The Pontiac Firebird: The Leader in the Pony Car Race In the early 1960s, the young people of America had an unyielding desire for a new and exciting automobile that would set them apart from their parents’ generation. These baby boomers wanted a vehicle that was sportier and more appealing to their youthful tastes, yet practical and family oriented (“Mustang History,” par 4). With this in mind, the Ford Motor Company released the Ford Mustang in 1964 (Maurer 4). This car fit the desires of these young people to a tee. The Mustang was highly customizable and available in a wide variety of styles, which gave the buyer the option of making the car very affordable (5). The sales of this car reflected its smart design, which pleased the executives at Ford. General Motors, Ford’s ever observant competitor, saw the huge success of the Mustang, and was not going to stand aside and let Ford have all the glory, or in this case, the profit. After two years of designing and developing, the GM released the Chevrolet Camaro. The Camaro was available in an even wider variety of engine sizes, which proved to be successful for GM (McGann, par 3). GM, like any successful motor company, was relentless in its pursuit for success. When John Delorean from Pontiac presented the idea of developing another F-body pony car, GM saw this as another opportunity to spark new interest and lure new buyers with a new name and slight visual changes. In 1967, GM unveiled the Pontiac Firebird. The Firebird was very similar to the Camaro, but certain aesthetic changes made the Firebird visually unique. An even larger amount of effort was put into what was under the hood. Pontiac offered a wide array of very powerful engines. All these changes amounted to great success for Pontiac and GM. During the years 1967-1969, the experts at Pontiac would put a great deal of effort into making the Firebird the great vehicle that it would become. As a result of this, the Firebird would soon become the performance leader in the race between GM and Ford, surpassing the Ford Mustang and even its brother, the GM Camaro. Because of its innovative design, engineering, and performance, the First Generation Pontiac Firebird is superior to its competitor, the Chevrolet Camaro, and proved to be the leader in the Pony Car race of the late 1960’s. The young Vice President of Ford Motor Company, Lee Iacocca, along with other Ford executives, began development on a vehicle that was attractive to the young strata of the population but also very practical to fit the demands of the young people of the early ‘60’s. On April 17, 1964, this vehicle was unveiled at the New York’s World Fair as the Ford Mustang, opening the famous “Pony Car” genre (“Mustang History,” par 4). The Mustang was available either as a coupe or a convertible, and its engine options ranged from a 170 cubic inch straight six all the way to a high performance 289 cubic inch four barrel. In order to save on production costs, Ford decided to use many of the components from the Falcon, such as the sub frame and drive train, for the Mustang (7). This did not, however, take away from the vehicle’s unique design. The cockpit was positioned farther back, making for a larger hood and a smaller rear deck. This body style became one of the defining features of the soon to be famous pony car genre. The car also featured chrome bumpers and detailed touches, such as a small running horse on the front grille (6). Ford wanted to ensure the success of this vehicle, so it invested heavily in advertising and marketing. All these factors culminated in the huge success of the Mustang, which sold a remarkable 126,538 units that year (10). In 1965, Ford came out with a new, slightly different version of the Mustang. The new model featured a 2+2 fastback body and front disk brakes (11). America could not get enough of this car, buying 559,451 vehicles that year. The only major difference between the 1965 and 1966 models was a variation of grille design, yet it sold 607,568 (12). Ford’s major competitor, GM, had been closely watching the success of this sporty pony car. As a result, GM’s Chevrolet division began development on a prototype, nicknamed the “F” car (McGann, par 11). After several years of designing and engineering, the GM Camaro was released on September 29, 1966 (22). The Camaro, like the Mustang, featured a unibody structure and was available in a hardtop or convertible model. The Camaro offered a more impressive set of power plants, peaking at a 396 cubic inch 325 horsepower engine option (“Camaro First Gen.,” par 2). Not to be outdone by Ford, GM bought advertising slots in newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, in hopes of matching the Mustang’s success (Sedgwick 66). Almost 100,000 units of the 1967 model were sold, which was an honest start for the Camaro (“Camaro First Gen.,” par 4). GM continued the pony car race by extending it to the Pontiac division. Pontiac’s new vehicle, according to orders from GM, would be heavily based on the Camaro, and in many aspects would be the same (Schleifer 14). John Delorean, who was the brain behind Pontiac’s interpretation of the “F” car, which was then referred to as the XP-833, was not happy about having to use the Camaro car as its base. He originally wanted the XP-833 to be a two-seat fiberglass bodied vehicle. GM had different ideas, and wanted him to stick to the four-seat steel sheet-metal-bodied Camaro clone (Lamm 4). Ron Hill was assistant chief of Pontiac’s project and one of Delorean’s colleagues. “John was so frustrated,” Hill recalled, “and so were we…we had to take this F-car and do something with it. We brought the Camaro into the studio and asked ourselves, ‘What can we change?’” (Witzenburg 17). The initial difference was slight. When the 1967 Pontiac Firebird was released on February 23, 1967, it had larger tires and wheels and a lowered suspension than the Camaro “to give it a more aggressive stance” (21). This tire and suspension change would also lower its center of gravity and give it better handling capabilities. Other aesthetic changes included a distinct hood, front and rear bumper, grille, headlights, taillights, gill-like “louvers” on each side of the rear quarters, and an optional tachometer mounted on the hood (21). The most dramatic changes were under the hood. The base, Sprint, 326, 326 H.O., 400 and 400 Ram Air were the six engine options offered that year. The base engine had a 230 cubic inch 165 horsepower overhead cam inline 6 and a three “on the tree” manual transmission. The Sprint had a better compression ratio and 50 more horsepower, and also came with either a three or four speed manual or a two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission. The most popular options with customers were the V8s. The standard V8 model was a 326 cubic inch 285 horsepower with a 3 speed “on the tree” manual transmission. This 326 c.i.d. (cubic inch displacement) model also came in an H.O. (high output) version, which came “equipped with a Quadrajet, dual exhausts, heavy duty suspension and special 'H-O' body striping” (Johengen, par 5). The last two options were both 400 cubic inch monsters. These options both boasted 325 horses, and the second option included the Ram-Air cool air induction system, which would cost the buyer $600 extra. The ‘67 Firebird showed a promising starting line-up, with its six-cylinder Sprint surpassing the Camaro’s 230 c.i.d., 250 c.i.d., and the base 327 c.i.d. V8 models in brake horsepower, or b.h.p. (Zazarine 51). Although not an overwhelming victory for Pontiac, 1967 showed that the Firebird was far from identical to the Camaro, and that the Firebird could hold its own it the “Pony Car Race” of the late ‘60s. The executives at Pontiac had even more innovative designs and ideas for the ‘68 model, and were anxious to see how their car would match up to its rival. The engineers at Pontiac made some powerful changes and improvements to the 1968 Firebird. The base model was now 215 b.h.p. instead of the previous 165 b.h.p., and the L-76 350 HO replaced the 326 V8 HO, which had 320 b.h.p. (Zazarine 60). Also, the buyer now had four engines to choose from when selecting the 400 c.i.d. model, including two Ram Air models (“‘68 Service Manual” 6-76). Car and Driver magazine conducted a road test comparison of the high performance models of the six most popular sports of 1968: the Javelin, Barracuda, Camaro, Cougar, Firebird and Mustang. The results of this test were very revealing. “The Camaro…never did perform up to our anticipations and its 396 engine (which we know is one of the best) just never seemed to do the job it should” (“Sporty Cars” 26). The Firebird scored higher than the Camaro in almost all of the mechanical and non-mechanical categories, and had the highest overall score. The variable ratio power steering proved to be very impressive to the test drivers, surpassing all the other vehicles in steering and maneuvering. The drivers also commented on how generally appealing the vehicle was to the public, saying, “…[T]he Firebird was everybody’s favorite sporty car” (28). Although the popular belief of that time was that the Firebird and the Camaro were essentially the same car with slightly different engines, the results of the test drives were completely different, with the Camaro receiving surprisingly awful reviews: The engine wheezed and coughed until it was fully warmed up. In traffic it was constantly overheating. The transmission was the most difficult to control of any of the cars as the stirrup shiftlever mechanism refused to work properly. … In simple terms the Camaro tried to be too many things at once and consequently was nothing (82). The Firebird proved to be victorious in 1968, but as seen before, the team at Pontiac had much more to reveal and much more for the car buyers and enthusiasts to fall in love with (DeMauro 23). The year 1969 brought minor changes to the existing Firebirds. “The 350 H.O. gained five horsepower for a total of 325, and atop the mountain of 400s offered sat the new Ram Air IV making 345 horsepower” (Johengen, par 12). Some other minor body changes occurred to compete with that of the Camaro’s. Pontiac’s major addition was the Trans Am. The Trans Am was designed for buyers who valued a balance of power and handling. It was available in two different options. The first was the L-74 Ram Air III, with 335 b.h.p. The second was the top performance offering, the L- 67 Ram Air IV 400, which had 345 b.h.p. This engine was developed from many improvement of the ‘68 Ram Air II, and was one of the most powerful factory engines available from any automaker (Johengen, par 15-17). “The RA-IV came with forged pistons, completely revised heads with round exhaust ports and 45°-angle valves, a new higher-lift cam, limited-travel hydraulic valve lifters, aluminum intake manifold, and a header-like exhausts” (Lamm 112). The Ram Air IV usually had a quarter mile time in the high 13 to low 14-second range (Gunnell 19). The Camaro’s high performance car, the SS 396 had an average time of 14.7 seconds (“Camaro First Gen.,” par 17). All of the numerous improvements culminated in a smooth, synergetic piece of machinery. A major feature of this car was its aesthetic appeal. “With a special dual intake scooped hood, deck spoiler, fender vents and white with blue stripe paint scheme, the Trans Am was easily the flashiest Firebird yet” (12). Once again, the engineers at Pontiac put everything into improving the Firebird, and the fruits of their labor proved to be a very impressive vehicle. One of the biggest questions concerning the Firebird/ Camaro debate is this: if the Pontiac Firebird was the superior vehicle, why did it consistently sell in smaller numbers than the Chevrolet Camaro? The reason is actually quite simple. Since the Firebird was the better vehicle, it was naturally the more expensive vehicle, bringing the number of buyers down. Also, the Firebird and Camaro were marketed to two different strata of the population. Both vehicles were marketed toward the youth of America, which was a key characteristic of these two pony cars. This group had less money to spend on cars, which created a need for cheaper vehicles. This is why more young people buyers purchased the Camaro instead of the Firebird. The Firebird was marketed as a more upscale performance vehicle, which attracted a more affluent consumer. The engineers consistently made quality engines, but this was not necessarily what the market wanted. Perhaps if the marketing team at Pontiac had better read their buyers, the number of cars sold would be more impressive. Sales figures aside, the Pontiac Firebird has made for itself a reputation of quality and performance. Whether or not car buyers wanted, or could afford, this type of quality and performance is a different story. The engineers at Pontiac, lead by John Delorean, seized a unique opportunity and turned a less than advantageous situation into a successful one. Because of their determination, the team at Pontiac turned the Firebird into an incredible vehicle that surpassed its predecessors in greatness, and in turn finished as the winner in the Pony Car Race of the late 1960s.
I'm a hobbyist. Not a professional. Don't be hatin'!
There were 220k Camaros produced in 1967... Ratio between Camaro/Firebird, 2.7 to 1. Base 326 was 250 HP 326 HO 285. L67 RA package was $265 or so..
I would somewhat disagree on the cost factor of the Firebird being the reason they only sold 1 per 2.7 Camaros. If you look hard at the pricing of the Camaro versus Firebird, you will see little in the way of variances. Maybe $100-300 depending on drivetrain.
Reason Camaros sold better than Firebird? Camaros sold 7 months earlier than Firebird, were planned far in advance and had the hype, and were Chevrolet which was more prevalent in the market. Pontiac was little known in the "muscle car" market, exception being the GTO (to that point). I agree you could add in the cost factor as part of it, but not to the tune of 82k Firebirds and 220k Camaros.
Great read though!
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1967 Starlight black PMD Engineering 400 Auto 1968 Alpine Blue 400 4 speed 1968 Verdoro Green 400 HO 4 speed 2013 1LE 2SS/RS Inferno Orange Camaro.
Chevy wasnt even gon'a offer a 396 till they found out Pontiac was gon'a use the 400. They didnt even know if it would fit. Had to hurry up and fab the mounts and exhaust, etc.
