1999 Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am: The Trans Am Turns 30

1999 was the Trans Am's 30th anniversary year, this record's own overview states. MuscleCarClub's table gives an all-model total of 36,219, the key fact this record leads with, while this record's own production notes state that the first research pass found only that total, with the model, body, WS6, anniversary and Firehawk detail that follows drawn instead from the CompNine VIN compilation and, for Firehawks, the Firehawk Association. A CompNine VIN count puts the year at 36,212, and this record's own conflicts note states plainly that both figures are shown, with the gap standing at exactly seven cars.^1,2

Within CompNine's own scope, 17,167 coupes and 1,245 convertibles carried the L36 V-6, and 1,602 Formula coupes, 14,169 Trans Am coupes and 2,029 Trans Am convertibles carried the LS1 V-8, for a V-8 total of 15,771 coupes and 2,029 convertibles; no Formula convertible column appears in the source for 1999. The WS6 Ram Air package, excluding anniversary cars which carry their own columns, reached 175 Formula coupes, 113 six-speed and 62 automatic with 20 on the 1LE package, and 3,830 Trans Am WS6 coupes, 2,001 six-speed and 1,829 automatic, plus 1,002 Trans Am WS6 convertibles, 356 six-speed and 646 automatic.²

The 30th Anniversary Trans Am WS6, the key fact this record leads with, reached 1,065 coupes, 613 six-speed and 452 automatic, and 535 convertibles, 175 six-speed and 360 automatic, 1,600 cars in all. Separately, this record's own production rows carry the GM-coded WU6 Firehawk base cars: 106 Formula coupes, 63 six-speed and 43 automatic; 539 Trans Am coupes, 316 six-speed and 223 automatic; and 76 Trans Am convertibles, 40 six-speed and 36 automatic.²

The Firehawk Association's own SLP production total for 1999 reached 719 cars, 622 US and 97 Canadian, broken out by body as 34 Formula coupes, 72 Formula T-tops, 538 Trans Am T-tops and 75 Trans Am convertibles, and by transmission as 418 six-speed against 301 automatic. This record documents four 1999 prices from a buyer's-guide database: $26,390 MSRP and $24,147 dealer invoice for the Trans Am coupe, and $30,460 MSRP and $27,870 dealer invoice for the Trans Am convertible.^3,4

Two engines are documented: the L36 3.8-liter V-6 at 200 hp and 225 lb-ft for the base Firebird, and the LS1 5.7-liter V-8 at 305 hp and 335 lb-ft for Formula and Trans Am, both rated to the same net standard as compiled by MuscleCarClub. This record's own production notes state that the CompNine page prints 17,170 Firebird coupes from another source, a three-car gap against the 17,167 VIN count this record carries as the primary CompNine figure.¹

What the record documents in full is the anniversary year at its fullest documented detail: 36,219 cars by MuscleCarClub against 36,212 VINs, a WS6 Ram Air package spanning ordinary and 30th Anniversary trim across four body-and-transmission combinations, and two entirely separate Firehawk populations, 721 GM-coded WU6 base cars and 719 SLP conversions, that this record keeps distinct throughout rather than treating as a single count or letting the near-equal totals imply they describe the same cars.¹