H.O. Stripes Availability

Q: H.O. Stripes Availability

I have a 1968 FB 400 Convertiable Verdero Green with Ivy Gold Interior; and supposed to have gold top (now black; couldn’t locate gold); the car is a 400 HO with automatic trans and air conditioning. The question that I have is whether or not my car is supposed to have HO stripes or whether they were an option. The packet from PHS does not list optional stripes so unless all HO cars had them I dont believe that mine should–any help would be appreciated.

A: The only H.O.s that got the H.O. stripes were the 1967 326 H.O. and the 1968 350 H.O. The 400 H.O.s could have been ordered with the Rally stripes but it wouldnt have had the letters “H.O.” on the front fenders as the smaller V-8 H.O.s had. If you got the Billing History from PHS and its blank in the 494 column then your car wasnt ordered with Rally Stripes.

Another note is that the 326/350 H.O.s and Tempest/LeMans Sprints could have the stripes that were standard equipment deleted (not used). This would show up as column 491 of the Billing History. It was a no credit option delete.

These stripes were color coordinated to complement interior/exterior combinations. A good example is a black car with black interior. It wouldnt get a black stripe but instead got an ivory stripe. If a black car had red interior it would get a red stripe. Etc. The three colors avaliable thru out the years were red,ivory and black.

You can be creative and put H.O. on a 400 car, I have a friend who thought the same as you and did this on a 400 convertible. He later upgraded the powertrain to a R/A and had the words RamAir made into the same strpes. Keep in mind that none of this is correct but 99.9% of the admirers thought that it was. I have another idea thats a variation of that… My sons 1968 Firebird coupe is red/ black vinyl top and interior. I am making a set of rally stripes in black that will use the word “Sprint” from the 68-9 Tempest /LeMans Sprint. So other than the attentive list members I doubt that anyone will pick up on this. Have your fun and make the car the way you want. A set of stripes is easily removed and if the proper material is used wont harm a decent paint job.

Any proposed updates, changes, pictures, and/or corrections, please use our comment section below (may need to click on permalink to access comments feature). Information is subject to change and offered as is without any warranties or guarantees. Please review our Term's Of Use for more information.