All the magazines decalred that the muscle car was dead with tough emmissions standards and all engines now breathing through catalytic converters.  The press was especially mean to the Trans Am that seriously lacked power compared to its 1974 Super Duty predessesor.  Howver, sales took off skyrocketing to 84,063 units with an incredible 27,274 Trans Ams, more than double the Trans Ams produced in 1974.  The Trans Am may not have had the shear brute power of earlier years but the model became a legendary street car, known for prowess in the corners.  The end of the muscle car era did little to hinder Firebird sales, a trend that would continue to the end of the decade.