National Coach Engineering Lot#1

National Coach Engineering of Michigan

In 1978 this company began converting Firebirds to convertibles. Prices ranged from $19,995 to $24,995 in 1979. For some perspective the 10th Anniversary Trans Am (Pontiac's most expensive standard offering for 1979) average around $10k. The NCE dealer option added on average over $8,000 to the factory invoice. Only T-Top Trans Ams were shipped to the NCE facility for conversion. This was due primarily to the extra rigidity built into the T-Top cars. One interesting note is that a roll bar option was offered by NCE but only for the 10th Anniversary models. The convertible top and boot cover were made of vinyl and were often poorly color matched with the interior. The boot cover featured a thin foam padding and nickel plated snaps. A common problem with the vinyl top was becoming pinched in the folding metal frame. Because of this it often took two people to raise or lower the top.

Its believed, but not confirmed that NCE converted 250 Firebirds in 1979. We have no production number information for the other years yet.

We have recently learned that NCE maintained an office in San Jose California on Stevens Creek Blvd. This office, of course, has been closed for a long time but if anyone worked at this location, please contact me at webmaster1@firebirdgallery.com (remove the "1" before sending).

Webmaster's Note: I'd like to put more information here about this company and how these
cars were created. If someone can provide or point me to an article or simply send me valid
information, I would be happy to include it here.

Lot#1

1978 Trans Am

owner: Paul Scottberg

Although the front end is from a '73 bird and the back end is from a '79 bird this is still a '78 Trans Am. In fact this car was originally a '78 Macho Trans Am #97 built of 203. A convertible conversion was also added by NCE making it an even more unique TA. You can see it in its original form over at the Macho Lot#1. I chose to keep the pictures purely for historical documentation. Paul took that car, applied some imagination and customization and created this amazing looking bird. Paul writes:

"Wanted to send along some update pics. Last we talked I was in the process of repainting and more importantly re-designing the car. The '78 front end was replaced with a '73 along with the corresponding '73 hood and a '79 back-end replaced the stock '78. I then brought the back gas filler tube up through the middle of the trunk and added a corvette gas cap, welded the trunk shut and fiberglass in the entire rear end. A zipper sewn into the collapsible top area under the boot, still provides me access to the trunk area for storage when traveling. Door handles and front fender air scoops were also molded in. During the 1980's an after market air dam kit was being sold through HPP Magazine. I purchase it with the idea of adding it to the vehicle at some time and now was the time.
Rather then just bolt/screw the side and rear air dam kit on, I also molded it on to the car had to complete that one piece molded look. The car has been painted a bright red with corresponding early 70's T/A striping and has also received a new black convertible top. A custom interior I had made years before has also been installed. The car has the aggressive early 70's muscle car look in the front but yet has the sleek and more modern look of the late 70's rear end. The combination of these two styles along with the convertible (which was not produced during that time period) continually mystifies all who see. With just over 75K miles on the car now, I continue to drive it daily during the warm summer months of New England.
I brought the car to the T/A Nationals in Dayton this past August and had many great comments, the car was also pictured in High Performance Pontiac in the January 2003 edition, page 38."

Red Trans Am (42,805 bytes)

Red Trans Am (35,723 bytes)

Red Trans Am (40,798 bytes)

Red Trans Am (38,189 bytes)

Red Trans Am (34,018 bytes)

1979 Trans Am #2 of 250

owner: unknown

Found this one for sale on the net recently. Tried to contact the owner but didn't get a response. Maybe he'll see it here and give us a shout. At time of sale it was reported to have 65k original miles but it looks a but tired. Interestingly it did have the Pontiac 400 and 4-speed tranny. I doubt many of these convertibles were made with this combo. It also came with 4 wheel disc brakes and the original Zenith wire wheels.

Silver '79 Trans Am (136846 bytes)

Silver '79 Trans Am (116829 bytes)

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1979 10th Anniversary Trans Am #5 of 250

owner: Graeme Annetts

I was very surprised to receive this addition to the site. I know NCE did most of their conversions from '79 to '81 but the thought they may have done one of the Anniversary TAs never crossed my mind. Here we have one though in the flesh so to speak. This is a very rare and unique Trans Am. Not only is it one of the Special Edition 10th Anniversary Trans Ams, this one also underwent a conversion by National Coach Engineering to a convertible. Very few 2nd gen convertibles were made and of those many there's not telling how many were '79 Anniversary TAs. This may be the only one. Graeme Annetts from the UK owns this one and writes:

"Hi there, not sure what area my Firebird should go. I will leave it to you guys so here goes. Its a genuine 1979 10th Anniversay T/A, 100% stock. I got it earlier this year from a friend who had it for 17 years; but it has sat in his garage for the last 12 years. It has the 403 motor with 44,000 miles on it. With the car I got the build sheet, owners hand book, and various service/warranty papers. Most importantly I got the air freight invoice from California to Michigan to National Coach Engineering for the roof conversion. I have searched the net many times for information on these conversions and your site is about the only one with N.C.E on it. I would like you to add my T/A and my e-mail to your site. I live in the UK, there are many f-bodies around but not enough web sites. I hope you find my T/A interesting and I look forward to seeing it on your Firebird Gallery."

Graeme Annetts

Previous to this addition the most sections one car qualified for on the site was two. The record is now three. You can see this one here as well as the International Lots and the Anniversary Lots.

1979 Trans Am #44 of 250

owner: Ross Cameron

Ross Cameron, hailing from Canada, owns this NCE conversion Trans Am. Ross writes:

"Hi, I just bought an NCE TA, #44 OF 250. This car is factory Nocturne Blue with a blue interior. 36,770 original kilometers. It has been in storage since 1992 (heated) 403 auto. She runs and drives like a new car. Sorry about the pics, I'm in Canada and its snowing so they were not that bright, but the paint is spectacular! I do need some rubbers for my convertible, if you of anywhere I could get them, I'd appreciate the help! Great site by the way!"

Best regards,
Ross

1979 Trans Am #80 of 250

owner: Martha Shiroff

This is a great looking black on black NCE conversion Trans Am. Martha writes:

"This is my '79 TA, authenticated by Pontiac Historical Society. Thinking about selling. Have all new interior pieces and custom made dual exhaust tips. It is an NCE auto however, it is my understanding that it was ordered from the dealership( Pontiac). I have also seen ads in '79 and '80 car and Driver (Ii have a copy somewhere) that offered it as a special order GM. The original owner, the man I bought the car from was a Pontiac sales manager in Florida. He ordered the car for is first wife. As it happens they divorced, he moved to Virginia and brought the car here to keep for his son. He remarried and bought #2 a caddy and the T/A went out to the tennis court in 1992 (the last time it had been registered) where it sat until I bought it from him about 4-5 years ago. His son got into trouble in school, his father said he wasn't getting the car. When I first researched the car I found a man named Ken Boughton, I think on the web, from Texas who owns a '79 camaro convertible done by NCE. He told me that there were 100 T/As made in '79 and 200 Camaros. It was also my understanding that NCE did the stretch limos for GM (caddy) and that was the GM connection.
The car didn't run. The top was rotted, the exhaust was rusted, and the carb was not working. I had the car towed home, drained and cleaned everything, changed the plugs, wires, etc... I took the orig. carb off, and put a Buick Rochester on it and it started. I wound up cutting off the exhaust and put 2.5" pipes with an X pipe. I sent the orig carb to Jet performance to be rebuilt with Stage 2 specs. The car runs great. Flowmaster made mufflers for me that are wide but narrow . They don't bottom out. The car is a 403 auto. In 1979 articles were written on spicing them up (H-O enterprises in California). I have spoken to him several times but I have avoided doing anything anymore to the car besides the exhaust, timing, disconnecting the A.I.R... just little stuff. I believe the engine (Olds) is the orphan of the '79 engines. I have looked into it with Mondello Olds. At one point I bought 350 olds heads, but never put them on. The car has power windows, door locks, posi, etc... but has front discs. Again it is my understanding that Pontiac ran out of rear disc late in the production year as they did the 400 engines.
The car has the deluxe interior and exterior moldings. There was no rust problem with the car except for surface bubbling on the passenger door. I had custom dual tips made for the car but haven't gotten around to putting them on either. The car has air too. I had a custom top made but as you might know there are no patterns to be found. I am not happy with or the rubber. If you know of someone who had the top redone well and might have a pattern, I would like to talk to him. I used material from Hirschfeld in NY Mercedes canvas. I think it is also partially a top frame adjustment as the long bolt that supports the top frame is spring held and I may need to replace them. Of course the top is manual. The car came with original paint whose clear coat was crazing so I had the car sanded and repainted. Not a bad job at all but the pinstripes should have been applied much better. Fortunately the bird went on beautifully. The engine bay has not been professionally detailed, but maintained.
I have a kick down set up for the hood scoop but haven't installed that. My parts sit in my dining room and living room. A few years ago I saw a white "80" NCE on ebay the car was owned by a dealer (orig) in Punta Gorda, Florida. He wanted 20k for the car and then they got hit by a hurricane. I didn't want the car anymore. The red conv that you have had posted as unknown was also on ebay, around the same time. It was owned by a young woman who knew absolutely nothing about the origins of the car (history). There was also a guy in Florida who had a black one with a Pontiac 455 engine in it. I know he lost his home in the same hurricane. Don't know what happened to the car."

1979 Trans Am #120 of 250

owner: Dave Folk

Dave owns this brown '79 Trans Am. Dave writes:

"Howdy Jimmy; thanks for putting my T/A convertible in the Gallery. I bought this car in December of 1980 at Sherpard Pontiac in Concord, California (now a Honda dealership). The dealership had a total of six dealer option NCE Firebirds, T/As and one 10th Anniversary edition. Being the original owner I have all the paper work. The NCE Pontiacs had prices ranging from $19,995 to $24,500. The NCE dealer option cost $8500 for my 6.6 Liter ( 403 Olds) WS6 Trans Am.
The car has been in the rain one time and that was when I drove it home 5 miles from the dealership. The Olds engine has a Dave Smith cam & adjustable valve train, Doug Thorley headers, Edelbrock manifold, Holley carb, Mallory distributor and true dual exhaust. The TH350 has been upgraded with a deep pan and B&M shift kit. The shifter is also a B&M ratchet shifter. The convertible top and cover material are the same as the 1984 Mercedes 450 SL. The Firebird door emblems are Harley/Davidson Eagles.
Nothing was done to the car that can't be returned to stock. Additional frame braces were added to the front & rear, plus a drive shaft loop in addition to those added for the convertible conversion. All NCE F body cars were originally 'T' top cars because of the extra rigidity of 'T' top cars over hard tops. I did my research with the NCE representative office in Los Gatos, California. Interesting note is that the 10th Anniversary models had the OPTION of a roll bar that was not offered on any other NCE F body. Not sure why. The car is very stable at high speed ( I got a ticket in 1983 from the CHP for speeds of 125 mph on I-5 just before the 'grapevine', ooouch!!) This was with the 2:73 differential gear ratio. The car now has 3:50 gears. This car has been in several shows i.e. Oakland Roadster Show, Rod & Custom in San Fransico. The paint and interior is all original. The paint was color sanded to remove the factory 'orange peel'. Jimmy, did I mention that I have 11,000 miles on the car and that it was in bagged/ humidity/ temperature controled storage for 16 years?
The original convertible top and boot cover was a poorly designed vinyl material (similar, but poorly matched color to the interior). The boot cover had a thin foam padding and nickle plated snaps. The dealership had replaced one top before I bought the car because the top material would pinch in the folding top frame. This was a common problem and normally took two persons to 'drop' a top.
I hated the 'cheap' vinyl look and feel. I had the top and boot made by Armondo's Upholstery in Walnut Creek, California (cost was $600 for the top and $200 for the boot in 1984). They used the OEM top and boot as a pattern. They used brass snaps instead of the cheap looking nickle. I think I mentioned that the new top and boot material was German canvas, same as from the Mercedes 450 SL. I like the darker color as well as the quality of the material, much nicer. The clear vinyl rear window was replaced with a two piece (folding glass window of the exact dimensions). Any qualified upholsterer can fabricate a convertible top. But to my knowledge, there is not any one who produces a top or boot for the DIY person. Each car is a custom fabrication to some degree. I recently changed the light tan carpets to the darker brown (also the bottom carpet on the doors as well). Again just personal taste. I have not taken pictures of that change.
The NCE office was in San Jose on Stevens Creek Blvd ( according to the wife) but is gone now . It was on the main drag, auto row off highway17 in San Jose. The address may be in the paper work. I recall that we dealt with the Pontiac dealership but had questions they could not answer, so we drove an hour from the East Bay to the South Bay area to San Jose to talk with the NCE reps, (sorry but hard to recall all details on a car that I bought 28 years ago).
I mentioned that the Pontiac dealer in Concord had 6 Firebirds/ T/As and one 10th Anniversary models total. I have met all but one of the onwers . Sad to say I never kept in touch, since my interest was mainly Corvettes. Most if not all the NCE cars from that dealership are trashed (the 10th Anniversary was for sale 15 years ago for $5000), I almost bought it but it needed a total restoration and as I said before I wished that I had foresight concerning these cars. Who would have thought that a 180-210 hp T/A would have any value 30 years later? I won't go into the '65 GTO or the '70 Judge that we owned."

1979 10th Anniversary Trans Am #124 of 250

owner: Dan Hall

Dan owns this rare NCE conversion convertible 10th Anniversary Trans Am. Yes I said 10th Anniversary TA. Only the second 10th Anniversary NCE conversion on the site and frankly I was surprised to get the first one. Dan writes:

"Hello Pontiac fans, so glad to find this N.C.E. website. Here it is, a diamond in the rough, '79 10th Anniversary Trans Am, N.C.E. conversion No.124, with a 400/4-speed, and 46000 miles. Traded a Ninja motorcycle for it. A 17-year old bought it off of the original owner. He put a new carb on it and a loose fuel line caused an under hood fire. Burnt all in-dash contents. Bought a donor Trans Am and replaced all. In the process of restoring paint & interior. The kid had it painted red. I like the paint but not original? I think the original owner put Ram Air heads on it. Heads have an S.D. on the side??? The kid was going to junk it. Not on my watch! Sure is fun to drive."

Brown Convertible Trans Am (241751 bytes)

Brown Convertible Trans Am (210710 bytes)

Brown Convertible Trans Am (154752 bytes)

Brown Convertible Trans Am (212897 bytes)

1979 Trans Am #145 of 250

owner: Terry Heacock

Terry Heacock owns this spectacular NCE convertible Trans Am. Terry lives in the UK only 20 miles from another NCE member of the site, Graeme Annetts. Terry writes:

"Hi there,

I have been visiting your site for the past ten months since I bought my TA and have been meaning to send a few pics in. Unfortunately I never got around to take some nice ones before putting the car away before winter so I have attached a few snap shots.
The car is a '79 NCE convertible in Heritage Brown. It has an Olds 403 and what is rare for a TA in this country is that it is totally stock with all of the plumbing. It is NCE number 145. The car is generally in good shape and I intend to keep driving it through this year before we start any real restoration. I have had a few Trans Ams in the past but was delighted to get hold of one of these rare birds. I think you will agree that it looks nice in this color scheme. All I have done is had a new roof made, which I had made to compliment the body color.
I have been in touch with Graham who has the 10th Anniversary convertible, he live about 20miles from me...spooky. Last summer I met a guy in a gas station some 50 miles from home who was driving a blue '79 NCE convertible. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera but it was great to see two of them together. I hope to be able to get all three of the UK convertibles together for a photo shoot this summer. If I do I will send you a pic. Great site..."

Regards
Terry Heacock

Terry recently sent me two new pics of the car (first two) and writes:

"Hi! It has been a while since I sent some images of my 79 convertible TA. Since then it has had some WS6 wheels with new BFG tyres all round and some new (second hand) seats. The car is still a daily driver. I bought the wheels from Graham who has the Tenth Anniversary convertible and had them refurbished. They have transformed the car. I had a couple of photo shoots in the summer, I will send some more pics later. I drove to Belgium for a big european car show, some 2500 American cars over the weekend and my convertible was a real show stopper, certainly the only one there. Great site, I hope you enjoy the new pics."

Regards,
Terry

Red Custom '79 Trans Am (122342 bytes)

Red Custom '79 Trans Am (146136 bytes)

Red Custom '79 Trans Am (91611 bytes)

1979 Trans Am

owner: Svein Arne Holmedal

This entry marks the second time a Firebird has been located in two different lots. This particular convertible Trans Am (and its owner) hails from Norway so you will also find this same car in the International Firebirds section Lot#6.
Svein writes:

"Hello again! I have taken some pictures of my car. You for decide which is the best to display. There was some problem with the camera, so I can take more if you think they are bad. The car came to Norway in '81 - '82, then it was blue. I have painted it red and changed the color inside from white to red and black. The car has been restored outside as you can see. It was original when it came to Norway. Specifications of the Trans Am:

Year Model: 1979 Trans Am
Engine: 403, w/ Holley 600cfm carb
Gear: TH350/ safe-T-Trac rear
Wheels: 295/265-15

The car was converted to a convertible at National Coach Engineering of Michigan. I have seen someplace there was made about 200 convertibles built in 1979. If there is somebody that can tell me more about the car, they can write to me at: Svein Arne Holmedal / Alternate"

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1979 Trans Am

owner: Michael Hall

This is truly an exciting addition to the Firebird Gallery. The first 2nd generation convertible Trans Am (not a production first just the first to be added to this site). These are very rare TAs and this one is in beautiful shape. They were never produced this way from the factory. Instead completed cars were delivered to National Coach Engineering for the very expensive modifications required to make it a convertible. I believe completed versions carried a price tag in the neighborhood of $30,000 which is expensive even by today's standards. Its owned by Michael Hall. Michael writes:

"This car was customized by the original owner shortly after the car was purchased new. The car was restored by the person I bought it from. The car has a new convertible top, new carpet and reupholstered seats. I still need to detail the engine and when I do I will send a picture of it. If anyone wants to e-mail me about the Trans Am I will be happy to respond."