Firebird: Why Everyone Knows This Hood

- Before we continue with the Firebird story, go ahead and hit the "Like" button to let us know we're doing a good job. And apparently it helps crack YouTube's algorithm. And I love figuring something out. It's the powerful car your cool uncle drove when he wasn't in jail. The fire-breathing, tire-burning, road-ripper from "Smokey and the Bandit." From its humble pony car origins to the airbrushed Phoenix of the '70s and on to

this

, what happened? This is "Everything You Need to Know to Get Up to Speed" on the Pontiac Firebird. (James screaming) (bright, upbeat music) - Thanks to Keeps for sponsoring today's video.

Hair loss has been eradicated on Earth, but in a universe where two out of three men experience some form of male pattern baldness by the time they are 35, we are on a mission to address universal hair loss. For us? - AstroMaintains. - We have arrived at Planet Epilonte, Captain. - Doctor McTompson, report. - The oceans are clean. The environment is breathable. The parking lot is front and only, paradise. - Access granted. - The ambassador is ready to meet us, Captain. - Thank you Officer Hawk. Tips for junior officers, send us below. Oh my God, it doesn't matter, I'll take care of it. - The volcano at the heart of our planet is going to erupt.

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Does your planet have gold? - No I dont think so. - Well, then the warmth of your gratitude is enough, thank you. Start your hair loss prevention today by visiting keep.com/uptospeed50 or clicking the link in the description to receive 50% off your first order and check back for another adventure from...AstroKeeps. - It's the late 60s and

everyone

is obsessed with muscles. Muscle cars, muscle rockets and muscles in white wine butter sauce. The young Pontiac executive named John DeLorean—yes, that John DeLorean—cracks a honking V8 into a midsize LeMans, calls it the GTO Package, and changes the course of American automotive history forever.

He said, kids will love

this

. And he was absolutely right. Not only did DeLorean completely change Pontiac's boring image overnight, it showed that young people wanted fast cars. Imagine that. Ring, ring, ring, ring. Department? Pontiac was arguably first to this exciting car market with the GTO if you don't count the Oldsmobile Rocket 88, but this muscle party filled up pretty quickly. Ford launched the Mustang, although it is debatable that it is not a muscle car, but a pony car. A Plymouth made the Barracuda and Dodge, flanked by the Polara, Dart and Coronet, but it was actually the Mustang that GM was worried about.

They watched year after year as Mustang sales skyrocketed, they sold a lot of them. In 1966, Ford sold a record 600,000 Mustangs in a market that DeLorean and GM had basically invented. And now they risk losing their own market. They needed a new car. Taking down the Mustang was a difficult task, but John DeLorean was a tall guy and doesn't take defeat very easily, okay? GM wanted the world-famous Chevy to be Fior's only crown, but DeLorean wouldn't hear of it. He tried to convince GM's top brass that Pontiac would be the one to build a killer Mustang. The general manager insisted that Chevy are the guys who do it.

And in the end, the guys at the Pontiac division were able to convince GM to allow Pontiac to design its own car based on the F Nova body along with a new project called the Camaro in the hopes that GM could flood this new market with fast cars. and cheap. With the go-ahead, the Pontiac team got to work designing a sister car to the Camaro. To influence the design, they turned to a concept car from a few years earlier called GM X. X stands for experimental. If you have an E there, you're not even experimenting, okay?

This prototype debuted at the 1964 New York World's Fair and people loved it. It blew their minds. Guess who else loved it? GM employees, they loved it too. Pontiac said, hey, what if we made that car we all loved a few years ago? And they got to work on a new prototype with GM Narrow waist, long

hood

, yoke absolutely at the back. I'm talking about thick inches. To differentiate it from the Camaro, they added an integrated front bumper which made it look sleeker. Now the folks at Pontiac weren't holding their breath thinking this would actually hit the market, were they?

They had been burned before by uncle GM, I'm talking about the Pontiac XP-833 aka The Banshee. Does it look familiar to you? It's like a third-generation Corvette, right? That's because this prototype was finished in 1964 and GM executives discovered that it would have horsepower equivalent to the Corvette but would be 500 pounds lighter and faster up to 60 miles per hour and they said, no, no, no. , we can not. I have that. And John DeLorean was told to immediately stop working on what he called Mustang Wire. Now the Corvette is GM's flagship sports coup, which means nothing else they offered could top it, period.

Alright, sales 101, look at Porsche. Understandably, DeLorean and the Pontiac team were downright pissed, I'll say it, man, they were pissed. Here they had designed and built a fully functional prototype that, if it had actually come to market, would have completely left out the Mustang, but they made it too good and ended up having to hand over their design to the Chevy team. They watched their hard work come to market as the third-generation Corvette, a class above the Mustang. But now Pontiac had a platform and design that were in the final stages of development. GM was concerned that the new project would be indistinguishable from the Camaro.

So John DeLorean spent a few more months making it more, say Pontiacy. One way the Firebird equipment would differentiate itself from the Camaro was trim options. - And there are five distinctive versions. - While the Camaro offered excellent engine options, its interior options were basic. It was considered a popular car, a Volkswagen, if you will. It was always going to be more available even though Pontiac offered more sophisticated features and interior options, more in a second. With every detail in order, the car was ready to hit the market, it just needed a theme. Pontiac chose to honor the GM Firebirds, a series of concept cars inspired by 1950s airplanes that inspired the development of the XP-833.

Pontiac finally had a new horse in the race, but how would it compare to its rival, the Mustang? Or even his sister the Camaro? Would she be the favorite daughter or would she be the one that no one likes? You know, every family has a brother that

everyone

likes and then one that has to live in the basement. In 1967, the first year it went on sale, the Firebird came in five, count 'em, five trim packages of varying levels. Something the marketing team called the magnificent five. There's the base six-cylinder, the Sprint with an upgraded six, the 326, 326 High Output, but the best option that year was the Firebird 400 option which included functional

hood

scoops, dual exhaust, stiffer suspension, better transmission and a chrome air filter. at the dance bell, that sweet, sweet honk of a V8, the 400 cubic inch monster capable of 325 horsepower.

The Firebird's base price was $2,666 in 1967, which is equivalent to about $22,000 today. It's a great value, but for an extra $274, you could add the Firebird 400 package, which currently costs around $2,200, which isn't bad. Even though this was the most powerful Firebird you could buy that first year, it was still 50 horsepower short of its junior Corvette sibling, the Camaro, right? One strange thing about this era at GM was that they had a rule that horsepower could not exceed one horsepower for every 10 pounds of car weight. That is, if you had a 3,000-pound car, you couldn't make more than 300 horsepower.

So the Firebird with the 400 V8 weighed about 3,250 pounds, which meant they had to restrict it to 325 horsepower. That's math using an accelerator link that only allowed it to open to 90% of its potential, which seems like something that can be undone pretty quickly. Customers who purchased this package quickly figured it out with just a few minutes of handling. The link pins can be bent a little to open them wider and allow for more power, baby. The general public loved the Firebird, although for most of them it was just a Camaro with a hat and mustache, it costs a little more than the Camaro, but the features.

Guys, the features made it all worth it. Optional, I'm talking about optional Burwood push button radio, okay? A center console, okay? Rally wheels, a premium steering wheel, smooth glass that's basically sunglasses for a car, and beautiful, cute Firebird emblems all around. Although the Firebird sold 82,000 cars in the first year compared to 220,000 Camaros and 472,000 Mustangs, it was a success and people accepted it. But why James? Why is it a success? That's only 17% of what the Mustang did? Good job, you did math very quickly. Your tutor is working, I'm proud of you. Well, the truth is that GM never wanted the Firebird to compete with the Mustang.

That was the Camaro's job. The luxurious Firebird competed directly with the Mercury Cougar, which was basically a sleeker Mustang, and GM's intention with its two pony cars was to flood the market and defeat both the Mustang and the Cougar. As far as they were concerned, GM was successful, but despite the positive reaction from car enthusiasts, John DeLorean wanted to make the Firebird even better and more different than the Camaro. But how was I going to do it? 1969 was the last year of the first generation Firebird and that's when it really started to come into its own.

This was the year the Trans Am debuted. John DeLorean constantly tried to push the envelope with every car he worked on. And whether his bosses at GM liked his ideas or not, it didn't matter because the public loved the cars he made. It was like he could see the future and as the tumultuous '60s moved into a new decade, pop culture was changing too and DeLorean was ready to capitalize on it, okay? The 1969 Firebird got a major appearance upgrade. The entire front was redesigned, as well as the instrument panel and steering wheel. A new high-end trim option was also added.

The Trans Am package could be added for $1,800, 7,600 bones in today's money, giving you the more powerful V8, the 400 High Output plus a hood, a damn rear spoiler, and upgraded suspension and brakes. The Trans Am package also had a ton of decals and functional ducts behind the front wheels. This thing looked bad, okay? They made 697 Trans Ams in 1969, nice ones, painted exclusively in cameo white with Tyrolean blue racing stripes. It was the most expensive Pontiac option of the time and cemented the badge as the equipment king of the GM family. The next generation of Firebird would carry the torch and in the process create one of the most iconic cars of all time.

Every great musical artist has one definitive album that you can point to and be like, this is what that person sounds like. For the Firebird, that's the second generation. This next-generation Firebird, which debuted in the mid-1970s due to machining problems, moved away from the Coca-Cola bottle style and adopted something with more blades and more angles. And Pontiac really wants to have more options than the Camaro. New for this generation were the Espree and Formula versions. The difference is minor, like heavier sway bars and different spring rates, so I won't get bogged down in all the details when I can talk about what I really want to talk about, perhaps the most significant model of this entire era.

The Trans Am now came with the new Ram Air VI V8. VI in Roman numerals as a rocket tuned to generate 345 horsepower. This engine can only be ordered with the Trans Am package. Just a year later, Pontiac offered an even bigger horn, a 455 elbow kit, a legendary V8, this is the peak era of muscle cars, baby. A7.5 liter V8 that made 335 horsepower, which isn't much for that displacement, but it was back then. And it contributed to the mystique and reputation of the Trans Am. And thanks to the Pontiac's avant-garde styling that seemingly changed every year, the Firebird was becoming a favorite of the muscle car community.

Another thing that really helped his popularity was a little thing named Burt Reynolds. Have you ever heard of it? He's the guy with the mustache and the hats on. Now, even if you don't know who Burt Reynolds is, you're probably familiar with “Smokey and the Bandit” if you like car movies. It is at the top of the list of the best car movies ever made. - I want a jump, Daddy. - A jumping partner. - And one of the reasons is that the hero's car is one of the coolest cars in any movie. This 1977 Trans Am touched the hearts of millions of Americans with its stripes, gold snowflake wheels, giant hood, and flared fenders.

Burt Reynolds on his dark steed blew away the Jakes with his skinny tires, silly hats, and introduced a lifestyle many didn't know they wanted: being an outlaw. The Firebird was successful before, but after the debut of "Smokey and the Bandit", Firebird sales skyrocketed from 110,000 cars sold in 1976 to 211 in 1979. That's almost double, no one could have predicted the massive success that the movie would have given Pontiac. . (tires screeching) This generation lasted a couple more years, but due to the gas crisis and its increasingly restrictive environmental regulations which I actually agree with, it continued to get worse, just like every other American car, right?

And Pontiac was forced to finally ditch its big-block engines. The third generation of the Firebird debuted in 1982, and at the time, American cars in general were something of a duke. I'll say it, they were dukes. Cover your years, children, directly. Instead of performance, the main focus was fuel efficiency because gasoline costs a lot of money. This was the first generation in which the Firebird got a four-cylinder option. And rumor had it that they were considering converting it to front-wheel drive. The redesign took the Firebird back to the '80s, but this generation is considered one of the worst across the board in terms of power, performance, styling, everything.

I guess if you had to choose the coolest model of this generation, the Trans Am GTA, which had an interesting notchback reminiscent of a Ferrari 288 GTO. The most power this generation had came from a Buick 3.8-liter turbocharged V6 from the GNX that produced 250 horsepower. That sounds pretty cool, in fact, I'd drive it. It would be a few more years before the Firebird made the model the power it had before the gas crisis. The fourth generation of the Firebird came onto the market in 1993, at a time when V8 engines were finally becoming powerful again: the muscle car lives on. -The SVT Cobra and the Lightning, the 454 SS, came out around this time and Pontiac couldn't have timed it better.

Along with the fourth-generation Camaro, also known as The Catfish, the new design was futuristic for the time. With a sleek, streamlined profile that breathed fresh air into the car after years of stagnation, which is the opposite of fresh. One of the most ridiculous versions of this generation was the Firehawk. This was one option you could get, the Formula or Trans Am version and it featured a dual-scroll hood, big old styling, 17-inch wheels, and way too much bodywork, ductwork, and random styling. There was a lot going on here and to top it off, you get it on a t-shirt.

You wanted to wear hat upon hat upon hat. Now, the nice thing about this version, as well as other Trans Am versions, was that you could get it with the Corvette's LS1 V8, a little detuned, of course, to make 330 horsepower. This was the first time in two decades that the horsepower figures returned to a respectable number for a muscle car. My friend Josh's mom in high school had one of these. It was really fun. 2002 was the last year they made the Firebird and to celebrate 35 years spanning four generations, they made a special collector's edition of the Trans Am available in a convertible or T-shirt.

It only came with yellow and black stripes on the side. He looks like Hulk Hogan. It's really the worst way to commemorate the legacy of what was once such a great car. It really doesn't look very good. It looks like a skido. Sadly, Pontiac went out of business during the 2008 financial crisis, thanks to Adam McKay. So it doesn't look like we'll ever see a new Firebird again, but if you really want one, GM has licensed the Firebird name to a company that takes new Camaros, slaps a bunch of Firebird stuff on them, badges them, and paints the logo on them.

Firebird gold on your hood. It also has some pretty cool retro looking wheels. I don't know, it's great. But maybe it's better if we respect the past. - Check out Donut's new badass We Buy Junk Cars t-shirt. Get it in this pretty black and yellow or this luxurious white and warm red. Plus, if you order now, we'll include these limited edition business cards from We Buy Junk Cars, so you can help spread the word, Junk Cars. And unlike these junk cars, this t-shirt is quality and lasts for the low price of 29.98, which is much cheaper than buying one of these used junk cars.

Yes, it's a big piece of garbage. So visit donutmedia.com to pick up your junk car t-shirt today. This thing is sick. - Thank you very much for watching this video and everything else on Donut. Hit the subscribe button so you don't miss anything. Hit the like button, it really helps us with the old algorithm. I am very excited about our merchandising program; We release new material almost every week. Go to donutmedia.com to check it out. Follow me on Instagram, Twitter @JamesPumphrey and TikTok The Kentucky Cobra. I love you.