Pontiac Firebird History

The Pontiac Firebird was introduced in 1967. In the second generation, 1970 model year, a high representation of Pontiac styling was introduced. But in the birth of the Firebird, the lineup was reduced from six to four. The next year, it have undergone only some minor changes in the styling, the addition of high-back bucket seats. The major changes were basically under the hood. The 1972 was considered as the disastrous year for the Pontiac Firebird.

The sales have suffered drastic decrease as the muscle car market collapsed, so the GM executives considered dropping the Firebirds altogether. Plus, the 174 days strike at the only plant that produces Firebirds. Despite these, the Pontiac executives have managed to save the Firebird, and continued. The change that happened were very few, but the engines were rated in net as SAE numbers. The first appearance of the famous honeycomb wheels was also in 1972. In 1973 two things came to save Firebird, the Super Duty 455 V8 (SD-455) and the introduction of Firebird Decal, also known as the screaming chicken.

The sales had dramatically gone up. And in 1980 another big problem occurred in the Firebird. It dropped the 400 V8 only to have a turbo that has no boost indicator. Considerably, the sales again had gone down until the last model year of the second generation. In its third generation, the Pontiac introduced the Firebird, Firebird SE, and Firebird Trans Am. The 1985 Firebirds have undergone redevelopment in order to boost its sales. The next generation has made so many changes. The last model years basically maintained the real Firebird.