Happily, that's changed, and deservedly so. You don't see that many '60s Firebirds nowadays, not only due to their lower original volume but because enthusiasts long dismissed them as the Camaro-clones they appeared to be. That was still only a fraction of Camaro's business but roughly even with Cougar's -about what DeLorean had expected. Sales continued strong, with more than 100,000 units in 1968 and over 87,000 in '69. Engines were basically as before except that the Ram Air II gave way to a 345-bhp 400 Ram Air IV option. Unfortunately, the restyle also added somewhat to weight, as well as 2.3 inches in length and 1.3 inches in width. Notable was a more prominent chrome "bird beak" grille surrounded by trendy body-color Endura plastic à la GTO. The big news for '69 was the fire-breathing Trans Am, but all Firebirds sported new lower-body styling that further disguised their Camaro origins. At midyear, Pontiac offered a 400 Ram Air II option, also rated at 335 bhp, 25 below the comparable GTO unit due to a minor carb change. also became a 350 and claimed 35 more horses, the 400 tacked on five bhp, and a new 400 H.O. The ohc sixes grew to 250 cid, the 326 V-8 became a 350, the H.O. The '68s were little-changed visually but much-changed mechanically. About two-thirds carried optional power steering and Hydra-Matic Drive, suggesting Firebird competed less with Mustang - or Camaro - and more with Mercury's new '67 Cougar in an emerging "luxury ponycar" field. Though that was only half Camaro's volume, it pushed combined F-car sales well over the projected quarter-million breakeven point to the delight of GM accountants. With prices starting about $200 upstream of six-cylinder Camaros - $2,666 for the base hardtop and $2,903 for the convertible- the 1967-1969 Pontiac Firebird generated strong 82,000-plus sales despite an abbreviated debut season. 250 lively horses on regular gas" (and two-barrel carb). One step up was the V-8 Firebird 326, billed as a "family sportster. Next came the Sprint, with 215-bhp ohc six, floor shift, and "road hugging" suspension. The base Firebird carried Pontiac's year-old, 165-bhp 230-cid overhead-cam six. Each was available in Camaro's convertible and hardtop coupe body styles. Where Camaro achieved four models through options, Firebird arrived with five separate offerings keyed to engines. The most notable were engines set further back for better front/rear weight balance, and standard rear traction bars to minimize axle windup under hard acceleration.Īnother distinction involved marketing. Moreover, Pontiac's pony benefited from some engineering lessons learned too late to affect first-year Camaros, which went on sale some five months before Firebird's February 1967 debut. body had all the Chevrolet sheetmetal and all the same exterior hardware except for the grille and taillamps." Even so, those elements - split-theme grille, "slot" taillamps - were distinctly Pontiac, thus differentiating Firebird from Camaro to a surprising degree. Pontiac engineer Bill Collins later stated that the '67 Firebird was "just kind of inherited from Chevrolet." The. Firebird was a good name choice, signifying power, beauty, and youth in American Indian mythology and recalling GM's gas-turbine experimentals of the late '50s and early '60s. Pontiac was aware of the effort all along, and asked to be cut in once management vetoed DeLorean's two-seater. So DeLorean settled for a "Pontiacized" version of Chevy's four-seat Camaro - which was hardly bad.Ĭamaro stemmed from the "Panther" or "F-car" program that aimed at a direct Ford Mustang-fighter to replace the Corvair Monza as Chevy's mainstream sporty compact. But GM was hard-pressed to support one sports car, let alone two, and "Banshee" didn't test well with the public. Had division chief John DeLorean gotten his way, it would have been a two-seat sports car called Banshee, a low-cost sister to the Chevy Corvette. That was true even in the carefree '60s, when GM almost owned the market. General Motors may be the world's biggest automaker, but it's always had limits.
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