Of the two the 79 Anniversary would be the one I would chose. Much lower production run and the T/A 400 would be exceptionally rare. Pontiac stopped production of the 400 in 78. They had about 8500 of them left which went into the 79s. All 79 400s have the 4 speed. Not all Anniversary models had the 400 so you can be assured a low production number with rare combination - only about 1817 made! WS6 was a very popular package on the TA (larger anti sway bars front and rear and 4 wheel disck brakes) however not all had 79 TAs had them. FYI - Check to see if it has rear discs. Toward the end of 79 Pontiac ran out of rear disc axles and put larger better quaility drums on the rear. Often called a WS6 but really a WS7 - you want the disc. I am guessing since it is the anniversay edition it probably has the disc.
It is hard to tell if the $7000 is over priced without a picture. If fully restored, and done right, the 79 Anniversary could be worth between 30-38k. Expect to spend about 25K with purchase price to get it to that level.
Here is a site that list the production numbers with engine combination:
http://www.transamworld.com/bird-prod-numbers.php Bare in mind these are Trans Am produciton numbers for total Firebird go here:
http://www.texastransams.com/articles/firebird_production_numbers.htmTo decode the vin number go here:
http://www.transamworld.com/2genvins.phpI have a 79 Trans Am with a 403 WS6 with T-Tops. I am the 3rd owner. I bought it from a find of mine, last year, who had it since 1987! It is a life long Arizona car so there is zero rust. I have done lots of work to it. I am keeping it stock and have about 10k into it including pruchse price. I guess it to be worth about 12K (retail) as it sits. I still have more work to do. By the time I am finished I will have about 20K into it and it should be worth about 24-26K retail. But ultimately I don't care, because I am never selling the car. I will be passing it down to my step-son ----- in about 30 years
Hey ---- I just noticed that your handle is TucsonTA. If you live in Tucson, I live in Phoenix, I can give you some pointers on purchase/restoration and possibly check it out with you.