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No matter where the Firebird engines were built, American enthusiasts could
hardly slake their thirst for the cars in the late Seventies.  Production for
1979 soared to an almost unbelievable 211,000 units. Though another facelift
certainly helped, Pontiac drew additional attention with a special Tenth
Anniversary Edition Trans Am. For this, the Pontiac studio had pulled out all
the stops. Silver was the theme both inside and out, with a silver and charcoal
paint scheme accented by silver hatch-roof panels, silver leather seats and
silver door-panel trim. But there was function to match form, with the last
Pontiac-built 400-cu-in. V-8 (now badged in metric form as a “6.6 liter”)
producing a still-impressive 220 bhp on 4-speed models. Filled with standard
equipment, the Special Editions started at a hefty $10,620 nearly $4000 above
the normal Trans Am. Just 7500 were built.
As
the Firebird entered the Eighties with a major facelift in the works, newly
appointed Pontiac General Manager William Hoglund had good reason to be cheery. 
With sales passing the 200,000 mark, wouldn’t the next two years be just as
rosy? Unfortunately, Hoglund had little control over events halfway around the
world, where Iranians were now taking their turn at twisting the oil valve. This
time, however, the repercussions in Detroit were far more severe. Production of
1980 Firebirds plummeted to a gloomy low of 107,000 units, half their 1979
level. At the same time, Pontiac finally ceased offering its venerable 6.6-liter
V-8. In its stead was a new turbocharged V-8, based on Pontiac's own 4.9-liter
(301-cu-in.) V-8. Like GM's other
turbocharged 'vee' engines, the Turbo 4.9 used a single turbocharger, mounted on
the right-hand exhaust manifold. Producing 210 bhp, the Turbo was the most
powerful engine in the lineup that year, but unfortunately included an automatic
transmission only.  An example tested in April 1980 found that it was something
of an enigma; while it served up little of the harsh, neck-snapping boost of its
contemporaries, it also seemed to have little top-end enthusiasm. As a result,
0-60 time was barely below 10 seconds, a mighty fall for a car that, just four
years earlier, had managed 8.4 seconds.
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