A little OT but why does everyone insist on saying that '79 was the last year for a Pontiac powered Firebird? Ahem, the 4.9 used in the '80-'81 models was also a Pontiac engine ( admittedly not their best ). I know it's only 2 years difference, but it still bothers me.

 

My apologies. For me it's a a sub-conscious slip since 79 was the last year for the 400ci engine (I know, the 79 400 motors were actually surplus/left over 78 motors). 79 was the end of the BIG Pontiac motor in the TA, not all Pontiac engines since, as you pointed out, the 301, carried on afterwards. I stand corrected.

 

I think the 301 is best left forgotten. '79 was the last year of a traditional pontiac engine, or at least one people can relate to. Pretty much every passenger car made by Pontiac from the early 60's onward used the same block/heads in different castings until the 301 debuted in '77. It's kind of a 'tweener' motor, an asterisk in the history of the brand.

 

As a current Trans Am owner, it's doubtful that I'd go for something like this. Even though Firefirds of the past were Camaros underneath, GM managed to give them enough character to make them unique and something I could believe in. The body kit is just that. A body kit. It kind of reminds me of the Rolls Royce grill hood you could get for a VW Bug in the 70's. No matter what angle you looked at it from, it still looked like Bug.

 

Actually every Pontiac V-8 from '55 to '78 was built from the same block. The exceptions being the race grade SD-455 & the economy 301 which tried to achieve the economy by being built as light as possible with '70's technology. As to the body kit, the only way it might be successful is if you could order it through the Chevy dealers while ordering your car & have it arrive already installed. Also the price for the option probably couldn't be more than about $4,000.

 

I feel the same way.... it's a body kit for a Camaro, it isn't a TA and it couldn't be a proper TA unless it went down a GM assembly line and came out the other end as a TA.