The Last 400 Trans AM

By Bob Wicker                     Photos by owner Jacob Shepherd

 

By 1967, the Pontiac GTO was one of the most recognized muscle cars on the street. And with the mid year introduction of the Firebird, there were plenty of owners showing off Pontiac's 67 hardware on the streets and strips of America by the end of the model year. Most were doing battle with Pontiac's new 400 cubic inch power plant.

In preparing for the 1967 line up, Pontiac was busy squeezing more cubes and more performance from its engines. For the 67 model year, Pontiac retired the great 389. It had been around since 1959 and had powered many full sized Pontiacs, as well as the GTO in its first 3 years of Production. In its place Pontiac introduced the 400 cubic inch mill with a 4.12 inch bore and a 3.75 inch stroke. The Pontiac 400 would evolve over the next 10 years under the hoods of many Pontiacs, in many different types of applications. It was the standard engine in many big cars (often with a 2 bbl carb). It was standard in the GTO from 1967 to 1973 and available in optional forms such as HO and Ram Air versions. It remained available in many Colonnade A body Pontiacs through 1977. The first generation Firebird line up used the 400 in similar applications as the GTO, but was usually "rated" with less HP to keep the GM suits happy. It was the only engine to power the new design Formula and Trans Am models in 1970 and remained a mainstay in the Trans Am and Formula models through the end of its production run in 1978. In fact, in the late 1970's the Pontiac 400 helped keep the Trans Am at the top of the heap when so many other brands had given up on performance.

Fortunately for the new Trans Am or Formula buyer in 1979, Pontiac had stockpiled some of the best it had. The W72 400 in 1978 had been tweaked by Pontiac to drip out a few more horsepower at a time when that was a dirty word in Detroit. The result was 220 net HP and 320 net ft. lbs of torque. Not earth shattering, but the best you could get in 1979 in a domestic car. Car and Driver tested it and wrung out a 1/4 mile of 15.3 at 96.5 mph and ran 6.7 seconds from 0-60. For comparison, Car Life tested a 66 GTO and got a 15.4 at 92 mph 1/4 with a 6.8 0-60 and Motor Trend tested a 68 Firebird 400 and got a 15.4 at 93 mph 1/4 and 7.6 seconds to 60 mph. The 79 L78/W72 Trans Am was no slouch.

In order to get one you had to act fast. There were just over 8000 of the "leftover" L78/W72 400's (As Pontiac called them in 1979). All would be stamped with a PWH block code, installed in a Trans Am or Formula, and mated to a Borg Warner Super T-10 4 speed manual transmission. All would be backed by a Safe-T-Track differential with a 3.23 ratio and equipped with the WS6 suspension package with 4 wheel disk brakes.  (If you lived in California, or wanted a slush box to do the shifting for you, you got the 403 cube olds motor with 180 HP and a turbo 350 3 speed automatic. Most 79 Trans Ams were built with that drive train).

So, wouldn't it be cool to have a great car like a 79 Trans Am or Formula with one of the last great Pontiac built engines? It would be even cooler if it were a documented Y-84 Special Edition black and gold Trans Am, one of only 1,107 built, right?  What if it had only 36,000 original miles and still wore its original tires? And if it had spent the last 28 years in the same area where you live. But, what if all that was not what really made the car special. What if it was also the last known L78/W72 400 Trans AM built in 1979? To find out how cool that would be, you'll have to ask Jacob Shepherd.

Oh, by the way, I wanted to mention that Jacob is only 18 years old. (Are you jealous yet?)

This very special 1979 L78/W72 WS6 Y84 Trans Am was built on May 29, 1979. The car was originally charged to the Pontiac Zone Office in Cincinnati Ohio and shipped to a storage lot. The car was then sold new by Mike Higgins Pontiac in Cincinnati Ohio to its first owner on September 19, 1979. The first owner, Ronald, kept the Trans Am until 1982. Jacob was able to contact him recently and Ronald had this to say about the car:

"I had a 1978 Z28 Camaro that I bought new and it got scratched up badly by someone, and I was disappointed. So a year later I went new car shopping and found this (Trans AM) on 950 West 8th street Cincinnati, Ohio a few exits from my house in Lockland, Ohio. (It had been) sitting on the showroom floor still brand new with 10 miles months after all other 1979 400 4 speeds were sold out. The salesman told me there where a lot (of people) interested and a lot of test drives wanted, but the sales manger wanted it sold first for sticker price. I had to have it and drove it home later that day. I rarely drove the trans am and always kept it garaged. Due to financial reasons I listed it in the local wheel dealer for $5000 with 5K miles in March 1982. It sold a few days later."

The new owner was a man named Ronnie. Ronnie owned the car from 1982 until 1995 and drove it sparingly. Ronnie then sold the car to Jacob's dad in 1995 with 21,000 miles on the clock.

Jacob's Dad cared for the TA and did some mechanical restoration while it lived in his garage. For the next 11 years the rare Trans Am acquired only 14,000 additional, gentle miles.  In 2006, Jacob's dad decided to sell the Trans Am to buy a Harley Davidson. The asking price was $7500.

Jacob, who had grown up around the Trans Am since he was 5 years old, decided to buy the car. He had already been looking for a car since he had been working for several months at the age of 15. Jacob bought and paid off the Trans Am in one year, about the time he received his driver's license.  He also had enough foresight to not use the TA as a daily driver, so he bought a truck for that purpose.

Jacob shared these details about his Trans Am:

"It still wears it original paint, tires, exhaust, belts, hoses and pretty much everything.The trunk has never been used and the back seats have never been sat in. It is a complete numbers matching drive train with the exception of the water pump. The undercoating has been (removed) and it wears the rust free gray primer. This T/A is 1 of 1107 built which is documented by PHS, the build sheet and all of its original dealer documents. Over all I am very happy and feel very lucky to be 18 and own this Trans Am, especially it being quite possibly the last of a very special breed of Trans Ams. It's safe to say I think I will keep it for a long time and am looking forward to many miles and years of great memories to come."

Well, Jacob, we at Pontiacs Online hope that you keep your very rare Trans Am in its current condition for years to come. Perhaps someday you can pass it on to your children (or to us, if you would like to donate to our online magazine as a press car).

 : )

 

Jacob's High School Graduation Tassel is hanging from the mirror

Pontiac Designer John Schinella signed the visor

 

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