See I disagree with because the Firebird in it's late 70's heyday was the most outrageously styled car on the road.....it was funny because Bill Mitchell never like the Bird on the hood that much...when he first saw a prototype he said it looked like someone put an indian blanket on the hood. It wasn't untill someone did one up in either black and gold (or something like that), to be his personal car, that he gave the okay.

 

Even though I have an SS, I think the 98-02 WS6's are damn fine looking cars.
......Just my .02

 

I too think the LS1 WS6's were sexy cars...some say over the top but tell me in what ways they were more "outrageous" than say a Cobra or Saleen Mustang?

 

Just bought a 2 year subscription to Popular Hot Rodding. I was meaning to so anyway. I'm going to get one for Super Chevy too.

 

I think Hunkins is a great guy. Very open-minded and a "car-guy" in general. I see his passion in his words frequently.

I want to step up and say that a bunch of hard-nosed guys here on this site gave Hunkins more than a hard time about 2 years ago when he started posting trial data for the (new and unreleased at that time) '03 Cobra. I think he was accused of everything from faking the data to being paid off by Ford. The coup-de-gras was when Johnny said for an acceleration comparison, the '03 Cobra would give the Z06 a good run for the money... oh geez did he get ripped over that comment. Well IMO, he basically got tired of the accusations and uneducated attacks because he was simply reporting what he was seeing and doing. As a result, his post count on this board basically died. I imagine he still reads here.

He has written about all kinds of cars and musclecars in his career, and he is an accomplished photographer too IMO.

As for him "jumping ship"... I don't think that's a fair statement, because he has made his living covering all kinds of cars. He is justified in moving around some, given his job at the time.

Maybe you refering to This Article that ran in MM&FF last year? He has also done some writing for other covers. This one is from Steeda's own website.

Anyways, nice to see him following the Camaro story!

 

That bird (in smaller form) debuted on the 2nd gen T/A in '72. In '73 it was supersized and was made an option by Herb Adams, who headed Pontiac's Special Products (sort of a old day SVT or SRT), NOT Bill Mitchell, who had nothing to do with it's design or approval. You are correct that he didn't like it at all, but he had no say on the issue.

The design was done by John Schinella and Bill Davis, and was optional on the Trans Am. However, something like 98% of all Trans Ams sold had this optional "Bird", so regardless as to what anyone said since those days, it was no doubt the most popular option on the Trans Am, and Trans Am outsold every single other "performance" car of it's day. People loved them.

The Black & Gold version came up as a limited edition in 1976. Because of it's popularity, came back in 1977 on the restyled 'Bird and ended up on a certain blockbuster movie, and then it went from great sales to phenominal sales. The "Decal" was redesigned in '78 for yet another special edition, which ended up on all TA's in '79.

Then there was the overkill of the 10th Anniversairy Trans Am, which was pretty outrageous & priced in the stratosphere at the time.

There is simply nothing in recent years that you can equate with how popular & cool those things were back then. Back then there were 2 groups: Trans Am, and everything else. You had to be there!

 

It was Z/28 vs Trans Am.......and everything else.

Unfortunately for the Camaro faithful.....a T/A 6.6 WS6 Trans Am would eat a stock Z, and everyone knew it.

But lots lots of people bought Trans Ams back then though. I'd have to say that most of them were less interested in actual performance...and more interested in image ("screaming chicken" and all).

 

Why?

 

I was a rabid Firebird Trans Am fan in the 1970s. It was the 1st car as a teenager that I just loved. Judging by the sales figures of the era, that feeling was overwhelming in the marketplace as well. There were other cars I liked (the Chevy Monza Spyder V8 & the Volare Roadrunner 360 come to mind), Trans Am was THE car to have.

It's all a matter of taste. Just like some people today think the late 70s T/A hood decal was overdone, gaudy, and outrageous, I feel the same way for the late version of the WS6s. To me it looked like something drawn in study hall by someone with too much testosterone in their diet. I also realize that by today's standards, the "screaming chicken" hood decal on late 70s TAs that I still think is cool, probally make some people here blow their lunch, and I can handle that.

But, at least the late version WS6s made a statement. Most all base Firebirds to me look suspiciously like larger scale Ford Probe or a lower level Corvette. I'm not a big fan of '80s Firebirds either.

This is strictly my opinion here, but Firebird prior to 1983 were all distinctive. Not only from other cars on the road, but distinctive from Camaros as well. I know it was necessary, and that the F-body might not have survived without it, but when the 2 cars began sharing the same engine, had similar interiors & dashboards, and Firebird's nose began looking more like a Corvette, it lost the soul & individuality it had in the '70s. It didn't even look like other Pontiacs (though Pontiac adopted the successful Firebird look to Sunbirds & to a lesser state, the Lemans).

To put this in some type of perspective, imagine the 4th gen Firebird with GTO's interior, a 6.0 truck engine, a price of about $25,000, and the thing could keep up with a Z06 Corvette. That's what Firebird Trans Ams were up till 1980 when they lost the T/A 6.6 engine, and in 1983 when they lost everything else.

That's why I'm of the opinion that Firebirds died starting with the '83s.

VERY well said.

Trans Am also made racing a Corvette a drivers race & easily take Corvettes on the track if they had the T/A 6.6 engine & the W72 performance package. Z28s were short work for Trans Am's so equipted.

 

There was a biiiiig difference between a T/A 6.6, 4 speed, 3.23 posi, WS6 Trans Am.......and a 6.6 Liter (or 4.9), 3 speed auto, 2.59 non-posi, non-WS6 Trans Am.


The vast majority were the latter.

 

I agree 100% with that statement!

 

From a former teenager who worshipped the car back then...me :

*The handling package was the W72.
*The T/A 6.6 was a Pontiac engine with cam & breathing upgrades. After 1977, these came with manuals only if I remember correctly.
*The regular 6.6 engine was the Oldsmobile 403. These WERE most of the sales. These also were the only things California could get. All came with Automatics only.

Guess it was the 70s version of 18" rims. It was completely unnecessary, but it was "Cool".

 

Ya, but I'm sure the 6.6 cost more.

Not every Corvette built in 1965 had the 396... but that doesn't mean the poeple who bought 327's (especially 327 fuelies) weren't into performance...


Also, it doesn't mean that every C5 buyer from 2001 on isn't into performance if they don't buy a Z06 over a LS1 car.

 

Let's see, his job is covering cars, GM stopped producing F-bodies, and folks around here bashed him for being disloyal???

 

My brother's ex's dad has 5 1979 TA's that I have seen and one that he is working on that I have not seen. Three have the 403's and the other three have the 400.