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Nothing says 1980 like a car lot with almost nothing someone in the cult of the automotive obsessed can drool over. Times were dark in the automotive world in 1980—the malaise era was in full swing and there weren't many cars to get excited about. More »
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Last week, during the Street Car Super Nationals in Las Vegas, Drag Radial racer Eric Peterson's '69 Firebird went off line, hit the opposite wall, bounced back across the strip and caught fire. And then, The Burnout. More »
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Several decades later sophistication is hardly the word that comes to mind when you think about Pontiac Firebirds from the late 1970s, but that is the angle they were using to sell the Firebird Formula back in 1979. More »
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Revisiting past glories can sometime end up sullying not just the visitor, but the original memory. Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe 1979 Trans Am attempts to make the car what its predecessors once were, but does its price mean throwing your money down its past-glory hole? More »
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At least we think they love them, we are having a hard time explaining this bizarre picture taken at the 2011 Autoexotica in Russia any other way. Apparently in the land of oddly dressed models and questionable car modifications (more commonly known as Russia), the cheesy custom Pontiac Firebird is king. More »
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If you foolishly thought Boating was the great American sport for 1968 this Pontiac Firebird commercial from the same year was quick to correct. The great American sport for '68 was actually "wide-tracking". More »
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Photographer Gary Stubelick has mastered the technique of light painting and taken it to its natural zenith: Painting a Pontiac Firebird with a road flare. Check out his other work here. More »
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Spotted in Southern Ohio, this 1977 Pontiac Firebird looks like it hasn't seen road use in some time. If this old Pontiac could talk, we have a feeling it might have some good stories to tell. (Photo Credit: Dok1) More »
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When people think about the malaise era, great cars are not always the first things that come to mind. Although it wasn't the best automotive decade, some great cars were still produced. What is your favorite car from the 1980s? More »
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Since the new Camaro launched, customizers have attempted to build the Trans-Am a deceased Pontiac couldn't. From Lingenfelter to the Bandit Trans-Am, then The Firebreather. Now there's the HPP Trans-Am Concept, from the same people who built the Retro Daytona. More »
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The movie Tron must have had a profound effect on GM's marketers, who apparently decided that the semi-computerized Quadrajet on the Firebird's 305 engine was really a time machine! More »
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We were hoping— without much basis in anything resembling reality— that the L28ET-powered 3rd-gen Firebird would utterly dominate this weekend's LeMons race. Sadly, a roaring engine fire ended the aptly named FireKats' run at a major trophy. More »
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I was at the junkyard with Casadelshawn not long ago, doing research for the next Junkyard Build Quality Challenge, and there it was: Pure concentrated essence of late 1970s! More »
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The small-block Chevrolet engine has proven to be one of the least reliable engines in 24 Hours of LeMons racing, but there's one that's even worse: the Nissan L28. Some teams see that as a challenge! More »
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Our first thought when we saw "The Firebreather," the hero car Classic Design Concepts built for Exxodus Pictures' new sci-fi flick Jinn, was "modern interpretation of a Firebird... cool!" The reality is it's much better... and much faster. More »
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Of all the writers whose styles I've ripped off been influenced by over the years, none— not even James Ellroy— has had as much influence on the Murilee Martin Lifestyle Brand™ as Kevin Hoover of the Arcata Eye. More »
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Pontiac's dispatched almost as many screaming chickens as Colonel Sanders. But despite that avian connection, today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe firebird is a hawk, not a hen, and you have to decide if its price is fair or fowl. More »
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One of the most amazing car collections we've ever seen recently hit NastyZ28.com. These Trans Ams are just the tip of the iceberg; we count over eighty cars, and almost all of them are second-generation F-bodies. This is nuts. More »
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Wednesdays suck. 1960s American muscle does not suck. Road racing does not suck. YouTube also does not suck. Can you see where we're going with this? In-car video of a 7500-rpm AMC Javelin and loud noises below. Eat me, Wednesday. More »
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Here's some advice for you prospective LeMons racers: don't buy a Camaro! If LeMons ever branches into drag racing, the Camaro will be an excellent choice, but the small-block Chevy engine has proven to be nothing but trouble in weekend-long endurance races. More »
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Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. What makes a Firebird a Trans Am? More »
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Concept cars aren't just a chance for automakers to show us where they're going. In bolder times, they've been a platform for showing where they think the whole world is headed. More »
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Are you jonesing for a real ‘70s car chase? Well, today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe candidate will help you be the bandit, good buddy, but it may leave you feeling a bit blue. More »
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Pontiac's Firebird has been a staple of 'Merican hoons ever since Burt Reynolds, our favorite mustachioed star, drove one in Smokey and the Bandit, but we're not the only ones fascinated with the flaming chicken. More »
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Scott Listfield is a man on a mission called Astronaut Dinosaur. His unbelievably entertaining paintings take a look into the imaginatively contrived adventures of a space-bound astronaut. Check out his work below. More »
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This fire truck pulled to the shoulder to let cars pass on a single-lane, mountain road when the ground gave way, causing it to roll down a hill, flattening a 1969 Firebird race car. More »
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Oldsmobile, Plymouth, and now Pontiac; this century is rough on the old Detroit marques. With the the demise of Pontiac in mind, let's check out the classic Pontiacs I've photographed down on the Alameda street. More »
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This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we see interesting street-parked cars in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. Dominick was car shopping in Malaga when he found these two. More »
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Near as we can tell, this video for the Sonido Lasser Drakar song "82 Pontiac Firebird" shows a wholesome-looking refrigerator-white 3rd-gen Firebird that turns into K.I.T.T. when the sun goes down; meanwhile, the car's driver becomes a werewolf, thirsty for the blood of the Badly Choreographed Cheerleaders. Thanks to Franzouse for the tip! More »
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Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Today we're going to check out a 30-year-old Detroit car that's an honest-to-god daily driver and parks in the heart of Alameda's downtown. It's got its share of bumps and bruises, but it's managed to survive the hoonage that has killed off most of its second-gen F-body brethren by now. It's also managed to survive the owner's temptation to build a phony Burt Reynolds-esque Trans Am clone, and for that we should be thankful!
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One of the things nobody ever tells you about drag racing is the last thing you want to do is look like an idiot. The air is thick with competitive spirit, there's a crowd watching your every move, and even if you're a novice in a world of pros, you don't want to get made fun of. This guy got made fun of after this run — a lot. Staging with his back tires, what a maroon — and that's just the beginning. [Youtube] More »
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You don't often see a '67 Firebird convertible parked on the street, but SoCal-based SOS10 has managed to find what appears to be a Ram Air 400 car, complete with hood tach, Halibrands, and a layer of flower petals. Yes, that's a tow-away notice on the windshield, and no, we don't like the idea of this jewel getting trashed in a tow yard full of abandoned Achievas and Excels. Make the jump to see all the photos and get SOS10's description. More »
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It's a Friday, and it's the week before our most patriotic of U.S. holidays. What better time to take a look back at the best of American muscle machinery? Aha, but there's a catch: We're only going to go back 30 years. That's right, 1978. The Malaise era was striking back with a new breed of muscle cars. While not as legendary as some of the "true" muscle iron of the '60s, these creations traded raw power for cocaine-fueled, taped-on vinyl style. In the middle of an infamous era, we give you three cars that represented the best of red-blooded American spirit. But only one will be declared most awesome, and that's for you to decide. More »
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Now we're going to head west, way west, to New Westminster, B.C., where this Malaise Firebird still makes the ground shake with its 145-horse 305 (or 105-horse Buick V6). Thanks to Anthony, who also brought us the Datsun 710 wagon. Make the jump to read Anthony's description and see the complete gallery. More »
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It's pretty tough to beat the most menacing assemblage of Lucas Electrics ever put in one $150,000 package when it comes to Hell Projects, and even a horrifically hooned Skyline GT-R couldn't come close to the Lagonda in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll. In hindsight, probably nothing short of a Citroën SM could have made a stand against the Aston Martin; lesson learned for next time! Today we're going to put on our W.I.N. buttons and our boogie shoes and check out some classic Turbo Malaise Hell Projects (not to be confused with Turbo Mullet Hell Projects)... More »
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We've heard of this "Jonathan Schipper" before through his exploits slowly grinding scale models and throw-away IROC-Z's together. Now he's gone and mashed a Pontiac Firebird into a Pontiac Trans Am, both examples of sweet malaise goodness. True they may have been on the underpowered side when stock, and their engines have been removed for this exercise, but they were masterpieces of hair-over-neck styling before this literal mash-up. Seeing these two run face to face into each other over the course of four days is pure pain, or pleasure, depends on how you feel about Pontiacs. [Auto.Coone.com] More »
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