Those were actually red Ram Air stickers (from a GTO) on the hood of that 1969 Trans Am in the magazine ad. And yes, absolutely correct, that was a pre-production car. This same car appeared in a few early road tests, and unfortunately, caused confusion (even to this day) about the stripes, decals, etc. used on production 69 Trans Am's.

Lots of theories about these "Ram Air" die-cast emblems. One thought I had a couple years ago, when these popped up on E-Bay, was along the lines of what Vikki just stated. I thought perhaps they were produced by Pontiac, but never used. Maybe marketing decided that removing the "400" emblems off the hood of a Firebird 400 Ram Air was not a good idea, as the "400" emblem designated the actual model (Firebird 400) not just the engine size. Maybe they were produced, never used, then simply dumped into the parts inventory.

Or....maybe somebody made them in the 1970's or 1980's, and everyone forgot who made them.

Or...maybe a dealership (like Royal) made them in 1967, because Ram Air was cool (no pun intended) at the time.

But if the 1968 Pontiac Parts page I posted above, which shows "PLATE, hood name (Ram Air)" for the Firebird, that would eliminate the possibility of a dealer making those emblems, or anyone else from the 70's or 80's.

The big question is....do these emblems have a part number on the back. That would answer a lot of questions.