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.

From the pitch black tail that marked your path to the redesigned recessed headlights to guide you, Pontiac wanted you to believe nothing else came close to the upscale malaise muscle car—except of course for their screaming chicken equipped Trans Am.