pretty much. I don't get it though. If it was so good that they had to tune it to be worse than the corvette... Instead, why didn't chevy/ gm use that as motivation to make the corvette better
Funny thing is that the Firebirds and Trans Ams in the 70's and 80's had overall better performance than the Corvette and saved you thousands. Even a fully optioned 79 Trans Am was cheaper than a 79 base Corvette with little to no options.
How did they not fit that in there? 4th gen bird headlights are some of the coolest pop up up and down headlights out there. C4 vette headlights are badass as well
Amazing video! Ever since I was five years old I wanted one after seeing the Bandit for the first time and I promised myself that I would buy one like it. Fast forward to 2019 when I was 21 and an opportunity came along that would be life changing. My Grandparents' neighbor had a 79 Special Edition Bandit Trans Am outside for many years and I would go over to see it many times. Sadly the owner passed away and her son asked me to make him an offer since he knew how much I wanted a Trans Am. It was in need of a frame-off restoration and I offered $3,000 for it since it was a rare Y84 SE Bandit T/A with the Pontiac 400 and 4-speed transmission. He said that if I promised to show him the progress and let him see the car when its done, he would let me have it for $1,000 along with all of the parts for it. I am working hard to restore my dream car and pay tribute to the original owner and the Bandit himself, Burt Reynolds.
@@ek8710 I have been considering on doing a RU-vid series on my Trans Am restoration. I haven't made much progress on the car since buying the car, but I plan on making more progress this year. I do have Instagram and Facebook. Thank you for your suggestions and for giving me more motivation to do the RU-vid series on my Trans Am.
I was fortunate to own an 88 GTA, bought new, for 14 years. Loved that car. Cruised comfortably at 85mph. Would do donuts on command. A mechanic I knew undid the factory de-tuning, improving the way it reacted. On hard acceleration would chirp hitting second. At over 100mph you could feel the ground effects kicking in, and it was a little unnerving when a defect in the road broke that momentarily, and equally amazing how quickly it recovered and the vehicle was sucked down on to the road. Was comfortable to drive at 150mph (was clocked at 168 once). The aerodynamics were so good over 40mph that in a moderate rain storms the rain was swept off the front windshield (no wipers necessary), and you could see the envelope close behind you. Replaced the stock tires with something more grippy - it was a heavy vehicle and that extra traction helped get off the line and stay between the lines on the turns. There were some little issues with it - it was a hard top, but the engine torque twisted the frame enough that the place where they would cut out for the t-top would regularly tear, so I had to get that welded and painted a few times. And you could only get it in an automatic. Other than that, loved that car.
Kinda sad they skipped over the 3rd gen and didn’t mention the WS6. I also really liked the yellow anniversary TA’s. Didn’t seem like he gave Trans Am Depot the respect they deserve either, those guys are incredibly passionate about what they do and build some really badass cars that deserve way more attention and respect in my opinion. It’s cool to finally get this as a Pontiac guy though.
The third gen had Knight Rider, and was actually up to that point was the most aerodynamic car GM ever produced. The C6 Corvette has the same drag coefficient and they spent months in a wind tunnel designing it.
Yeah like I had a 1991 GTA, really surprised that he just glanced over it. Their suspension was the best out of the camaro/mustang class, the aerodynamics were the best in the industry, and the car had huge torque figures for the time with the 5.7l V8. I thought that the Knightrider was sure to be mentioned because of so much time spent on Smoky and the Bandit, but i guess not. Kind of disappointed in this one.
@@275Marco46 I literally watched this whole video (up to the time I paused it to write this comment) just to hear the Knight Rider reference. So disappointed! KR is what shaped my second imaginary life when I was a kid and a teen. KR and french car comedy Taxi. Even more than Fast and Furious. Actually, FaF is a joke, I rarely took inspiration from it.
@Phoenix Phoenix, No worries buddy, im with u, its completely useless. No matter the subject. But yeah, to me in this case it just seemed a bit extra ridiculous because its about something as trivial as a subject for a donut media video.. but like you said, the subject doesnt really matter, its all a complete waste of time. And i didnt think you were rude, so no worries there either!
This episode had so much more potential. Mostly jumped over the 3rd gen and missed Knight Rider. Also went straight from 3rd gen to late 4th gen. Completely skipped the lt1. But I’m glad we did get a firebird episode!
You did 3rd gens dirty so I just have to say; My first car was an 86’ Trans Am and I loved it so much that I still own it lmao. My dad had a yellow 79’ Camaro z28 around the same time I got it and I preferred my “mullet bullet”. Sure they aren’t the most powerful when it comes to muscle cars, but I’ll never understand why people hate on them so much; They sound great, look great, and are quite a bit quicker than people give them credit for when you’re actually behind the wheel. You just feel fast when you’re sitting in a 3rd gen, even if the car isn’t “fast” lol.
Thanks for this episode, it was interesting. I do have to say though, the third gen Firebird 1982-1992 is the best and of course the GTA variant with the digital dashboard, mostly because the 80s aesthetic and all things 80s is the best 🚗 You forgot to mention the 1982 Firebird was the Firebird of choice for Hasselhoff in Knightrider, plus there is a mod community that makes the same dashboard and kit from the Knightrider series on sale. In addition the Pontiac Firebird Banshee of 1988 was one of the best concept cars out there, it had CG GPS and a lot of things that saw the future of what cars would be like today. It was also in Knightrider 2000 film with the Hoff. Camaro 1982-1992 third gen is the second best in 80s aesthetic, you can also sense that Nissan 300ZX 1983-2000 took some slight design ques from the headlights and tail lights of the Camaro IROC-Z.
*You forgot about the WS6 performance package* *Returning to the Firebird lineup in 1996, the WS6 performance package included upgraded shocks, firmer springs and bushings, larger front and rear anti-roll bars, 17-inch wheels, dual oval exhaust tips, and that all-important functional Ram Air induction system*
Great video, just wanted to add a few things you missed 1993-1997 pontiac firebird had the lt1 v8 same as the c4 corvette at the time it was again slightly de-tuned made around 275 hp and around 305hp with the ws6 package. The ls1 wouldn't become available till 1998 with a update to the cars front end and some other minor changes it would run that engine till its demise in 02
Ya only reason I watched this video is because I thought they would talk about it I have a 97 ws6. Pretty pathetic for a carvChannel just skip that whole arrow body LT1 and go straight to the 98 with the LS.
My best friend in high school had a '75 Firebird Formula 350. (This was in the mid and late 1980s). Of course, by '75 the Firebird was way down on power, but it was still a very cool car -- fire engine red with a white interior. Absolutely beautiful in pristine condition.
Wow! I'm glad you're doing a video on the great Firebirds! My grandpa owned and still owns a few Trans Am's that he bought way back in the 80's. My dad drove a 82 Trans Am throughout high school and College. This makes me want to restore my grandpas Trans Am that he keeps in his shed. Thanks Donut!
That would be wonderful to see another 82 trans am on the road. Maybe post some videos of the old gal and try and get some people interested in it. See if you could maybe start a go fund me or something so you could work on it without issues of money. Try and reach out to some channels and see what they could do to help you. Submit pictures of the cars to subreddits, Facebook groups, anything to get traction. I’m the owner of an 83 trans am as well as a 73 trans am. These cars are my loves as my uncle used to work for GM as a head rep. He got the 83 for free with his last name embroidered into the headrests and the gage clusters have all his buddies signatures on them.
@@thepugchugzchannel4511 Thank you! It was running at the beginning of fall. Needs to be rewired, new brakes, new paintjob, etc. No major issues as it was parked in a shed when my dad finished college. I could very well get enough funding to restore it.
‘90 GTA owner here, glad you guys finally covered the Firebird! As much as you dog in the 3rd Gen it did do a lot for the platform. Switched from rear leafs to coils and beefy sway bars for cornering, introduced the 1LE pack for road coarse racing, brought fuel rail port injection to the cars, and most importantly: pop up headlights.
17:54 Actually you're somewhat incorrect there. The 1992 SLP Firehawk made a pretty substantial 360 hp, and was also a 3rd gen Firebird, although very few were made. Also in terms of styling, the 3rd gen is one of the sleekest, sexiest versions, especially the earlier models from '82-'84 in my opinion.
I had a 96 trans am firehawk. Fully built NA. Over 500 at the wheels and with its t56 tranny it consistently pulled the front wheels off the ground in first AND second! Firebirds will always be some of my favorite cars!
Yeah!!! Kitt is the reason my first car may just be a 1985 Trans Am😏I don’t care about horsepower. Honestly the fuel efficiency is really nice 😂😂😂 plus, the looks are 10/10
Didn't even mention my LT1, the swan song of the small block chevy. I've owned mine since 2002 and with 150 shot of nitrous and some sticky tires it was rowdy. I also had a 79 turbo Trans Am with a turbo 301 v8. Might have missed it. Really enjoyed the video.
I think one of my favorite Firebird Trans Ams would be the pilot episode version of KITT, designed by Jon Ward (exterior) and Michael Scheffe (interior). (Though later, Michael redesigned the exterior to the more familiar look we know)
Correct.Muchael Schieffe really had a great imagination designing KITT into the car we all remember and still love today.Knught Rider always will be iconic and showed us the most beautiful car ever made.
Yeaaah man.. Had a 77, 78, 87, 95, 98...My favorite was the 95, 6speed LT1 Converted to a LT4 plus all the bolt ons and motor work, double clutch, aluminum drive shaft, Richmond rear end, etc...woooooo good old days...
My first car was my Dad's 1979 Firebird Formula with the 301 four barrel engine with a manual transmission. Man after watching Smokey and the bandit 200 times and learning how to drive stick I felt so cool.
I wish James would mention the third gen firehawk. It was made from 1991-1992 and made 350hp. The third gens where also revolutionary for having drag coefficient as low as .28 and where known as having exceptional handling.
I agree, I've owned a bunch of the cars and once you free up a little horsepower they're amazing cars. Great handling, drifts well, they have a great wheelbase and it's the lightest v8 Camaro/Firebird generation I'm pretty sure.
@@ProdigyAutomotive for sure, they where definitely innovative and I feel kind of upset that they completely skipped over them. Whatever tho, they basically have no internet presence because mostly older people own them and don't race or drift them.
@@keenanwengert423 You pretty much always see at least one at the drag strip and they're always fast. He didn't even mention Knight Rider, which played a huge role in the Firebird's success. I think they're beautiful cars
@@ProdigyAutomotive yeah, unfortunately they're mostly used for drag racing and I never see them at my local drift course or on the street. Which I find strange, because they are the most underpowered generation but are by far the lightest and best handling.
You skipped the bit about the '80/'81 Turbo 301ci Trans Ams! They had the offset hood bulge that had boost indicator lights, and a 2.92:1 final drive. They were rated at 250hp at 4000 rpm and 345 lb-ft at 2000 rpm.
81 Turbo T/A owner here, they were actually rated from the factory around 200 ~ 210 hp but if given the right upgrades they can make 250, at least from the crank. Also they had 3.08 final drive. You got the torque right! In fact that was 25 ib-ft more than the W72 400's from 78 and 79 albeit being turbo there was lag. Honestly history and info of this engine turbo or not could practically be their own video documentary!
@@spectrebird3984 I used to have an '81 ex-Turbo, many moons ago. I had to look up the specs, and went with the first result I found, so thanks for the correction! When I got it, it had a N/A 301, but the firewall label said "TURBO" and I had crazy plans for it before financial matters took it from me. I went to high school with the guy I got it from, and the guy he got it from, who bought it back from the mechanic I sold it to, after the second 301 I had put in went for a crap. Still my "One that got away," some 20 years later.
Camaro came with center console with gauges and rare optional stereo controls. A tic tac clock, optional folding rear seat, optional adjustable mirrors, hideaway lights, front rear spoilers
You guys didnt guve third gens enough love! They handled great! Also their was a shift from crank hp to wheel hp around that time too so they werent as tame as ya think
You mentioned the movie Smoky and the Bandit and it's influence. I just wanted to mention that in anime the Trans Am from Redline is next level. Not an exact model, but inspired by that era of Pontiac. Insanely wicked. Would love to see a Redline video in the far future!
My first car was an electric blue Formula 400. 8 Track, blue cloth interior, rally wheels, sounded like a motor boat pulling into school. Damn I miss those days!
My dad bought his first car at 18 years old in 1982, it was a 78 trans am that’s got the 400, positrac rear end, snowflake wheels, and other than the t-tops it was a the same color way as the one from satb. He still has it, been sitting in a barn for 20 years and once I’m more skilled and have some money I plan on making it good again👍
Only children beat on its looks... blew in the engine in my first car...89 IROC.. traded straight across for an 87 TA 5.0.. looked like a GTA.. but was soooo slow.. but soooo pretty
@@modfoxv10 what are you talking about I’m 19 and I think the 3rd gen is awesome and it had kitt in the 80s the only thing is it power was pathetic and was harder to tune
My dad has a 99 ws6 he bought new in 99, I was born in 2003, a year after he met my mom, and he still has it, 19 years later, I’ve been trying to get him to fix it up, hes the one who got me into cars, and I’m in aircraft maintenance school now (thought you’d appreciate a little story)
Catfish camaro is 1998-2002. And the 93-97 birds had LT1s, not LS1. Also the 1985 Firebird was the most aerodynamical car GM had tested to that date. How did you not mention KITT from knight rider?
Well funny this video came out when it did, I have a 99 30th anniversary T/A I’ve owned since 2002. It has 44k miles on it. It’s in unbelievable condition. I hydroplaned getting onto the highway and wrecked into the center barrier Saturday morning going to a car show after watching this. Talk about bad luck.
I actually like the visuals of the 3rd gen. My uncle had 2 of them (he bought the second one after destroying the transmission doing burnouts) they had the direct injection v8. I had no idea the turbo V6 was an option. That sounds pretty awesome imo
I agree I wish they would've gone a little more in depth besides saying they were dookie lol sounded bias but I'm just glad they finally did something on the firebird they always mention it but never do a take on it
3rd gen was the most aerodynamic of them all. There was even an aero version with specialized wheels that had a drag coefficient of 0.29 (better than the 'vette)!
My father owned a 79, together we put heads and a cam in the Olds 403 in it. It was pretty rusty but only had 74k miles on it. I blew up my MK4 Jetta and daily drove it, my pocket hurt but I fell in love with that car. And I think they look cooler than the Camaro, with more and better engine options
Long looked forward to this video as a Firebird Trans Am guy. I had a 1979 Trans Am in college a 1996 Trans Am and just bought a 1999 Trans Am 2 years ago. Just can't believe you didn't mention Pop Up and Down Headlights. Disappointed but overall great video. Loved the 2nd generation look but the 4Th gen brought the power!
My mom wrapped her GTO around someone's living room, and my Dad's Trans Am was by far the most terrifying fiberglass rocketship I've ever driven, especially on the old gravel roads of Kentucky just, outside of Bowling Green ironically enough. Oh, and I was the kid that my parents made live in the basement, but I'm an only child... 😳
@@marcusaurelius652 It's called a turn of phrase. Usually you wrap a car around a pole or a tree, she slid off the corner into a house. Dry humor is lost on grumpy folk.
@@brianbird3756 this one was. I remember it had been modified, not sure to what extent, so when we moved to California it had to be sold. My Dad bought another one, same year, and it was nothing like the first one performance wise.
My dad had a 76' Formula. Modified the suspension himself to give it more forward rake and improve handling. Used it to run beer from NY to Penn with his buddies in a Mustang and Camaro listening to Rush. It's in a barn on my uncles property in Rochester to this day. Some day, once we have time, we want to electrify it. Lightning Bird!
@@PedroHenrique-ih1fl I figured that would piss some people off. My dad and I aren't sentimental. Don't get me wrong, I like fashioned performance cars. I race a spec NA Miata, and my dad races a formula ford. But, EVs are fun. Also, the car's not exactly in pristine barn find condition. It's in a barn, but it has chickens living in it. Very little would be staying original no matter what. It would be more mod than resto, but there are plenty of cleanly restored firebirds out there. The history doesn't disappear along with the V8, it just gets a new chapter.
I rebuilt a 68 Cougar XR7 with my dad and love that car. Had to replace the factory disc/drum brakes with a Wilwood Dynapro kit because it was way too heavy for drum brakes... Don't ask how I know. Love your content!
Yeah, wish GM brought it back when they reveal the concept of the latest Camaro good few years ago, around 2007 to 2010, maybe it could of saved Pontiac, but we would never know, do we?
It's about time. The Firebird should have been covered a long time ago. It's one of my favorite cars ever. Without the Firebird, "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Knight Rider" would not have existed. And that would have been disastrous.
3rd Gen Firebirds may have had anemic performance, (same with the Camaro) but the styling was great. 4th Gen, styling was better than the Camaro, performance was coming back then they killed Pontiac and the Camaro. Sad days and like a decade of increased Mustang sales. If they never killed off Pontiac, imagine what might have been.
My best friends uncle was the artist who did the original design of the firebird. (Puking chicken) He was also responsible for the ICE logo with the little snow caps on top of the letters on retail ice boxes.
@@Bayfire-ki9du for sure. They look decent. Definitely don't deserve any hate. I think those 305s from the late 70s really hamstrung that generation though.
@@genthba felt the same way. 325 HP from the factory at that time, as far as American muscle goes, isn't bad. I understand it's not for everybody. Still love mine though.
Quite frankly, I've always thought the 3rd gen body style looks SOOOOO much nicer than the 4th gen... particularly the 1987 - 1992 GTA. I have a 1991 GTA and a 1997 Trans Am Ram Air WS6. To me and most people, the GTA is way sexier. Anyhoooo... fun video! On a side note, I want a 1977 Trans Am to add to my Bird cage.
When you said the kids will love it reminded me of Marty McFly being stared at for playing a guitar solo at the enchantment under the sea dance and he said I guess you’re not ready for it but you’re kids are gonna love it, and the 80s firebird in black reminds me of The Knight rider tv show…gosh I’m old now, the 2000 trans ams were my high school dream car, maybe in 5 years I can find a junky one! Also the trans Am Billy Madison drove up to high schoo with is another dream trans am 🤤
bought a new 1990 formula 350 wit the tuned port and loved it so much but it needed more power. put a vortech supercharger on it and it was awesome. loved the whirling sound of the charger as well. it wrecked the whimpy 700r4 tranny but it still ran in the mid 11 range. you could do over 100mph on the highway and no one in the car would even realize the speed. got a 1 mpg boost with the charger to 25mpg with overdrive of course which was great.
Let's go!!! I've been waiting for this one, I have an '88 Formula Firebird that I restored with my dad. Edit: just finished the video, I don't appreciate the 3rd gen slander James...😆
Random Firebird thoughts: The Firebird had a lot of upmarket features compared to the Camaro. The video briefly mentions "stiffer suspension" for the first gen, but the first gen cars sat an inch lower than the Camaro by default. The pontiac rearends are more desirable as they have actual bearing carriers (like a ford 9") instead of C-clips to retain the axles under lateral load. Maybe since this was a Firebird video, there was less focus on Trans Am. Usually people explain that the name came from the Trans-American road racing series of the time. The irony was that no Trans Am was ever legal to race because of the 5 liter engine displacement limit. There were a couple of Firebirds that raced though. The Firebird Trans Am has the distinction on hanging onto the classic muscle car era longer than any other major model. From 1970 to 1981, it just wasn't that different. It was the last muscle car (not giant full-size boat) to hold onto large displacement, even at the cost of static compression ratio. In one sense, it can be admired as the last true classic muscle car while at the same time it can be resented for not moving forward sooner. What was revolutionary in for a mass-produced front subframe in 1970 was getting archaic by the early 80's where true unibodies would become the standard. When I look at my '79 Trans Am and NA Miata, it's hard to believe that the cars are only 12 years different in age. By picking cars from the extreme ends of the generation, this makes a bit more sense: 1970 Trans Am vs 1997 NA Miata - 27 years feels more like the right gap between the construction methods for the two cars. Flipped the other way, '81 to '89, it's a crazy difference for 8 years.
I remember putting the bird decal on those. Pretty challenging, especially on hot days. Had to be fast and good. Bubbles under the decal were unacceptable. At that time, the decal was about $50, very expensive.
I need a new Phoenix for my 79 10th anniversary, I'm going to need to learn and get it perfect in one try. Now that bird decal is about 500$. Found some vinyl guys that make them for 150-180$..might end up going that route. The whole sticker trim kit for my car is about 3-400$..then the 500$ hood bird. Crazy for some stickers.
Great episode but I'm surprised you didn't mention K.I.T.T. Smokey & the Bandit was legit my favourite movie for YEARS but Knight Rider was my favourite TV show. No mention of the POP-UP & DOWN HEADLIGHTS!!!!!!🤯
I owned an 89 TA GTA, red with gold wheels just like the one shown here at 17:50, however, mine had t-tops as well. Was a great car, paid $2,500 for it back in 2004. Still one of my favorite cars I owned to this day.
My 1986 IROCZ Camaro had a limited edition 350 V8 / 350 HP..Tuned Port Injected Factory Dual Borla Exhaust..it was ordered by a customer who declined it & I was there to get it..
Loved the video as always! Always keeping it entertaining and informative but I'm disappointed you skipped the first gen of the 4th gen firebird 🤣 they redesigned it so theres technically 2 body styles for the 4th gen
Everyone is mentioning K.I.T.T. in the 3rd gen, but folks forget in the 2nd Gen, before Burt Reynolds, there was James Garner. His gold Firebird on The Rockford files was off the hook and the J turns the car did was something young Firebird owners aspired to do.
I figured I should come back to this video to talk about the one cool 3rd gen Firebird that had a 4 cylinder. That was the SuperBird/SuperDuke. The SuperBird was an IMSA road spec (I say road spec because it wasn’t too crazy) Firebird that used a heavy duty, 165 cid 4 cylinder engine block that produced 272bhp at 7600rpm. I’ve heard some people say it had a turbo, though I have not found any official mentions of a turbo existing. The SuperBird had a curb weight of 2700lbs, which was 400lbs lighter than other Firebirds like the S/E with a 305. It came with a full roll cage, full race interior, and (honestly the second reason why I love this car) a widebody kit designed by Diversified Glass Products with a special three tone livery. So yes, a professional and professional looking widebody 3rd Gen Firebird does exist and it looks amazing. Sadly, there are only two examples of the car and I have yet to find out what happened to them. I say two because there was another widebody Firebird but as a later model. The one I’ve been talking about was based off an ‘82 to ‘84 model. Spread the word k thx lol
Oh and by the way, literally I got all my information my doing one quick google search and finding images of magazine pages going fully in depth about the car. Like, full pages are online and in good quality
My uncle owns an 02 ws6 that he swapped a 355 stroker into it, I like the styling of the 4th gen, also, POP UP, UP AND DOWN HEADLIGHTS. Surprised that didn't make it into the video.
Finally been waiting on this for years, but disappointed they could have done so much more with this, there is a lot more that could have been discussed. Did not even mention. Pop-up, up and down headlights!!!!
I had a 79 Trans-am 4 speed with WS6 package. That car was better handling than that years Corvette My car had a Pontiac 400 block, all the automatics were built with an Oldsmobile 403. The manual version was pretty rare, I special ordered it. Like most cars of that era the fit and finish didn't compare with today's cars
I pulled a pile of Goodyear Gatorbacks bound for GM Ste Therese Quebec in the last years of the F bodies,from Napanee back in the day.. own a 68 and 81..thanks for putting the Donut on my favourite car. Plus you missed the infamous train wreck comin outta Van Nuys that gave us the 3rd Gen birds wasted on the Fall Guy Night Rider etc etc.back when stunt drivers were onscreen almost more than the stars
the 3rd gen firebird gets a lot of hate for seemingly no reason IMO by far my favorite firebird generation, hell the 86'-88' GTA package came with a digital dashboard option which looks freaking awesome, it was really aerodynamic, you can still easily engine swap it if you really care for more power all around, just a nice car
Recently purchased a 1980 Firebird Formula, been working on restoring it back to its former glory, unfortunately it sat far too long, lots of rust. Learning some of the history is pretty neat.
