The history of the Pontiac Firebird is a long path from the original 70’s pony car built within the slow 70’s style made for looks up to the Trans-Am racing legend of the early 2000s.
The history begins with the rivalry between the Camaro and Corvette, the two most popular cars available in America in the 1970s. Pontiac, under GM, was looking for something new. They took inspiration from the Douglas F-4D Skyray fighter jet. Pontiac got permission to begin working on the Firebird under the rules from GM that they would not surpass the Camaro.
When the Gen One Firebird was first released, it came in a single trim in white and blue. It produced 178 HP, which was powerful for the time, came with four leather seats and a removable sunroof for a convertible style. Due to the success of the Camaro and Corvette, purchases were slow and only one hundred thousand were ever sold.
The Gen Two Firebird worked off of its original popularity and included Corvette and Camaro features. When the Gen Two was released, it came with a four-wheel drive and four different trim levels. The first was the Firebird trim with the V6 engine and no extra features. then one with the hood scoop, v8, and all-wheel drive. The two Trans-Am with the V8 convertible and scoops on the hood and skirts.
The Gen Three was the simplest version of them all, as it only added pop-up headlights and smoothed out the surfaces of the trims, making them less futuristic and more modernist. It included an updated v8 engine producing up to 336 HP with a max push of over 400, yet was limited due to GMs restrictions regarding Firebird vs Camaro, restricting muscle and pony cars to be less than the Camaro to not usurp its popularity.
The final generation, Gen Four came with a new, smoother ride, lowered suspension, and the important supercharged 20th anniversary edition with the white trim with blue racing stripes and custom leather seats. This car managed to produce a max HP of 456.
