The once-potent 400c.i.d. engine was strangled down to 180bhp* in base form (200bhp in the L78 version.) '76 had been the last year of the mighty 455. By 1980, even the strangled 400 would be gone, and the standard Trans Am motor would be a 301.
*That means the base 6.6L V-8 was down 9bhp to the 2.8L straight six in the Zed Drei.
.