5 Of The Rarest Limited Edition Firebirds Ever Built

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So-called "badge engineering" tin sometimes get a bad name, but done right, nan results tin beryllium legendary. That's nan lawsuit pinch nan 1967 Pontiac Firebird, which was a modified type of nan Chevrolet Camaro, itself introduced successful nan autumn of 1966 to compete against nan Ford Mustang successful nan nascent muscle-car wars. Now, nan Firebird introduced successful 1967 wasn't overmuch much than a rebadged Camaro, but nan Pontiac squad did make a noticeable effort to springiness nan car its ain unsocial identity. 

For example, Pontiac's main designer, Jack Humbert, crafted a bold grille that would spell connected to go an basal portion of nan brand's look for nan 1968 lineup, including nan iconic Pontiac GTO. Upscale specifications specified arsenic a concealed fuel-filler headdress added a touch of people to nan rear. And nether nan tegument was a sportier suspension that would extremity up being utilized successful nan pursuing year's Camaro, too.

The results were comparatively successful, arsenic Pontiac sold 82,560 Firebirds during 1967, its first twelvemonth astatine dealerships, and had moved much than a cardinal by nan clip nan second-generation car vanished its tally successful 1981. Pontiac past went connected producing them done nan 2002, truthful they weren't precisely difficult to find. On nan different hand, immoderate were surely rarer than others, proving the Bird is nan Word still coming — conscionable for illustration nan flock of Firebirds discussed here.

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It joined nan lineup arsenic a chopped trim level for nan mid-1970 exemplary year, but nan Trans Am sanction primitively launched arsenic a typical package for nan 1969 Pontiac Firebird. To beryllium exact, nan upgrade was called nan Trans Am Performance and Appearance Package and required Pontiac to salary $5 per car successful royalties to nan Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) to usage nan Trans Am name. Only 697 customers ticked nan container for nan Trans Am package successful 1969, paying $1,163.74 for enhancements for illustration an upgraded suspension, a large helping astatine nan back, fierce bluish stripes, sportier steering, and functional hood scoops to thief its 400-cubic-inch V8 respire amended — and make 335 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque. 

The astir powerful version, though, was nan disposable Ram Air IV V8, that welcomed an other 10 ponies while lowering nan car's quarter-mile clip to 13.7 seconds. The Ram Air IV versions are moreover rarer than nan regular 1969 Trans Am, and that's reflected successful their auction prices. A specified 55 units were delivered pinch nan much powerful V8, and 1 sold for $440,000 successful 2024.

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Pontiac would statesman downsizing its V8 engines for 1980, which is why truthful galore group love a '70s Trans Am. True, Pontiac made up for nan deficiency of displacement pinch a turbocharger, but not earlier putting 1 of its monster motors into nan Firebird Trans Am for 1 much flight. The consequence was nan 1979 Trans Am 10th Anniversary edition, which debuted to gait nan Daytona 500 and had a constricted tally of 7,500 cars. 

But of those, conscionable 1,817 were produced pinch nan Pontiac 400 V8 motor mated to nan Borg-Warner Super T10 manual transmission for maximum excitement — contempt nan truth that GM had ordered Pontiac to extremity building those engines successful 1978. It turns retired nan section ramped up motor accumulation to stockpile nan large 1978 V8s, specifically to person immoderate fresh for nan 1979 models. That said, these uncommon 1979 Firebirds were astir much than straight-line acceleration. After testing a '79 Trans Am pinch nan high-performance WS6 suspension, Car and Driver called it "maybe nan best-han­dling accumulation car ever from an American manufacturer."

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It's sewage a agelong sanction considering its short accumulation run, but nan 1989 Pontiac Firebird Turbo Trans Am 20th Anniversary Edition Indy 500 Pace Car had a batch going on. For 1 thing, it was blazingly quick, pinch nan expertise to deed 60 mph successful only 4.6 seconds — making it nan fastest conveyance of nan twelvemonth erstwhile tested by Car and Driver successful June 1989. To put that into context, erstwhile nan publication compared nan Chevrolet Corvette Z51 to nan Porsche 911 Club Sport, nan erstwhile checked successful astatine six seconds and nan second astatine 5.6. 

The Firebird besides followed up that capacity pinch a 13.4-second quarter-mile clip and a apical velocity of 153 mph. The Firebird's firepower made this much of a large deal, because alternatively of relying connected emblematic muscle-car motivation, for illustration a high-displacement V8, it features a turbocharged 3.8-liter V6 borrowed from Buick and making 235 horsepower and 340 pound-feet of torque. As for rarity, Pontiac made only 1,555 examples to observe some Trans Am's 20 years of accumulation and nan pursuit for a trophy crafted from sterling silver.

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Thanks to nan 1978 movie "Smokey and nan Bandit," Burt Reynolds and his achromatic Trans Am are culturally important capable to beryllium name-checked by Bruce Springsteen. But a rarer action is nan 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Gold Special Edition that fundamentally turned Burt's colour strategy connected its caput pinch nan action codification Y88 — which was only successful nan bid books for astir 3 months.

The short model meant only 880 drivers sewage their hands connected nan very rarest configuration, pairing nan L80 V8 pinch nan automatic transmission. As an FYI, this compares to nan 1,267 much enthusiastic customers who preferred three-pedal thrills pinch nan L78. They were making nan champion retired of a bad business because nan 6.6-liter displacement of some — well, 400 cubic inches for nan L78 and 403 for nan L80 — translated into a meager 180 and 185 horsepower.

Style-wise, nan sparkling Solar Gold exterior decorativeness is group disconnected by dark-gold pinstripes, Gold aluminum-alloy wheels, a freshly designed five-color Firebird hood decal, and, inside, specified niceties arsenic Gold steering-wheel spokes. It would fresh correct into a James Bond movie pinch that setup (although it doesn't person its ain real golden barroom connected display).

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Speaking of nan extremity of nan Pontiac Firebird, that came successful 2002, erstwhile GM killed disconnected some that car and nan Chevrolet Camaro. (This was earlier bringing nan second backmost for a 5th procreation successful 2010, only to extremity accumulation of nan sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro successful 2024.) The 2002 Pontiac Firebird Collector's mixed speed, luxury, and, of course, a restricted accumulation tally of 2,390 cars that included only 2,000 for nan U.S. market. 

Under nan hood was an iconic LS1 V8 backed by 5.7 liters of displacement to service up 335 horses, title to 60 successful 5.1 seconds, and support connected accelerating up to a apical velocity of 165 mph. Meanwhile, connected nan hood was nan type of ornithologically inspired schematic for which nan Trans Am became famous. Up apical was nan customer's prime of a t-top tile successful nan coupe aliases a folding soft apical for nan convertible.

The past of nan Firebirds besides showed disconnected its stock of premium appointments, 2002-style. We're talking astir ebony leather seating pinch six-way powerfulness for nan driver, powerfulness accessories, distant keyless entry, aerial conditioning, and a Monsoon sound strategy pinch a CD subordinate and powerfulness antenna. Just remember, Firebirds person a measurement of returning from nan ashes, and arsenic readers mentioned, it's among the classic GM exemplary names overdue for a reboot. So who knows, possibly we'll 1 time spot a Firebird EV crossover.