The Definitive Firebird & Trans Am Guide: 1970 1/2 - 1981

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for purchasing The Definitive Firebird and Trans Am Guide: 1970½–1981. I have been a second-generation Firebird fanatic my entire life. If you’re reading this book, you must share similar sentiment toward Pontiac’s F-car!

I want to assure you that this isn’t just another Firebird book. Although some authors treat their books as research projects, what you’ll read here was written by an author who has lived a second-generation Firebird lifestyle. I only hope that my lifelong excitement and passion for them resonates loudly as I share what I have learned living each day of my life continually striving to know more about these Firebirds than the day before.

In my years as a professional author writing for such publications as High Performance Pontiac, Car Craft, Hemmings Muscle Machines, and Hot Rod magazines, I had contacted dozens of former Pontiac employees for various projects. Anyone who had influence or assisted with the second-generation Firebird was more than happy to reminisce with me for this project. I learned that the 1970½–1981 Firebird was so successful because it was developed by a group of automotive enthusiasts and hot rodders who sincerely loved the vehicle they were working on.

In sharing their memories, you’ll read new quotes and comments from the talented men who designed its body features and the engines and suspension packages that collectively made the Firebird iconic. You’ll also find certain production numbers shared in print for the very first time. I am confident that even the staunchest Firebird hobbyist will walk away with new information. And I am truly honored to be bringing it to you. As a youngster turning pages many years ago, I never imagined I would have such an opportunity today.

I attribute my Pontiac addiction to my grandfather, James V. Rotella, and my father, James M. Rotella, both performance enthusiasts who purchased Pontiac’s best performance cars during the 1960s and 1970s. When I was born in 1976, my father drove a 1976 Trans Am and my mother drove a 1973 Grand Prix SJ. Both of their parents (my grandparents) drove then-late-model Pontiacs too.

My fondest childhood memories are of the 1978 Trans Am that my father took delivery of in February 1978. The car was immaculately kept and driven only when weather allowed. I remember sitting in the passenger seat watching him row through the gears of the 4-speed manual transmission with the chrome-plated Hurst shifter and the sound of the T/A 6.6 bellowing through the dual-resonator exhaust, particularly when he’d lift off the throttle and the engine would back down in gear. To this day the smell of Meguiar’s No. 7 takes me back to watching him polish its bronzy Chesterfield Brown exterior.

Production of Pontiac’s second-generation F-car spanned 12 model years. During the course of development in Pontiac Studio, it had been through four chief designers and each had a significant amount of influence. Each year has a package or feature that makes it unique, and regardless of which Firebird you love the most, there’s no denying that they’re all beautifully styled in their own way.

By two years old I had been bitten by the Trans Am bug. My father bought this Chesterfield Brown 1978 Trans Am new in February 1978. It was equipped with the optional T/A 6.6 engine and backed by a 4-speed manual transmission. Its aggressive appearance, rumbling exhaust, and exciting performance ignited a flame within me that hasn’t flicked out yet.

As I learned to read, I pored over as many Firebird books and magazines as I could get my hands on. My thirst for second-generation Firebird knowledge and Pontiac V-8 performance was quenched reading and rereading my father’s copies of Mike Lamm’s book The Fabulous Firebird and Gary Witzenburg’s Firebird! America’s Premier Performance Car, along with every issue of High Performance Pontiac that arrived in the mailbox. I couldn’t really interpret the technical details at the time, but images and specifications were etched into my mind. I was Firebird crazy and loved that 1978 Trans Am. After nearly a decade of owning it, however, my father began contemplating an earlier 1970s Firebird powered by a 455 H.O. or Super Duty 455.

One Saturday night while driving around as a family, a Lucerne Blue Trans Am that looked to be in the 1970–1972 range passed us going the opposite direction. My father whipped around and tried to catch up for a better look without luck. In the weeks and months that followed, he persisted until he tracked it down and purchased a numbers-matching 1972 Trans Am that needed some bodywork but had a freshly rebuilt 455 H.O. equipped with Hooker headers and a lumpy camshaft. I can vividly recall driving it home on the highway that October 1987 night and him slowing up, pulling the automatic transmission down into low gear, and stomping on the accelerator. The sound of that 455 H.O. and the torque that pinned me to the seatback was unforgettable. I had a new love! The car was completely restored in 1988 and still sits in our garage to this day.

The dream of purchasing a new Trans Am came true in September 2000 when I took delivery of this 2001 Trans Am equipped with the optional WS6 Ram Air and Handling package that I ordered in July 2000. It’s in my home garage accompanied by the 1976 Trans Am that I purchased in August 1993 at just 17 years old.

Time marched on and I grew old enough to understand and appreciate the significance of new-model-year introductions. I’m able to reminisce about experiencing the reintroduction of the Formula in 1987, the debut of SLP’s Firehawk in 1991, the release of the new WS6 package with Ram Air in 1996, and the addition of the powerful LS1 in 1998. In fact, I was so much in love with the 1998 refresh that upon graduating college in the spring of 2000, I purchased one.

In July 2000, when the order bank opened for the 2001 model year, I ordered a 2001 Trans Am in Navy Blue Metallic with the WS6 package and a 6-speed transmission. It was delivered in September 2000, and I vividly recall the excitement of receiving the calls telling me my order had been accepted, the car had been built, and when it was on the transport. I recall seeing it in the service bay immediately after it was unloaded and before pre-delivery inspection. And best of all, I was able to experience something that I dreamed about: the feeling of taking delivery of my own Trans Am. Fortunately, I made it just in time, as Pontiac dropped the Firebird after the 2002 model year.

The 2001 Trans Am wasn’t my first Firebird, however. When I received my learner’s permit in 1991, I drove a 1975 Grand Prix that my father had purchased as a spare family car. I drove it daily when I turned 16, but dreamed of owning a second-generation Firebird. I luckily found a 1976 Trans Am equipped with a 455 Performance Package in the local newspaper that was clean and reasonably priced. Despite criticism from family friends who voiced concern about it being too much car for a 17-year-old kid, my father knew my enthusiasm for these cars and my level of respect for power. In August 1993, he helped me make the purchase.

Friend, fellow-photographer, and Trans Am owner Chris Ritter snapped this photo of me while I was hard at work shooting a 1974 Super Duty Trans Am for this very book. This wasn’t an uncommon sight over the past couple of years as I traveled about in search of quality vehicles.

I still own both of my Trans Ams to this day. I hope to eventually pass them and any that follow, as well as my passion toward Firebirds in general, on to my son, Rocco. At just three years old as I write this in 2017, he’s showing the signs of being a true Pontiac enthusiast. If he’s anything like me, we have lots of fun ahead!

While authoring this book, I went to great lengths to ensure that I presented the most current and accurate information based on the documents and facts available today. Part and parcel to this was General Motors’ Heritage Center in Warren, Michigan, and the Pontiac-Oakland Museum and Resource Center (POMARC) in Pontiac, Illinois. Much of what you’ll read is backed by information gleaned from Pontiac documents that reside in the libraries of those two excellent resources, as well as my own extensive literature collection.

Photographing enough qualified second-generation Firebirds for a book of this level was extremely difficult. I attended several events throughout the country and was allowed access to certain collections that provided me with some of the best candidates for the project. There are countless examples certainly worthy of print and others I wanted so badly to photograph, but I just wasn’t able to because of time and/or budget. What you’ll find, however, are excellent-quality Firebirds that represent the spirit of this book perfectly. The only acceptable modification I attempted to allow was the addition of modern tires, and even then they had to be in a size appropriate for the application.

Although I had professionally conversed with Bill Porter for at least a decade, it wasn’t until I was asked be a panelist with him at a technical information session at the 2016 Indian Uprising event in St. Charles, Illinois, that I actually had the chance to meet him. I found Bill quite humble and very gracious, and I considered it a distinct honor to actually meet the man who has fueled so many of my dreams over the years.

If you’re new to the Pontiac hobby, there are many active clubs that produce monthly publications or newsletters. National associations include the Pontiac-Oakland Club International (poci.org) and National Trans Am and Firebird Club (firebirdtaclub.com). Many regional clubs, such as Midwest Firebirds (midwestfirebirds.org), are excellent resources, too. Countless others can be found with a simple Internet search or through their Facebook pages. There are also web-based clubs and forums that you can join for free. If a monthly magazine interests you, Poncho Perfection (ponchoperfection.com) is an excellent Pontiac-only publication.

I hope that reading The Definitive Firebird and Trans Am Guide: 1970½–1981 will be as rewarding and enjoyable for you as it was for me to write. I strove very hard to give readers a second-generation Firebird book very different from any other before it, while creating a new standard for the Firebird hobby by packing in as many details as these pages allow.

CHAPTER ONE

DEVELOPMENT

In April 1964, Ford took the automotive industry by storm when it introduced its Mustang at that year’s World’s Fair in New York. As a small four-passenger vehicle with a traditionally arranged driveline consisting of 6- and 8-cylinder power, the cute two-door combined an affordable base price with a sporty attitude that appealed to professional woman and performance enthusiasts alike. It was an instant hit, and volume exceeded 100,000 within weeks of its introduction.

Ford’s sporty concept wasn’t necessarily new, however. Even before 1964, several General Motors’ divisions had asked for a vehicle in the emerging segment that Car Life later termed the pony car class, but management didn’t see an immediate need. General Motors wasn’t convinced that Ford’s Mustang would amount to much and considered Chevrolet’s Corvair Monza with rear-mounted engine a worthy combatant. Mustang sales soared, however, and it became apparent that Corvair’s limited versatility wasn’t the answer. General Motors put designing its own small and sporty four-seater on the fast track.

The May 1964 issue of Car Life magazine on Ford’s new Mustang coincided with its April 1964 introduction at the World’s Fair in New York. The small four-passenger-seat sports car with V-6 or V-8 power was an immediate success. GM divisions had pushed the corporation for a similar vehicle in the past and Ford beat them to the punch.

We had been asking for a car like this for some time, said Ben Harrison, Pontiac Product Planner. We’d heard that Ford’s Mustang was coming, but Ed Cole, the Vice President and Group Executive of Car and Truck Group felt that it was going to be a flash in the pan. He focused on the Corvair Monza instead. As soon as it came out, the Mustang sold better than any of us had thought. I went straight to Cole and told him that we needed something quickly. Ford created a new small, sporty, four-seat sports car market, and they had it all to themselves. It ultimately took General Motors until 1967 to react with its F-car.

The XP-853 program was initiated in 1964 as GM’s answer to the Mustang. The concept eventually evolved into the 1967 F-car. Pontiac played an active role in its development through September 1965. That’s when John DeLorean asked to be withdrawn to focus on Pontiac-specific projects. Its appearance up to that point looks very much like the Firebird that Pontiac introduced in midyear 1967. (Photo Courtesy GM Media Archives)

The four-passenger XP-798 was one of the projects that John DeLorean pursued upon exiting the XP-853 program. Named Banshee, the fiberglass prototype was to be included in Pontiac’s display at the New York International Auto Show in April 1966. The corporation hadn’t given its approval to display the vehicle and had it pulled the evening before the show’s opening. (Photo Courtesy GM Media Archives)

After a failed attempt at creating a proprietary small sporty car, General Motors handed Pontiac the Chevrolet Camaro in March 1966 with instructions to develop its own F-car. Pontiac and its studio at GM Styling immediately set out to find ways to separate its F-car from Chevrolet’s. The Firebird debuted in Pontiac’s display at the Chicago Auto Show in February 1967. Available in convertible and hardtop styling, engine choices ranged from the OHC-6 to the 400 Ram Air.

In July 1964, Bill Mitchell, Vice President of GM Styling initiated Experimental Program-836 (XP-836) as Chevrolet’s Mustang fighter. Ed Cole commissioned XP-853 as a sporty four-seater for Pontiac and Chevrolet. Pontiac’s general manager, John DeLorean, excused his division from the XP-853 program in September 1965 to explore proprietary sporty car programs. It seems that Chevrolet’s efforts on the XP-853 program were combined with the XP-836 along the way and eventually evolved into the F-car that became the Camaro for 1967.

Although Chevrolet aggressively developed its F-car, Pontiac focused on its two-passenger XP-858 and four-passenger XP-798 concepts. As the Chevrolet raced toward its public release, the corporation rationalized that applying Pontiac’s projected sporty car volume to the F-car would help offset developmental costs and shorten the trek to platform profitability. In March 1966, GM management halted Pontiac’s independent endeavors and informed the division that it was joining the 1967 F-car program. Furthermore, to ensure that Pontiac’s F-car would reach production as quickly as possible, it was given Chevrolet’s almost-complete Camaro with which to create its own.

Pontiac used its own driveline in its F-car, but when compared to the Chevrolet’s, corporate management limited exterior and interior changes to cosmetics only. Once past the frustration of being forced to take on a rival division’s completed vehicle, DeLorean rallied his team of engineers and the designers in Pontiac Studio at GM Styling to completely separate Pontiac’s inherited F-car from Chevrolet’s Camaro despite its direct lineage and imposed design limitations.

By the time Chevrolet’s 1967 F-car debuted in September 1966, it had been named Camaro. Because of Pontiac’s late start, production of its F-car (originally named Banshee but renamed Firebird just before release) was delayed several months. Its midyear debut occurred at the Chicago Auto Show in February 1967. As fresh entries in the emerging pony car market, the media welcomed GM’s newest players with favorable reviews. Consumer response was equally impressive. More than 300,000 F-cars were sold in its introductory model year. That trend continued in the years that followed.

Second-Generation Plans

To amortize first-generation F-car development cost, General Motors planned to share certain components and aspects with its new X-car (Chevrolet Nova) due out in 1968. Bill Mitchell grew so frustrated with management’s influence and restrictions that he went as far as publicly stating that Camaro’s styling had been so muted that it had lost much of its sports car attitude. In fact, Mitchell was so displeased with the first F-car that by May 1966 (months before Chevrolet or Pontiac released its respective 1967 model), he pushed his designers to develop a second-generation F-car with 1970 as its anticipated introductory model year. Renderings and concepts were soon underway.

In the late-1960s, Chevrolet had multiple design studios at GM Styling, and Chevrolet 2 Studio was specifically dedicated toward Corvette and Camaro development. Pontiac had just one studio to design all its offerings. The delayed entry into the 1967 F-car program left Pontiac’s designers scrambling to finish its first-generation Firebird before beginning a second. Chevrolet 2 had released its 1967 Camaro for production well ahead of Pontiac and immediately followed Mitchell’s order to begin 1970 F-car development.

Pontiac was fearful that if Chevrolet progressed too far with 1970 F-car development, it would again be forced to uniquely style a Camaro in which to create its second-generation Firebird. Although Chevrolet had the jump and laid the initial groundwork, Pontiac was able to join 1970 F-car development early enough that it could still strongly influence its basic architecture and ensure that the Firebird was excitedly distinctive from Camaro. And John DeLorean was going to make sure of it.

Dated August 21, 1967, this clay buck on the Styling Staff patio at GM’s Tech Center in Warren, Michigan, appears to be Jack Humbert’s first attempt at the second-generation Firebird with scheduled introduction for the 1970 model year. Its angular kinship to the 1969 Firebird is readily apparent but the windshield angle suggests second-generation F-car. (Photo Courtesy GM Media Archives)

Exterior Development

Under the leadership of Jack Humbert, Pontiac Studio’s initial clay mockup of the 1970 Firebird was created in August 1967. The somewhat angular body was seemingly an expansion of the styling ultimately found in the 1969 Firebird. The concept continued to evolve in the weeks that followed and the roofline went from a formal appearance, which lent a sedan-type look, to one much faster, creating a semi-fastback appearance. Front styling went through several iterations as well.

Humbert was promoted to Executive in Charge for Exterior Design of Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Commercial Vehicles on February 19, 1968. Bill Porter succeeded him as Pontiac Studio’s Chief Exterior Designer and quickly assumed all projects. When I arrived, the 1970 Firebird was a clay armature setting in the corner of the studio done by Jack and modeler Jerry Snyder based on the shape of the preliminary drawings, Porter recalled. "The front and rear treatments were undefined, but the basic package proportions were excellent. I could tell the car had a lot going for it right away. The body was very round and I saw the potential to shape it like the Italian sports cars on the leading edge of modern design at that time. I was very much into rounded forms and loved aerodynamics, so I incorporated that into my first rough of the car and it looked like a potato, really round. We then tightened up the form to give it internal geometry and it really started taking shape."

The second-generation Firebird continued to evolve under Humbert’s leadership. Although it retained its basic overall shape, the front clip began taking on a rounder appearance by the time this photo was taken on September 19, 1967. Quad headlights gave way to dual headlights. The Endura bumper and lower valance began taking shape. The rear treatment was revised as well. (Photo Courtesy GM Media Archives)

Second-generation Firebird styling had noticeably changed by November 1967. Upon his arrival into Pontiac Studio in February 1968, Bill Porter saw promise but felt that its forms were too roundish and lacked tension. He especially liked the soft bone that ran through the door, as it gave the Firebird differentiation from Hank Haga’s more sharply creased Camaro, which was being developed concurrently. (Photo Courtesy GM Media Archives)

While Porter worked on the Firebird in the Pontiac Studio, Henry Hank Haga, his counterpart in Chevrolet 2, worked on the Camaro. Hank was very much taken with Giorgetto Giugiaro’s angular shapes like that of the Maserati Ghibli; its body contains many long creases with planes between them. Mitchell favored that as well and the 1970 Camaro was tenser as a result. It was pretty well understood by everyone that Pontiac inherited the Camaro in 1967. The 1970 model was our opportunity to create something very special. We wanted complete visual separatism from the angular Camaro. I took a determined approach toward fluid shapes for the Firebird and wasn’t going to give that up.

John DeLorean proved that he was a staunch ally in Porter’s quest for Firebird’s rounded shape. DeLorean was smitten with European sports cars, particularly the performance and styling of the Italian jobs. In fact, he reportedly owned and drove a Maserati while he was Pontiac’s top man. He felt that a rounded, exotic shape would give his Firebird even greater independence from the Camaro. He also considered the 1970 Firebird to be his opportunity to create the sports car he desired so badly for Pontiac. He sought a Firebird that emulated a $10,000 Ferrari but with a $3,000 price tag.

With a solid plan for Firebird’s direction, Porter and his team of skilled designers and modelers worked diligently to inject exterior styling features of then-modern exotics to exude that flavor. His inspiration wasn’t just Italian sports cars such as the Lamborghini Miura and De Tomaso Mangusta that he and DeLorean fancied, however. Porter admits that his own influence came from certain British sports cars.

Bill Porter became chief exterior designer at Pontiac Studio in February 1968 and assumed 1970 Firebird development. The curvaceous Jaguar C-type was among the many exotic sports cars that influenced his design. This particular example was photographed in Vail, Colorado. It had just finished competing in the Colorado Grand, a weeklong road rally in which vintage sports cars tackle the windy roads in the Rocky Mountains.

I had been interested in sports cars since I was a teen and just loved the plainer, curvaceous look and elliptical vocabulary of the Jaguar C- and E-types, and the Lotus 11, he explained. "They were very muscular and bulbous and without a crease on them anywhere. Some of the shapes were influenced by the aerodynamicists from the Bristol Aircraft Company. I was determined to make the 1970 Firebird a real sports car, not some phony Detroit iron posing as a sports car and maintained the idea of total functionality. I hated the phony scoops on the Corvette Stingray and fought to keep that type of misplaced ‘Mitchell-esque’ thinking from polluting the Firebird."

Despite Porter’s desire for a rounded body, Bill Mitchell remained steadfast on Firebird having creases. I was looking for smooth, flowing lines not typically found in American production cars, but limited to Italian and British exotics, Porter explained. Mitchell would come into the studio and say things such as, ‘Your pants have a crease on them, put one here,’ as he pointed at the car. He was the boss and so demanding and stubborn that I knew there was no way I could totally get away from them so I added his creases and then softened them as much as possible. I think the muted horizontal body line on the production Firebird achieved a really pleasing effect.

The second-generation Firebird’s torpedo-shaped front fenders and a four-port grille opening welcomed Bill Porter into Pontiac Studio. He felt that the front was too busy and immediately began developing a new grille opening. The appearance does anticipate the facelift that was introduced for the 1974 model year, however. The chrome bumper and raised hood plateau are Mitchell trademarks. (Photo Courtesy GM Media Archives)

Creating a fresh front for the 1970 Firebird proved to be somewhat challenging. Vintage developmental photos reveal that Humbert’s initial concept contained quad headlights and a large grille similar to that of the 1969 Grand Prix, but with chromed bumperettes on each side. As it progressed, dual headlights replaced the quad treatment, the grille shape went from ovular to rectangular, and the bumperettes gave way to a thin, full-width chrome bumper.

We were having difficulty deciding the direction of the front aspect and I really didn’t like the four rectangular grille openings that were on it when I took over, so I decided to try a really round grille opening like that of the Italian OSCA, Porter recollects. I thought it was kind of interesting and might complement the rounded body shape we were after. Mitchell recognized it right away. After a few days I wasn’t comfortable with the look. It was just too round and really, quite faddish. I wanted the Firebird to be a classic and figured that the front we ultimately ended up with would remain in production for six to eight years. I believed it had to stay modern that entire time.

After a large, round opening inspired by the OSCA, by late spring 1968, the 1970 Firebird front took on the form that we know today. Although Porter managed to talk Mitchell out of chrome bumperettes on this particular rendition, the raised hood plateau remained. Porter strongly believed the feature was out of character for the European flair that was being injected into the Firebird’s styling. (Photo Courtesy GM Media Archives)

Among the many fronts that Bill Porter attempted for the 1970 Firebird during the spring of 1968 was this rendition, which contained a large wraparound chrome bumper similar to that of the first-generation Firebird. Hidden headlights would have functioned much like the GTO’s of the era. The feature was ultimately rejected on the Firebird because of cost, however. (Photo Courtesy GM Media Archives)

Porter assigned modeler Bud Chandler to assist with the front. We had consensually agreed on a theme and Bud did a full-size rendering that hung in the studio for quite a while during development. We added a center bar to provide Pontiac identity and squared up the apertures to create two elliptical openings. We then brought the grille openings outward and the nose to a point like other Pontiacs of the era. Within a couple of weeks it evolved into the front that came to be. Looking back, the original OSCA front was much too round, but it got us away from other four-slot fronts and onto what we ended up with.

This April 1968 rendering contained grille openings that were shaped even closer to the production design. Hidden headlights lent the perception of aerodynamics, an effect that Porter was very much after. Although still being considered, the feature was dropped not long after. (Photo Courtesy GM Media Archives)

As front styling of the 1970 Firebird progressed, Porter ran into complications created by Mitchell’s differing opinion. Pontiac had pioneered the use of a steel-backed-foam bumper system that it introduced on the 1968 GTO. The GTO nose was created from a molded rubber we called Endura, said Ben Harrison. It was styled and painted body color to integrate it into the look of the car. The bumper was fully functional and compliant, and resisted parking lot dings and dents. There were some that didn’t think a rubber bumper would work, but we proved that it would and forward-thinking buyers really liked it.

Both DeLorean and I wanted the Endura front for the 1970 Firebird because it could give us the sculpted look we were after, but Mitchell pushed for a chrome steel bumper, Porter recalled. He worried that the Endura front may be too wild for entry-level models or for those seeking chrome-appointed luxury, so I modeled both. We thought about having two fronts, much like Pontiac had with the 1968 A-car. The idea was that the Endura bumper would be limited to performance models while cheaper and plusher Firebirds would receive the chrome bumper. We tried a thin chromed bumper across the entire front and even chromed-steel bumperettes beneath the headlights to satisfy Mitchell, but it just didn’t look right.

Ben Harrison stated, There was talk about a couple of different fronts for the Firebird. Chevrolet was doing that with its Camaro: a chrome bumper on standard models because it was cheaper to produce and the more-expensive Endura bumper when buyers stepped up. DeLorean argued with Mitchell, reasoning that if buyers were willing to pay Firebird’s higher base cost, the basic model should be equipped with the premium bumper. He also argued that tooling costs for two bumpers was a more expensive proposition than using the Endura bumper on all cars and charging for it.

Pontiac and Chevrolet studios independently developed their own second-generation F-cars. The Firebird and Camaro had to share an upper style, however. Porter’s was much less tense than Chevrolet’s. He was surprised to find that Mitchell selected his upper treatment for the 1970 F-car. The roofline and rear quarter treatment had taken on the shape of what was eventually used in the production Firebird. (Photo Courtesy GM Media Archives)

Mitchell was concerned about the cost of the Endura front for the Firebird, said Porter. I remember DeLorean came down to Pontiac Studio and asked me which bumper I wanted for the car and I told him ‘The Endura, of course. We can style it much better to fit the car’s image.’ He agreed and adjusted the supplier’s price quotes to make the Endura bumper only a few dollars more than the chrome bumper when there was actually something like a $30 difference. He actually cooked the books to make it work. Only DeLorean!

Vintage developmental photos reveal that the 1970 Firebird hood originally contained a raised plateau, a characteristic often referred to as an ironing board from its tapered appearance and shape. It had sort of become a Pontiac trademark and Mitchell felt an ironing board was a very important feature that made the hood look interesting, Porter said. I didn’t feel it fit the theme of the direction we were going at all, especially with the roundness of the grille openings and the 400’s dual-scooped hood. I was finally able to get rid of it by adding a slender spine down the center hood that ultimately emanated from the center bar separating the grille openings.

The 1970 Firebird’s final shape had been completed by August 1968. A convertible top and removable center roof panel were both considered but rejected for various reasons. It would take until the 1976 model year for Pontiac to offer any type of factory-offered removable roof treatment on the second-generation Firebird. (Photo Courtesy GM Media Archives)

Despite independent development and the interdivisional rivalry, Pontiac and Chevrolet knew that the 1970 F-car would carry a common overall theme, and Porter and Haga shared many ideas and modeled them on their respective concepts to determine the effect. My lower body design had a softened bone that ran horizontally through the middle of the door the length of the car. Hank’s crease was sharper and located higher on the door, and a similar crease appeared in his roof, just above the side glass. The two styles really defined each car, but General Motors would only allow one 1970 F-car upper style that Pontiac and Chevrolet had to share and Hank and I had very different ideas on it.

Porter and Haga presented their ideas to Mitchell, who ultimately made the decision on a common upper style for both vehicles. Chevrolet generally had more influence because they sold more cars, and Mitchell and Haga each favored angular styling, so I expected a different outcome. I was, however, very surprised and excited when I learned that Mitchell had chosen my upper for the 1970 F-car. I felt very fortunate because my rounded upper really went well with the aerodynamic effect we were after. If Mitchell had chosen Haga’s upper, the 1970 Firebird we know today certainly would have looked very different, Porter said.

Jack Humbert, who initiated the second-generation Firebird program, had been promoted to a position over both Pontiac’s and Chevrolet’s studios. When asked about his influence on the Firebird from an executive level, Porter replied, "Jack was a wonderful man and a great