5 Of The Rarest Limited Edition Firebirds Ever Built

So-called "badge engineering" can sometimes get a bad name, but done right, the results can be legendary. That's the case with the 1967 Pontiac Firebird, which was a modified version of the Chevrolet Camaro, itself introduced in the fall of 1966 to compete against the Ford Mustang in the nascent muscle-car wars. Now, the Firebird introduced in 1967 wasn't much more than a rebadged Camaro, but the Pontiac team did make a noticeable effort to give the car its own unique identity. 

For example, Pontiac's chief designer, Jack Humbert, crafted a bold grille that would go on to become an essential part of the brand's look for the 1968 lineup, including the iconic Pontiac GTO. Upscale details such as a concealed fuel-filler cap added a touch of class to the rear. And under the skin was a sportier suspension that would end up being used in the following year's Camaro, too.

The results were relatively successful, as Pontiac sold 82,560 Firebirds during 1967, its first year at dealerships, and had moved more than a million by the time the second-generation car finished its run in 1981. Pontiac then went on producing them through the 2002, so they weren't exactly hard to find. On the other hand, some were certainly rarer than others, proving the Bird is the Word still today — just like the flock of Firebirds discussed here.

It joined the lineup as a distinct trim level for the mid-1970 model year, but the Trans Am name originally launched as a special package for the 1969 Pontiac Firebird. To be exact, the upgrade was called the Trans Am Performance and Appearance Package and required Pontiac to pay $5 per car in royalties to the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) to use the Trans Am name. Only 697 customers ticked the box for the Trans Am package in 1969, paying $1,163.74 for enhancements like an upgraded suspension, a big wing at the back, aggressive blue stripes, sportier steering, and functional hood scoops to help its 400-cubic-inch V8 breathe better — and make 335 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque. 

The most powerful version, though, was the available Ram Air IV V8, that welcomed an extra 10 ponies while lowering the car's quarter-mile time to 13.7 seconds. The Ram Air IV versions are even rarer than the regular 1969 Trans Am, and that's reflected in their auction prices. A mere 55 units were delivered with the more powerful V8, and one sold for $440,000 in 2024.

Pontiac would begin downsizing its V8 engines for 1980, which is why so many people love a '70s Trans Am. True, Pontiac made up for the lack of displacement with a turbocharger, but not before putting one of its monster motors into the Firebird Trans Am for one more flight. The result was the 1979 Trans Am 10th Anniversary edition, which debuted to pace the Daytona 500 and had a limited run of 7,500 cars. 

But of those, just 1,817 were produced with the Pontiac 400 V8 engine mated to the Borg-Warner Super T10 manual transmission for maximum excitement — despite the fact that GM had ordered Pontiac to stop building those engines in 1978. It turns out the division ramped up engine production to stockpile the big 1978 V8s, specifically to have some ready for the 1979 models. That said, these rare 1979 Firebirds were about more than straight-line acceleration. After testing a '79 Trans Am with the high-performance WS6 suspension, Car and Driver called it "maybe the best-han­dling production car ever from an American manufacturer."

It's got a long name considering its short production run, but the 1989 Pontiac Firebird Turbo Trans Am 20th Anniversary Edition Indy 500 Pace Car had a lot going on. For one thing, it was blazingly quick, with the ability to hit 60 mph in only 4.6 seconds — making it the fastest vehicle of the year when tested by Car and Driver in June 1989. To put that into context, when the publication compared the Chevrolet Corvette Z51 to the Porsche 911 Club Sport, the former checked in at six seconds and the latter at 5.6. 

The Firebird also followed up that performance with a 13.4-second quarter-mile time and a top speed of 153 mph. The Firebird's firepower made this more of a big deal, because instead of relying on typical muscle-car motivation, like a high-displacement V8, it features a turbocharged 3.8-liter V6 borrowed from Buick and making 235 horsepower and 340 pound-feet of torque. As for rarity, Pontiac made only 1,555 examples to celebrate both Trans Am's 20 years of production and the chase for a trophy crafted from sterling silver.

Thanks to the 1978 movie "Smokey and the Bandit," Burt Reynolds and his black Trans Am are culturally significant enough to be name-checked by Bruce Springsteen. But a rarer option is the 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Gold Special Edition that basically turned Burt's color scheme on its head with the option code Y88 — which was only in the order books for roughly three months.

The short window meant only 880 drivers got their hands on the very rarest configuration, pairing the L80 V8 with the automatic transmission. As an FYI, this compares to the 1,267 more enthusiastic customers who preferred three-pedal thrills with the L78. They were making the best out of a bad situation because the 6.6-liter displacement of both — well, 400 cubic inches for the L78 and 403 for the L80 — translated into a meager 180 and 185 horsepower.

Style-wise, the glittering Solar Gold exterior finish is set off by dark-gold pinstripes, Gold aluminum-alloy wheels, a freshly designed five-color Firebird hood decal, and, inside, such niceties as Gold steering-wheel spokes. It would fit right into a James Bond movie with that setup (although it doesn't have its own real gold bar on display).

Speaking of the end of the Pontiac Firebird, that came in 2002, when GM killed off both that car and the Chevrolet Camaro. (This was before bringing the latter back for a fifth generation in 2010, only to stop production of the sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro in 2024.) The 2002 Pontiac Firebird Collector's combined speed, luxury, and, of course, a restricted production run of 2,390 cars that included only 2,000 for the U.S. market. 

Under the hood was an iconic LS1 V8 backed by 5.7 liters of displacement to serve up 335 horses, race to 60 in 5.1 seconds, and keep on accelerating up to a top speed of 165 mph. Meanwhile, on the hood was the type of ornithologically inspired graphic for which the Trans Am became famous. Up top was the customer's choice of a t-top roof in the coupe or a folding soft top for the convertible.

The last of the Firebirds also showed off its share of premium appointments, 2002-style. We're talking about ebony leather seating with six-way power for the driver, power accessories, remote keyless entry, air conditioning, and a Monsoon sound system with a CD player and power antenna. Just remember, Firebirds have a way of returning from the ashes, and as readers mentioned, it's among the classic GM model names overdue for a reboot. So who knows, maybe we'll one day see a Firebird EV crossover.