I have a theory that I want to validate or disprove. I'm wondering if the Ram Air Inlet option was actually shipping from Pontiac on early 1969 Firebirds equipped with the L-74 engine.
I have not seen an invoice from PHS that shows the RAIII (or HO) engine (code 348) along with Ram Air Inlet option (code 611) early in the 1969 production run. Does anyone have an invoice they can post that is prior to March 1969 ... or even one as early as Fall 1968?
Also, I'm interested in determining when Pontiac changed the nomenclature for the same L-74 engine, from "FB 400 R/A" to FB 400 HO" on the invoice and window sticker. I've seen the R/A designation through December 1968 and the HO designation in March 1969, so somewhere in between was the switch, just trying to narrow it down a bit more. Thanks!
There was some heated discussion previously on the RA vs HO designation in this thread below:
Thanks, I've already read that and it 's a great write-up! Having one of the 87 convertible 4-speed R/A or HO (my invoice says R/A) cars, one without the inlets, I have read pretty much everything I can find to understand why I didn't have the inlets. Now, I'm believeing that the inlets were not available until later in the model year (mine is a December 1968 car) as I have yet to see an invoice with the R/A terminology and the inlets. I'm trying to figure out if this is true and possibly the Pontiac change to the HO terminology coincided with the release of the inlet option. Just a theory on my part at this point ...
I have the entire 1969 Pontiac Sales Album, with all the inserts, and it shows some very interesting items. For instance, in the original Sept 1968 Sales Manual Release, in the Performance Options section, they have a photo of a GTO hood, and the caption states that this is "Hood - Ram Air (Code 611 UPC T42)" and would available on the Firebird 400, Firebird 400 H.O., GTO, and GTO 400 H.O. engine.
As we know, Option 611 was only available on the Firebird 400 H.O., not on the Firebird 400 or GTO. On the GTO, the Ram Air engine included the Ram Air setup, and there was no separate Code 611 option.
This was the first intention of Pontiac, to offer the Ram Air hood on the base Firebird 400 and GTO, and have it as an option on the Firebird 400 H.O. and GTO 400 H.O., but things apparently shook out differently. Interesting to note though that even in this early stage, they referred to Option 348 as the Firebird 400 H.O., not the Ram Air.
In the Sept 26, 1968 Pontiac price lists:
- Option 611 is not listed. - Option 348 is described as "400, 4bbl, Ram Air"
In the Jan 1969 Pontiac price updates, it's the same as above.
In the May 1969 Order Form, it shows Option 348 as "400 H.O.", and Option 611 as a separate option.
There was speculation that Option 611 was not available at the beginning of the year, but this is clearly not the case as it is shown in the Dealer Album. However, that doesn't mean they BUILT any. The dealer album shows Option 611, but the price lists do not.
That may be why we haven't seen an early production Ram Air (or R/A) invoice with Option 611. It is possible that they didn't build them, but it's also possible that dealers ordered these cars (Option 348 - Firebird Ram Air) assuming they would have Ram Air, and they did not.
After January or February 1969, it appears Pontiac went with the "400 H.O." designation, and that's when Option 611 began to show up on invoices.
