1969 Pontiac Firebird History

Pontiac introduced the Firebird February 23, 1967, to compete with the Chevrolet Camaro (introduced September 29, 1966) and the Ford Mustang (introduced April 1964).

The Firebird was designed from the Camaro’s F-Body design and the GTO’s A-Body drivetrain with a different rear end, split-grill front end, six vertical louvers on the front of the rear quarter panels, and louver style tail lamps. Improvements were also made in the engine placement, reinforced rear springs, and straddle mounted shock absorbers.

The 1967 Firebird was offered in a convertible and a hardtop coupe with five engines:

• a Sprint 230 cubic inch six-cylinder one-barrel overhead-cam with 175 horsepower,

• a Sprint 230 cubic inch six-cylinder four-barrel overhead-cam with 215 horsepower,

• a V-8 326 cubic inch two-barrel with 250 horsepower,

• a V-8 326 HO four-barrel with 285 horsepower,

• and a high performance V-8 400 four-barrel with 325 horsepower.

In 1968, the convertible and a hardtop coupe saw changes in their engine and body. The 326 V-8 was upgraded to a 350 cubic inch small-block delivering 265 or 320 horsepower. The base 400 and Ram Air V-8 saw horsepower increases. A 400 HO big-block with 335 horsepower was introduced. The Ram Air 400 was replaced with a 400 Ram Air II delivering 340 horsepower. The front end saw a change in the placement of the turn lights. Both driver and passenger vent windows were removed while rear marker lights were added. The Rally I rims were dropped from the options.

The interior also saw new improvements with a larger padded instrument panel and sun visors, windshield pillar moldings, crushable arm rests, seat belts with push-button buckles for all passengers, and anti-theft ignition key warning buzzer.

In 1969, extensive exterior changes along with a new interior were made to both the convertible and coupe. They were now longer, wider, and heavier with a new one-piece Lexan front bumper-grill. Additional changes included: theft prevention steering column ignition and steering gearshift interlock, variable ratio power steering unit, single piston caliper optional disk brakes, The optional Koni shocks and the optional wire wheel covers were discontinued during the model year. The optional head rests became standard equipment during this model year.

Under the hood, the 250 cubic inch overhead-cam six-cylinder, the 350 cubic inch two-barrel V-8, the regular 400, and the 400 HO (Ram Air III) were basically unchanged. The 350 HO was upgraded to 325 horsepower. A 400 Ram Air IV with 345 horsepower was introduced.

In March, the Trans AM was introduced as an optional (WS4) Cameo White convertible or coupe package. It had a 400 HO engine, three-speed manual transmission, improved suspension and steering. The 400 Ram Air IV engine with a four-speed manual or Turbo Hydramatic transmission was optional. The exterior had front fender air extractors, dual hood-roof-deck stripes, blacked-out grille and a rear deck spoiler. The interior had a three-spoke wood-grain steering wheel.

1969 Production Numbers

This and That

1969 Pontiac Firebird Promo Model

This is a promo model that was used in the dealerships.