A new styling treatment to the front end was the most striking change for the 1979 Firebird, aying back the nose at a 22-degree angle from the "Batmobile's" 16-degree angle for better aerodynamics. The Trans Am became a "bottom breather", icking up some fresh air for cooling at the bumper grilles, he remaining amount from underneath the front bumper. The traditional grille between the headlamps was gone, eplaced by a pair mounted in the bumper pad extensions. The grilles were in a matte black and contained the turn signal/park lamp lenses in the upper outer corners. The now common four rectangular headlamps were each set in deep recesses, urrounded by low gloss bezels. The Pontiac crest continued to reside in the center of the front fascia.In addition to the styling change, bright spot to the front end restyle was a deeper front spoiler, ow made of a flexible material rather than the hard plastic of the '77-78's. The change in material made it a bit more friendly to curb stones and parking lot dips. The spoiler actually was responsible for a major portion of the cooling air which was channeled to the radiator. Larger wheel air deflectors (or spats) were fitted, lending with the new spoiler.The most drastic and best looking change to the rear had to be the tail lamp assemblies. The lamps now stretched corner to corner, ith a hinged fuel filler door in the center. While this may seem enough of a change, he big news was that the tail lamps had a "blacked out" look; at least until the lights were activated, hen the red was proudly broadcast. For 1979, his was major cool!