ’68 Chargers occupied vast areas of my brain until I was about 15. If I had stupid money, I might pause at the yellow, but I would seriously consider this car, even though it’s got the wrong engine. It was clearly cared for, and as others have mentioned, it doesn’t have leaky T-tops.
This was my first question too, who the heck traded in a classic TransAm on a Ford Escape?
Most likely gets posted on fan pages where it will get the most bucks. But yeah who uses it as a trade in?
Someone’s old man/uncle died, they inherited his treasured TA, and they said, “Ew, what the hell do we do with this thing?”
“There’s one on ebay for more than any sane person would think. Let’s see what we can get for a trade on a Maverick.”
if it was fast, no one would be able to see how cool you look.
My dad had a 25th anniversary C3 that was silver with white leather. Dead sexy, but lord was it a dumpster fire. It couldn’t keep up with my 77 280 Z
They used a similar Trans Am in Smokey & The Bandit II and ended up having to show some scenes of it with the camera sped up in order to make it look faster because it just could not keep up. Also, what Pontiac did to the nose (1977-78 was perfection) in 1979 makes me sad.
Ok, as a follow-up now that I’ve watched the video, just to clear up your Smokey & The Bandit references since I co-hosted a Reels & Wheels Podcast…
Smokey & The Bandit featured a 1977 Trans Am, and it was about a beer run where The Bandit and the Snowman take a bootleg shipment of Coors beer across state lines for big money. Along the way, he picks up Sally Field (Frog, who just left the son of Sheriff Beauford T. Justice at the altar), and one of the greatest car movies ensures.
In Smokey & The Bandit II, The Bandit and the Snowman are tasked with transporting an elephant. The Bandit drives a ’79 Trans Am, and yes, they sped the camera up to make it look faster because it was so slow. Everyone comes back for this movie and a terrible movie ensues.
Smokey & The Bandit III is best not spoken of, as Burt Reynolds didn’t want to show up so he just makes a cameo. The Snowman drives a 3rd Gen Trans Am that is sadly devoid of a screaming Chicken. This could have been a Good/Bad movie if the first script “Smokey IS the Bandit” had gotten the green light, which would have involved Jackie Gleason playing both the Bandit and the Sheriff.
I’ve never seen it honestly…
((Whoa. Ok. Calm down, Sid. It’s ok. We’ll get David through this.))
I’m gonna need you to take a second and find the nearest Netflix-enabled device. I need you to watch this movie. At least the first one. We can negotiate on 2 and 3. I’ve got to be at Lime Rock next week, otherwise I’d drop everything and drive your way with a VHS of it. Smoky & The Bandit and Cannonball Run were gifts to us from Hal Needham. He gave them to us out of benevolence to make our existence better. Sure, he wrecked some of the benevolence with the sequels and Stroker Ace, but we have to cut him some slack.
I’ll be standing by. If you have questions or concerns, just conference me in. (deep breath, Sid. Relax. It’ll be ok…)
Oh, and GM used that wiper switch for most of the 60’s and 70’s in everything. My 4-4-2 has it. Push the middle button for a weak excuse for washer fluid and five swipes, or turn it to the right and hope the wipers start slowly doing their thing. Turn it to the right one more time for the wipers to pretend to move quickly.
I was incredibly lucky to see a double feature of Smokey and Cannonball hosted by Hal Needham at a Santa Monica movie theater not long before he died. It was super cool hearing the stories that inspired the movies directly from his mouth.
He still hasn’t seen The Blues Brothers either, as far as I know.
OMG.
This is also the point where I remind people that 1977 also gave us Sorcerer and you ALL need to watch Sorcerer.
I haven’t seen it. I did however see the original story; Wages of Fear. Is Sorcerer as good as that?
Aside from both being about desperate people driving trucks full of explosives, they are actually very different movies. Wages of Fear is more faithful to the book, which is really about what fear (or lack thereof) does to you. Jo can’t handle fear and becomes a coward while Mario loses all fear and that doesn’t work out for him either. Sorcerer is about unredeemable characters looking for redemption while death is constantly looking over their shoulders. I happen to love Sorcerer because it develops its characters so well and goes so far over the top for its key scenes. Wages of Fear is absolutely brilliant, though.
How is he allowed in the building?
He doesn’t need to see 2 and 3.
Let’s be honest, this will be a Spinal Tap adventure requiring David strapped to a chair, eyelids forced open, and a drop of LSD in each eye and forced to watch it.
JK
DT, you haven’t seen Smokey & the Bandit? Most of the time your lack of pop culture knowledge I can waive off, but THIS IS SERIOUS. YOU NEED TO SEE THE FIRST BANDIT MOVIE.
Agreed, one of my favorite movies of all time. Star Wars, Smokey and the Bandit, Groundhog Day, Terminator 2. Gotta watch it.
None of them? The first one is required watching material. Quotes from it often come up in product development meetings at work.
Just as a curiosity what tv shows/genres do you watch?
You don’t say?
I agree completely with your assessment on the Trans-Am front end design and would like to subscribe to your news letter.
My facelifted ’80 and I are going to have to meet you in an alley and work this out.
I know these are slow as hell, but man, I still want one.
Well if I was voted supreme overlord of earth my first declaration would be to bring back Pontiac and all generations of Firebird and every human on earth gets to pick one of the 4 generations to get one for free.
Oh man, I don’t know which one I would pick!
That’s an easy one for me – a Silver ’96 WS6 with T-Tops and a 6 speed. The one I was forced to sell because I couldn’t afford the constant repairs it needed.
Where do I vote for this
If that happens I’m moving to Jason’s island. Can I choose a plastic model kit?
I for one welcome our new F-body overlords.
One can not over state how bad cars were back then. I remember 70’s-80s cars when they were new on the lots and tv commercials. We all knew they were garbage even if our xenophobia would not let us admit it.
People were happy to get 100,000 miles out of a car. It was bad.
Are you kidding? The warranty was 12 months/12,000 miles no one even expected 100,000 miles 50,000 was great
American cars of that period.
Somewhere out there an Italian horn necklace, a bottle of Hai Karate, a pleather jacket and a pint of Southern Comfort are missing their ride.
I offer an alternative gold necklace, wife beater t-shirt, Canoe, and a member’s only jacket, and blackberry brandy to score with the ladies.
70’s car, 80’s song
Right? I’d have thought Foghat’s Slow Ride might have been a good meta choice.
Deep Purple’s Space Truckin’ Or Highway Star would also work, hell, even Free Bird would be more appropriate
Radar Love.
Except that it came out before 1979.
Take your pick. Plenty to choose from in ’79.
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/top-albums-1979/
To be fair, I’ll bet that’s how many ’80s teens first experienced ’70s cars.
Hey, at least it’s a pop culture reference we mostly got.
1979 car, 1981 song. It’s close!
I don’t agree with this being considered a personal luxury coupe. Go drive a Chrysler Cordoba or Ford Elite after driving this and you’d be singing a different tune. These were definitely slow, but for the era they weren’t bad and the Radial Tuned Suspension some of these got was pretty good. The true personal luxury coupes were wallowy.
The dashboard isn’t polished, it’s engine turned. I love that look on these Trans Ams.
I currently own the oldest car I’ve ever had, a ’79 Fairmont, and I apparently take for granted some features that are standard nowadays – I just bought aftermarket convex glass for the passenger side mirror because it’s not convex from the factory and makes it tough to change lanes.
At least you have a mirror there, my air-cooled Beetle didn’t even come with one. A cheap car today has Bluetooth and cruise and AC, a cheap car in the 70s didn’t even get a full set of mirrors. Only one of the sunvisors has a mirror as well.
My 1983 visors don’t swing. Drive into the sun or not at all!
My ’72 Delta 88 doesn’t have a passenger mirror either. Big block, air conditioning, and convertible roof? That it has. Whoever specced this car out back in the day certainly had priorities.
Passenger side mirrors were an option and used a mechanical adjusting system with cables that terminated at a little joystick thing in the center of the dash – if I am remembering correctly.
My cars during this time you adjusted the mirror and left it and then adjusted only when you had a passenger
True, the passenger side mirror was an option on my car but thankfully the original owner chose it.
When I bought a Civic in 1998, passenger side mirror was an option on the base model. if I remember correctly, so was AC.
I need to do that for my passenger side mirror, but for parking. Did you just get a stick-on? I’ve heard that BMW used my cowls but I haven’t yet looked into it for Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear glass…
Yeah found cheap stick-on Burco glass on eBay.
Fancy, I did not own a car with a passenger mirror from the factory until I bought a 99 model year car.
My 74 Jensen Healey has a passenger side mirror, of course the quality sucked so it vibrated so bad you couldn’t make anything out except when parking
David Tracy smiles
Rusty Jeep XJ whispers
Now dreams in i3
Great comment haiku
Thanks for poetic response
We’re better for it
Pontiac Haikus
Screaming Chickens in our souls
V8 rumbles on
David is confused
Misses cultural reference
Needs movie watch list
Hey! Joe Dirt didn’t drive one of these! Rather, it was Kid Rock’s (almost too on-the-nose) Robbie. And his was the 6 cylinder model, memorably insulted later in the film.
(Yeah, I have a guilty pleasure love of the movie, I’ll always watch if I come across it)
Except Ms. Arquette’s character said it has a “little slant-six”, an error which took me right out of the scene 😀
True. Or that a janitor would own even a ratty Superbird.
Back in the late 90s / early 2000s you could get a ratty, beat up muscle car (with functional power train!) for way less than 5 figures.
It’s only in the past 10 years that rusty shells with no parts have become priced like fine art.
Very well said. I love how unhinged this article is and that it offers no real reason for being, much like the car in question.
“I like it when a car is sporty on the outside and be a bit more refined inside (my BMW i3S is similar)”
That was funny 😛
As for the car I’d love to drive one, I am sure it would be an experience. The yellow colour is horrible though.
Pure butter!
I like boiled-egg yellow in little compacts like the VW Brasilia and Ford Escort, but on this Pontiac with the red/orange accents it’s atrocious.
Is this Pontiac Ptuesday? How did you find yourself behind the wheel of yellow glory, DT?
It’s Trade-in Tuesday!
You have GOT to let us know what they traded it in on!!
Dignity
Used Ford C-Max.
Because faster?
SACRILEGE!!!
Now now, don’t be silly…it was an EcoSport!
Oh that would be exceptionally sad, lol.