Pontiac Muscle Cars

Introduction to the Firebird

The motivations for the Firebird were endless. Of course, the most overpowering reason was the birth of the unbelievably successful Ford Mustang, which then proved that the concept of a sports car was a viable one. The opposition (Ford) had a huge head start, they had already released the Mustang, which meant that it was time for a reply from Pontiac.

The top management at Pontiac certainly didn't like having their faces rubbed in the dirt by the Ford Motor Company pony. After all, it was General Motors' (GM) Pontiac division that had introduced the first true muscle car, the GTO, in 1964. John DeLorean and Semon E. "Bunkie" Knudsen, the Pontiac big guns at the time, set sights on building a Mustang competitor.

General Motors' first prototype in the "Mustang Fighter" category was Chevrolet's "XP-836 Project." It was an effort that began only four months after the introduction of the Mustang in 1964. The initial design was a four-seater which Pontiac had very little interest in adopting.

DeLorean made it very clear that he wanted a two-seater, possibly to serve as a more economic competitor to the Corvette. Thus was born the "XP-833" plastic body design. The body design was very much a sleek beauty, far ahead of its time design-wise, and in retrospect, maybe a little too far ahead of its time. The top brass just weren't buying the futuristic concept. Possible the biggest reason for the failure of "XP-833 Project" was the fact that the big guns didn't want any competition for the Corvette. End of project.

This was when the Chevy design came back into action as a joint development for both Chevy and Pontiac. Thus it was inevitable that as the two designs evolved there would be great similarity between them - which was certainly the case for many years to come. Ultimatley, it just made good economic sense to handle the project in this way. Pontiac did not like this decision, but this was how the game was to be played.

Pontiac's pride was further wounded because much of the design work had already been done by Chevy, and the car already had its name Camaro. Originally the name had been Panther, but Chevy decided that it would continue its established pattern of using "c" names for its cars.

The Firebird name was not new to the Pontiac division. In 1954, Pontiac built a one-of-a-kind turbine concept car sporting a high rear stabilization bar emblazoned with an early version of the Firebird logo. It looked more like a jet fighter than a ground vehicle. This early design effort was the origin of the Firebird name.

When Pontiac joined the effort, the development had already progressed to a point that sheet metal contouring was already cast in stone. No doubt, the new Pontiac machine would have to have its own style and character to set it apart from the Camaro. But with the design work so far advanced, Pontiac had to define its own look by styling the nose and tail modifications. This was not going to be an easy task.

The same fenders were retained for both models, but the distinctive split-grille design, made famous by the super successful GTO, would definatley set this apart as the PMD (Pontiac Motor Division) design. The Pontiac designers then moved to the car's rear and made their distinct imprint there, too. Even thought there were great similarities between the two models introduced in 1967, each managed to have its own distinctive style - and its own group of devotees.

The Firebird faced a distinct disadvantage against its Camaro brother in that the Camaro was released much earlier than the Firebird. Camaros were released into the Public in September of 1966, and were carried as 1967 models. The Firebirds didn't make it into the showroom until February of 1967. Concequently, it was labeled a "1967-1/2" model.

Quite frankly, force-fitting the Firebird within already-existing design constraints had left it way behind the Camaro. Still, the Firebird line has survived through the years and has continued to forge its own personality. No longer a Camaro hanger-on, the Firebird (and its Flashy Trans Am offshoot) has moved in a magnificent direction.

During the current vintage muscle car rage, Firebirds seem to be the forgotten muscle cars. But make no mistake, many versions of both the Firebird and Trans Am more than qualify as muscle machines. In fact, from 1973 to 1974, Firebirds and Trans Ams were among the few muscle cars still on the market.

Although the Super Duty 455 power plant of those dark EPA years was the final gasp of the glorious muscle era, Firebirds have survived into the 2000s and still offer some of the most exciting performance driving available.

Ron Brown & Associates
Email: mail@pontiac.cjb.net

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