I’ve owned mine since April ’85, but I can only document ownership to 11/5/86. It’s possible that the dealer installed it as new-car make-ready work, but phs won’t show it because it’s the factory invoice, not the dealer invoice.

I used to be a GM technician, but everyone around here used to be a GM technician; ask them! One of my older coworkers used to be a Pontiac technician at David Mc David Pontiac, Irving, TX, when these cars were new.

Here is a paraphrased statement from new-car Pontiac service tech, with me paraphrasing as accurately as I can remember in ’87, as I was prepping my car for paint. The thing is that I don’t see why he would be lying, because he was a professional technician reminiscing about his career, not some hobby car guy running his mouth.

His claim was that new Firebird sales were dismal at best, and while the new models were released, the parking lot was full of the previous years. One way to unload old stock was to install a 400 in the car without charging the customer. According the technician, this was a collaborative effort between the factory and dealer. The dealer pulled the 350, returned it to the factory, and they used them as ‘service replacement’ engines. If it were a slush-box car, I don’t know how they dealt with the th350/th400. My bad, and I should have asked him. He’s most likely dead by now because he was in early to mid 60s in ‘87.

Again, it defies logic why he would fabricate such a story, and it fits into the history of these cars because people didn’t want them, reflected by comparing today’s value with the Camaro. PHS would not show this change because PHS is factory, not dealer, invoice; also, it wouldn’t be a ‘special order’ because they were simply finding a way to unload obsolete stock.

I’m always more than receptive to entertain oddities that don’t conform to the norm. So try to find that link because I would love to see what you found, and it ties in well with what the Pontiac tech said.

Oh yeah! Are you sure that you’re ready to sell it? I couldn’t imagine selling mine.