1979 Classic Cars for Sale
Second oil crisis hits in spring, Mustang turns 15 with the Fox body, and the Trans Am peaks
The second oil crisis arrived in spring 1979 when Iranian oil production collapsed, lines formed at gas stations again, and Detroit suddenly had a lot of explaining to do. The timing was brutal. Manufacturers had product in the pipeline that assumed the first crisis was a fluke. Big engines, heavy cars. Nobody wanted them in July 1979 when you sat in line for an hour to fill your tank.
But here is what happened anyway. The Mustang got the Fox body platform for 1979 and it was genuinely good, a real chassis under a real car for the first time since the Mach 1 era. Ford sold 369,936 Mustangs that year. The Trans Am hit its absolute sales peak at roughly 117,000 units. People were still buying performance cars even while complaining about fuel prices, because Americans are complicated.
For collectors, 1979 represents the crossroads. The Fox Mustang inaugurated a whole new collector segment. The Trans Am peaked and would decline. The Corvette stayed the course. Oil crisis anxiety made big-engine survivors scarcer because owners drove them less or parked them. Low-mileage original 1979 cars exist, and they are worth finding.
- The 1979 Ford Mustang Pace Car replica for the Indianapolis 500 was produced in estimated 10,478 units with a turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder, making it a strange and historically significant machine that collectors now chase specifically.
- Pontiac's Trans Am reached a production record of roughly 117,108 units for 1979, the highest in the nameplate's history, with the 6.6-liter 400 cubic-inch engine still available in the W72 tune at 220 horsepower.
- The second OPEC oil embargo beginning in early 1979 drove average U.S. gasoline prices from roughly 65 cents to over $1.00 per gallon by year's end, directly triggering the collapse of large car sales that accelerated through 1980 and 1981.
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1979 Ford Bronco
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1979 Ford Bronco
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1979 Dodge Power Wagon
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1979 Toyota Land Cruiser
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1979 Chevrolet C10
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1979 Toyota Land Cruiser
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1979 Ford Bronco
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1979 Chevrolet K20
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1979 GMC High Sierra
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1979 Excalibur Series III
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1979 Chevrolet C10
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1979 Chevrolet Blazer
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1979 Chevrolet C20
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1979 Chevrolet C10
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1979 Ford Bronco
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1979 Chevrolet C10
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1979 Chevrolet K10
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1979 Chevrolet C10
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1979 Chevrolet C/K Series
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1979 Chevrolet C10
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1979 GMC Sierra
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1979 Chevrolet Blazer
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1979 Chevrolet C10
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1979 Chevrolet C10
Market: The 1979 Trans Am W72 cars in documented condition trade in the $25,000 to $45,000 range. Fox body Mustang Pace Car replicas are climbing, with clean examples crossing $20,000 regularly now. The Li'l Red Express truck is a legitimate sleeper collectible, trading roughly $15,000 to $30,000 for honest survivors.
Buyer's note: On 1979 Trans Ams, verify the W72 400 engine specifically by the engine suffix code, because base 301 and 403 Oldsmobile-powered cars look identical and are worth significantly less to serious collectors.