Don't remember a Sky Bird, but there was a couple Yellow Birds and Red Birds in town back when. I had a 77 T/A with a 455 out of a 74 Grand Prix SJ back in the 90s.
I worked as a parking valet runner in those days. I remember that most of the rent-a-car fleet was mid-size Ford and Mercury models, most of those either Thunderbirds or Cougars, and almost invariably painted something approaching navy blue with "buckskin tan" upholstery, vinyl roof covering, and full-bondage faux trunk tie-down straps. The Skybird was not quite as popular, but there were quite a few of them in the fleets as well.
1/3 Firebird owners being women actually explains a lot. I got just as much compliments on my 80 Trans Am when I had it from females as I did from males. The one that really stands out to me and I was thinking about it while watching this video was when I was at a drivethru and the girl at the window was watching it drive up and when I got to the window she said, "That is beautiful!". When she gave me my food she also handed me a large drink I didn't order. When I told her I didn't order it she said "just take it!" 🤣
Thank you for this. My father was a salesman for a small town Pontiac/Buick/GMC dealer in the late 70’s til maybe 1980. This is a great example of the fallacy of childhood memories as I could have sworn the Sky/Yellow/Red Bird were offered simultaneously. I remember sitting in a new Red Bird displayed in front of the dealership
I remember these Firebirds, with these specific options and paint schemes. Although in Canada I do not recall them being marketed as 'Skybirds' nor Redbirds or Yellowbirds, directed towards female customers. If you were lucky enough to own any one of the Firebird trims in the late 70s, you had achieved a certain level of 'cool'.
I bought a 77 Skybird it was my first car about 15 years ago. In the glove box was every piece of paperwork from the factory and dealer except the window sticker. And so far is the only 77 Ive found that came with a factory cb radio.
I remember when these things came out. We thought they were just ridiculous and laughed every time we saw one. Strangely though, the passage of time has a way of altering your perspective. Like the Mustang II for example, they were so unappreciated in their day and so few of them were preserved that now they're quite rare and something of a treat to come across.
I was a kid in college when this came out and I thought the color was beautiful. So very different from our ugly monochrome lumps now in about five colors at best.
I thought these, along with the yellow and red birds, were nice but definitely for the secretarial set. Even so, I secretly always wanted one. The Mustang II was barely not a Pinto and even now, unless it's a King Cobra, aren't worth the ridiculous prices people think they can get for them. That King Cobra, tho'...
@@YippeeSkippie426 Well, I dunno...... I'm in a Mustang club and at the last show we had just before COVID, we had 130 cars and out of those, only 4 were 71-73 Mustangs and a grand total of 1 Mustang II. There was everything you could think of there from Cobra Jets to Mach 1s to Shelbys and lots of Foxes and new stuff and that little Mustang II was getting an awful lot of attention. So few of them left that many of the younger folks have never even seen one and have no knowledge of them.
@@hughjass1044 Folks love to hate on the Mustang II, but so rare these days because of it. I thought the II was better looking than the fourth generation IMHO
@@SimirJohnson it's still a crappy car though. People are impressed when they see 1st gen neons and k cars around too. It doesn't mean that now they're good, they're just a rare oddity. Not nessicarily all bad. But their rarity is the sole reason they are popular, and that rarity is solely because nobody in the cars time wanted it. I bet if you brought a pontiac matiz to a car show people would flock to it simply because they'd never heard of it and wondered what it was.
My neighbours bought a new Yellow Bird in 1980, and I clearly remember the features including the fairly thick whitewall tires on this model. As a eleven year old kid, I thought it was one of the coolest cars I had ever seen...
The Skybird's 2 tone blue colors are strictly unique to this car, with no other F bodies having this color as even an option. Also of note, the aluminum dash panel was also a pale blue color. The "Redbird" was introduced in model year 78, and carried over into 79. As you mentioned, the 2 tone red on these cars could only be ordered as a "Redbird" package, and weren't an option on other Firebirds. Also of note, the interior color (and steering wheel in particular) were strictly colored for the "Redbird" and couldn't be ordered on other Firebirds. The steering wheel is very sought after, with the rare shade of dark red, the spokes of the steering wheel painted gold, and the Firebird emblem being gold in color (horn button) as well. 1980 was obviously the "Yellowbird" that came with tan interior (could you imagine yellow vinyl? Blah!) but some confusion exists because allegedly there was still the "Yellowbird" option for 1981, though no one has ever come across a MY 81 car with that trim.
I was aware for decades of these three special Firebirds, per Michael Lamm’s “The Fabulous Firebird”. I just wasn’t quite aware of the reason these variants existed. I am not sure if I’ve seen all three of these, although I think I have, but it’s been quite some time since I’ve seen any one of these. A great feature. Thanks.
The only Firebird I would like of this generation would be one like in the Ryan O’Neal movie The Driver. A chocolate brown metallic 78 model. I love that car.
My dad bought my mom a '77 Sky Bird new and she said she really liked the car. When she became pregnant with me, however, her obstetrician convinced her that the car was "too dangerous" for a pregnant woman to be driving. So dad traded it in for a new '79 Bonneville landau brougham coupe in carmine red. If given my choice of the 2 cars today, I'd take the Bonneville without question. That was a fantastic car.
In the late 80s early 90s, a friend of mine had a SkyBird in high school. I remember it having a cloth interior. It was a nice car. It's been 30+ years, if I remember, I think, his dad was in the car business and got if for him that way.
Adam, the 70's was the era of trim packages. Performance was gone (even for corvettes) so paint, striping, and interiorsis what was offered. Today's cars cater to no one.
Funny thing is you could still order the high compression good motors as crate motors from GM back then. My dad bought a crate L-T1 longblock to replace the L-82 in his new Silver Anni Vette.
@@JackF99 This Girls car of yesteryear is cooler than manliest car made today. Nuff said, you can't fake cool. But modern offerings surely try. Maybe if they were creative and added yet ANOTHER "black out" "midnight" package, maybe THAT would make their itoddler car cooler. Better yet, black out a black out package, now the cars so black you can't even see it, maximum cool, maksimum performense! "The all new 2025 chevrolet nighthawk edition corvette EV CROSS! (from china)" there's your modern sports car. We basically live in the 2nd malaise era. All we care about is creature comforts and appearances. Dodge is the only American company making dumb cool cars, and the Japanese brands are all living off legacy and hype. The KDM scene is abysmal, they just took over the ghetto performance segment from 2000s pontiac when they went belly up and I'd still rather drive a grand prix than be seen in a veloster or Sonata "N"
That is very interesting, thank you for your comment! I have often wondered what happened to the 1976 prototype show car "Blue Bird", whether or not it could have passed into the ownership of e.g. a Pontiac manager for a time or whether it was destroyed, or altered after its stint on public display at the Chicago Auto Show. 🐦🔹💙🔹🐦
One of these (or a facsimile painted like a Sky Bird) was featured in the opening to the 2016 film "The Nice Guys". It doesn't get treated well, but it is nice to see someone remembered the model exists.
Thank you Adam. I remember seeing these back in the day. As I watching the video I said what about to Red Bird package? Right as I said that it came on the screen and you were discussing it in detail. Pontiac used that front end styling theme well into the 1980's. I liked how you mentioned how Pontiac switch to building luxury cars in the 1970's. I said Bonneville Brougham and Parisienne Brougham as soon as you said that. That period went well into the 80's and they switched back to performance and did not look back. Thank you again.
Reminds me of the 76" sky blue Type LT Camaro I had in 1988.(The paint wasn't stock) Remember a chick in my small town who had one of these sky birds. Her and her friends would cruise around the same 2 blocks all day in a figure 8 pattern. I had a lot of good times in various 2nd gen F-bodies back in the day. Always will have a soft spot for them.
I used to work with a guy that bought a brand new, powder blue 1978 Skybird right off the Pontiac dealer's showroon floor. Me and other co-workers used to give him the business, saying it was a girlie car, etc. I'm not sure, but I think he still has this car to this day!
Interesting to read, thank you! It's true the three colour Bird appearance package schemes were created with an eye to offer something that might be more desirable to women buyers but obviously anyone who wanted one could order the package; providing one had the money! I wish I could have bought my 1977 example from new, it was in a very sorry state when I bought it in 2001 and there's a lot to do! 🐦🔹💙🔹🐦
We had a '77 Firebird but it was white with a black vinyl top and a black interior and it had a 350 with a 2 barrel and it ran fine had full power and air. I noticed the sky bird.
Speaking of fading Skybirds you should try to do a episode on the Bicentennial Chevrolet paint schemes. They were so impressive when they came out but they faded and rusted fast, they lasted about 10 years. I did see a Nova at a car show with some of the red and blue left on the car. Also Cadillac also did some as you showed on the last convertibles. (so they said)
Enjoyed learning about the Firebird Sky Bird. Please more videos on these edition cars, no matter how corny. I'm sure there were many more in the 70s and 80s although most have vanished from our memories. The Levi's Gremlin is another gem that comes to mind. 😄
Skybird was produced in 1977 and 78. Redbirds were built in 78 and 79, and Yellowbirds in 1980. I almost bought a used 1978 redbird in 1982 with 350 engine. I should have bought it. .
Compared to a lot of current SUVs it looks really nice. Good to see some colour! I live in the UK 🇬🇧 and during the seventies and early eighties the Ford Capri was really popular, and people bought them for their looks, nothing wrong with that!
My uncle bought one of these brand new, I believe his was a 77. I remember riding around in it in the early 90’s! Unfortunately living on the Texas gulf coast, it ended up getting a significant amount of rust around the floorboard and he sold it very cheap instead of fixing the rust problem.
Oh My Gosh!! My dad or other people I knew owned many cars like those you've highlighted. But the Sky Bird was owned by me! I had a 1977 model year. Velour interior w/factory installed radio and 8-track player. LOVED that car!
Thanks for acknowledging what is among one of the best looking GM vehicles of the 70s. For some, like myself, I find endless appeal with looking at the enduro nose with the long hood, the shape of the top of the windshield and the sloping back end.
Back in the late 70's I spotted a '77 Bonneville Brougham 4dr. with this special order Sky Blue paint and same color honeycomb wheels. That car would be worth a ton if it still exists.
I was a little boy during the malaise era but I can’t help thinking how easy it could have been to strip the smog gear and retune those V8 cars and really uncork their power. Especially if they still had carbs instead of TBI setups.
My mother had a 78 Formula... Cool mom T-Tops Rod Stewart in the cassette player. By the time she got it in 1982 from a friend of my fathers it had already been ran through the wringer. 305 2bbl, Cat plugged from constant running of 100LL, smoked like a choochoo for what ever reason, T-Tops leaking like they weren't even there, door handle delete, interior smelled like a wet dog and the floor pans were already on their way out... ohh and the parking dent in the left front fender. My brother took it over about 1987, floor pans gone, exhaust from the y pipe back gone, someone tried to steal the factory radio out of it so the dash was wrecked. Finally got tired of the twice weekly ritual of cleaning the fouled sparkplugs found out the cylinders were tapered 25 thousands. Wait don't order yet. So my father and brother built a stroker engine, not a 383 but a 334 which he beat to death leaving no tire unbalded with the one wheel peel. He finally rolled it over on some back road doing who knows what but at least it was out of its misery. There was down the street and around the corner a very nice skybird unlike my brothers fireturd. Sadly the lady that owned was killed when a garbage truck backed over it while she was in it.
Today i would say the yellow bird is the rarest of the 3 of them, good video Adam, if you need more Camaro/Firebird content let me know, for future episode you could do the traction juice bottles option that were in the trunk in the first gen Camaro, i dont recall the transam getting it as an option just the Camaro - Mark
Slap a set of ported and polished #13's on the 455, now use the race fuel, lose the iron intake and exhaust manifolds. Edelbrock performer RPM and Twysted pypes headders, 3in dual pipes, no mufflers or CAT's, I love Wisconsin. My Pontiac engine was broken in and ran out on the Dyno. On race gas it was making 881 HP at 6800 RPMs. It was still climbing so I lost the Highly modified split 4 barrel Holley and put 2 4779's on it. HP was 983Hp at 7200 RPMs Torque peaked at 6800, 834 ft lbs of torque.. 030 over bore, and stroked to 4.5 . The block was a 3in main 400 block which is only. 030 smaller bore then the 455. I tell everyone a different displacement every time. For some reason when I start it , they don't believe it is a 326..... lol..... I say ok you got me, it's a 389 bored out....... lol....... No ? Ok it's a 400 with a 4in stroke ???? 4.12 bore and 4.0in stroke 428 crank. Or is it a kre 535 with RA V heads. It's hard to explain why you have pushrods passing through the intake port. I even had a fellow try to convince me it had BBC heads on a Pontiac block. That's funny shit. Oh yeah anyone who drove a car that color should be beaten every time they drive it. God dam ugly. I like my 66 Tempest custom sleeper. Everyone thinks that it weighs over 7000 pounds. Chilton manual, 66 tempest custom with 326 v8 and spare tire and jack. 3050 pounds. Then it went on a diet, no inner fender wells, no wipers, and motor, no back seat, light weight front buckets, stock gas tank gone. Fuel cell, battery in trunk, electric fuel pump stock fuel pump i cut the pump lever off. Solid lifter roller cam, Howards shaft mounted roller rockers 1.65 ratio. Needle cam bearings, electric water pump, electric fans, Ansen Sprints. Rear end Detroit locker, 4.11 gear. It's a ford 9in built by Currie G-Force lethal weapon 5 speed clutchless manual. It runs low 12's 😂 Sometimes 😅 my best is 11.97.........😂 Yea when I lift half way down the track.
my mom had a Pontiac Firebird Formula 400 with the redbird package as her first car though the model year on that was 1979 and my paternal aunt Betty drove a used 1970 Trans Am in the late 70s early 80s then my maternal aunt Dorothy had a 1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 when her and Uncle Joey were dating then mom bought a 1982 Ford Mustang GT Coupe on her 20th birthday Sept 14th 1982
When I was very young, my dad almost bought a '78 Pontiac Skybird as shown in the video. He was too concerned for safety when driving me around, so he ended up buying a '78 Buick Regal turbo with the exact same powder baby blue color as the Skybird.
I had no idea of a Skybird version of the Firebird Esprit, it was performance luxury as you can get back then. All I recall about the Esprit is that James Garner drove one in The Rockford Files, and it was a 1975 model. Beautiful nonetheless.
I actually knew someone who owned one of these, back in the day. Her last name was Fink and she was a buyer for women’s wear at the downtown Sibley’s store. Anywho, she traded it in for a Lincoln Versailles. Oh, the 70s!
Automakers have been marketing versions of sports cars to women forever. I started the first grade in 1965 and my teacher had a brand new Mustang. The Mustang was crazy popular then and car was very nice, but had the I6 engine and automatic, so not terribly sporty, but not boring like the Falcon.
I've always wanted to do a James Rockford Firebird and waited too long since they are stupid expensive and have been grabbed up by all the Smokey and the Bandit fans by now.
All of us in high school during the 1970’s hated the power robbing emissions controls that destroyed performance, none of us liked the horrible brown skies in Los Angeles that also obscured the Mountain Views except for the day after a winter storm when we could see snow covered Mt Baldy at over 10,000 feet high. I had terrible asthma, couldn’t take a deep breath without coughing and the ozone destroyed the rubber seals, hoses and tires of our cars. Today it’s incredible how well the computerized engines work with their high performance and much cleaner exhausts. We didn’t know or talk about climate change and sending carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
I love the red SkyBirds and Formula 400. The spoiler always made the back end look better. Was true with the Camaro as well. I personally was never a fan of the Trans Am or Z28.
Don't forget about the 1955-'56 Dodge La Femme in shades of pink and lavender, a specially trimmed Custom Royal Lancer intended to appeal to the ladies, complete with lipstick, a pink umbrella and a pink rain cape.
Please do a feature on the one year only body style 1972 Pontiac Luxury LeMans. Special grille and trim, factory rear wheel fender skirts (!), top of the line morrokide interior, in hardtop only, available in 2 and 4 doors. I’ve got pix of mine if you need them. Thanks! Ps, the LLM was carried fwd in 73 and 74 in the colonnade coupe and 4-door post bodies.
My local (Fargo) classic car dealer had one of these a while back, I'd nearly forgotten about it till I saw this video. I had wondered what the target market was.
A teacher owned a Skybird in my junior year at high school. It did not have the rear spoiler but had the velour interior. You could not miss it in the school parking lot compared to the other drab colored cars the other teachers drove in 1978. One fun fact at the time, she no doubt had to get her husband or father to co-sign the loan for the car as this was the way during those years for women.
Wow a blue car. Extinct in todays sea of grayscale
It’s really interesting, isn’t it?
@@parkerfiskar3589 It is, I was shocked when I saw one today, even though it was a ubiquitous crossover.
I miss all the colors. Toyota is actually offering some nice bright flat colors that I really enjoy!
New for 2024 a bold new shade of...Gray 🤮
Yes indeed, grayscale with a blackout package on every make and model. 😴😴🤢🤢
It is so rare to see these Sky Birds, Red Birds and Yellow Birds these days. They were really unique and special-looking when new.
The color-matched rims do a lot for it, that's something that needs to be brought back.
Don't remember a Sky Bird, but there was a couple Yellow Birds and Red Birds in town back when. I had a 77 T/A with a 455 out of a 74 Grand Prix SJ back in the 90s.
I believe they were supposed to be called blue birds but there was a copyright issue that caued it to be renamed sky bird
I worked as a parking valet runner in those days.
I remember that most of the rent-a-car fleet was mid-size Ford and Mercury models, most of those either Thunderbirds or Cougars, and almost invariably painted something approaching navy blue with "buckskin tan" upholstery, vinyl roof covering, and full-bondage faux trunk tie-down straps.
The Skybird was not quite as popular, but there were quite a few of them in the fleets as well.
Really nice cars! I hope MOST were NOT "301" powered(?!) though! The Pontiac "301" was A P.O.S. on its "best day"!
1/3 Firebird owners being women actually explains a lot. I got just as much compliments on my 80 Trans Am when I had it from females as I did from males. The one that really stands out to me and I was thinking about it while watching this video was when I was at a drivethru and the girl at the window was watching it drive up and when I got to the window she said, "That is beautiful!". When she gave me my food she also handed me a large drink I didn't order. When I told her I didn't order it she said "just take it!" 🤣
Thank you for this. My father was a salesman for a small town Pontiac/Buick/GMC dealer in the late 70’s til maybe 1980. This is a great example of the fallacy of childhood memories as I could have sworn the Sky/Yellow/Red Bird were offered simultaneously. I remember sitting in a new Red Bird displayed in front of the dealership
Sky and Red overlapped for one year
Any vintage dealership photos you can share? 🙏
This version of the Firebird/Trans Am/Camaro was everywhere in the 70s and 80s. It was a big hit for GM.
I remember these Firebirds, with these specific options and paint schemes. Although in Canada I do not recall them being marketed as 'Skybirds' nor Redbirds or Yellowbirds, directed towards female customers. If you were lucky enough to own any one of the Firebird trims in the late 70s, you had achieved a certain level of 'cool'.
I bought a 77 Skybird it was my first car about 15 years ago. In the glove box was every piece of paperwork from the factory and dealer except the window sticker. And so far is the only 77 Ive found that came with a factory cb radio.
I remember when these things came out. We thought they were just ridiculous and laughed every time we saw one. Strangely though, the passage of time has a way of altering your perspective. Like the Mustang II for example, they were so unappreciated in their day and so few of them were preserved that now they're quite rare and something of a treat to come across.
I was a kid in college when this came out and I thought the color was beautiful. So very different from our ugly monochrome lumps now in about five colors at best.
I thought these, along with the yellow and red birds, were nice but definitely for the secretarial set. Even so, I secretly always wanted one.
The Mustang II was barely not a Pinto and even now, unless it's a King Cobra, aren't worth the ridiculous prices people think they can get for them. That King Cobra, tho'...
@@YippeeSkippie426 Well, I dunno......
I'm in a Mustang club and at the last show we had just before COVID, we had 130 cars and out of those, only 4 were 71-73 Mustangs and a grand total of 1 Mustang II.
There was everything you could think of there from Cobra Jets to Mach 1s to Shelbys and lots of Foxes and new stuff and that little Mustang II was getting an awful lot of attention.
So few of them left that many of the younger folks have never even seen one and have no knowledge of them.
@@hughjass1044 Folks love to hate on the Mustang II, but so rare these days because of it. I thought the II was better looking than the fourth generation IMHO
@@SimirJohnson it's still a crappy car though. People are impressed when they see 1st gen neons and k cars around too. It doesn't mean that now they're good, they're just a rare oddity. Not nessicarily all bad. But their rarity is the sole reason they are popular, and that rarity is solely because nobody in the cars time wanted it.
I bet if you brought a pontiac matiz to a car show people would flock to it simply because they'd never heard of it and wondered what it was.
My neighbours bought a new Yellow Bird in 1980, and I clearly remember the features including the fairly thick whitewall tires on this model. As a eleven year old kid, I thought it was one of the coolest cars I had ever seen...
The Skybird's 2 tone blue colors are strictly unique to this car, with no other F bodies having this color as even an option. Also of note, the aluminum dash panel was also a pale blue color.
The "Redbird" was introduced in model year 78, and carried over into 79. As you mentioned, the 2 tone red on these cars could only be ordered as a "Redbird" package, and weren't an option on other Firebirds. Also of note, the interior color (and steering wheel in particular) were strictly colored for the "Redbird" and couldn't be ordered on other Firebirds. The steering wheel is very sought after, with the rare shade of dark red, the spokes of the steering wheel painted gold, and the Firebird emblem being gold in color (horn button) as well.
1980 was obviously the "Yellowbird" that came with tan interior (could you imagine yellow vinyl? Blah!) but some confusion exists because allegedly there was still the "Yellowbird" option for 1981, though no one has ever come across a MY 81 car with that trim.
I was aware for decades of these three special Firebirds, per Michael Lamm’s “The Fabulous Firebird”. I just wasn’t quite aware of the reason these variants existed. I am not sure if I’ve seen all three of these, although I think I have, but it’s been quite some time since I’ve seen any one of these.
A great feature. Thanks.
I still have my original copy of that book.
Great book....reminds me of simpler times before the internet.....collecting books and magazines for pontiac pictures😉👍
@@dougkabler3032 Me too!
The F body was such a beautiful and special platform.
The only Firebird I would like of this generation would be one like in the Ryan O’Neal movie The Driver. A chocolate brown metallic 78 model. I love that car.
Who would believe it! A Pontiac Firebird variant for woman in light blue back then. Awesome review,man
6:20 THATS MY CAR! Very nice video. Thank you for informing people of the skybird!
My dad bought my mom a '77 Sky Bird new and she said she really liked the car. When she became pregnant with me, however, her obstetrician convinced her that the car was "too dangerous" for a pregnant woman to be driving. So dad traded it in for a new '79 Bonneville landau brougham coupe in carmine red. If given my choice of the 2 cars today, I'd take the Bonneville without question. That was a fantastic car.
I saw the red and blue ones inside the dealership showroom floor next to each other. Real as life.
I live in CANADA and have never heard of those trim levels - Must have been living under a Rock ! - Thanx
My first car in 1981 that I bought as a 15 yr old for $1200 was a blue/blue 1967 Firebird with the 326 4bbl ✌💖☮
In the late 80s early 90s, a friend of mine had a SkyBird in high school. I remember it having a cloth interior. It was a nice car. It's been 30+ years, if I remember, I think, his dad was in the car business and got if for him that way.
That 79 Red Bird is amazing. That gold dash! Just love it.
I remember my neighbor in 1978 bought a Brand New Pontiac "Skybird" it was Baby Blue & really stuck out from the rest of the Pontiacs in that Era..
Adam, the 70's was the era of trim packages. Performance was gone (even for corvettes) so paint, striping, and interiorsis what was offered. Today's cars cater to no one.
Funny thing is you could still order the high compression good motors as crate motors from GM back then.
My dad bought a crate L-T1 longblock to replace the L-82 in his new Silver Anni Vette.
So you can't think of any 2023 performance cars out there eh?
@@JackF99 This Girls car of yesteryear is cooler than manliest car made today. Nuff said, you can't fake cool. But modern offerings surely try.
Maybe if they were creative and added yet ANOTHER "black out" "midnight" package, maybe THAT would make their itoddler car cooler.
Better yet, black out a black out package, now the cars so black you can't even see it, maximum cool, maksimum performense! "The all new 2025 chevrolet nighthawk edition corvette EV CROSS! (from china)" there's your modern sports car.
We basically live in the 2nd malaise era. All we care about is creature comforts and appearances. Dodge is the only American company making dumb cool cars, and the Japanese brands are all living off legacy and hype. The KDM scene is abysmal, they just took over the ghetto performance segment from 2000s pontiac when they went belly up and I'd still rather drive a grand prix than be seen in a veloster or Sonata "N"
Today's cars cater to tech fetishists.
Years ago, a Pontiac dealership owner lived in our neighborhood. He had two daughters; one drove a Sky Bird and the other drove a Yellow Bird.
That is very interesting, thank you for your comment! I have often wondered what happened to the 1976 prototype show car "Blue Bird", whether or not it could have passed into the ownership of e.g. a Pontiac manager for a time or whether it was destroyed, or altered after its stint on public display at the Chicago Auto Show. 🐦🔹💙🔹🐦
One of these (or a facsimile painted like a Sky Bird) was featured in the opening to the 2016 film "The Nice Guys". It doesn't get treated well, but it is nice to see someone remembered the model exists.
The bottle in the front seat gave it that extra touch of authentic 70s...
Thank you Adam. I remember seeing these back in the day. As I watching the video I said what about to Red Bird package? Right as I said that it came on the screen and you were discussing it in detail. Pontiac used that front end styling theme well into the 1980's. I liked how you mentioned how Pontiac switch to building luxury cars in the 1970's. I said Bonneville Brougham and Parisienne Brougham as soon as you said that. That period went well into the 80's and they switched back to performance and did not look back. Thank you again.
I had a 1979 Firebird Formula it was Nocturne Blue with Oyster Interior. It was a sweet car. I wish I had kept it.
Reminds me of the 76" sky blue Type LT Camaro I had in 1988.(The paint wasn't stock) Remember a chick in my small town who had one of these sky birds. Her and her friends would cruise around the same 2 blocks all day in a figure 8 pattern.
I had a lot of good times in various 2nd gen F-bodies back in the day. Always will have a soft spot for them.
Automotive history is awesome thanks 👍
I used to work with a guy that bought a brand new, powder blue 1978 Skybird right off the Pontiac dealer's showroon floor. Me and other co-workers used to give him the business, saying it was a girlie car, etc.
I'm not sure, but I think he still has this car to this day!
Interesting to read, thank you! It's true the three colour Bird appearance package schemes were created with an eye to offer something that might be more desirable to women buyers but obviously anyone who wanted one could order the package; providing one had the money! I wish I could have bought my 1977 example from new, it was in a very sorry state when I bought it in 2001 and there's a lot to do! 🐦🔹💙🔹🐦
We had a '77 Firebird but it was white with a black vinyl top and a black interior and it had a 350 with a 2 barrel and it ran fine had full power and air. I noticed the sky bird.
Speaking of fading Skybirds you should try to do a episode on the Bicentennial Chevrolet paint schemes. They were so impressive when they came out but they faded and rusted fast, they lasted about 10 years. I did see a Nova at a car show with some of the red and blue left on the car. Also Cadillac also did some as you showed on the last convertibles. (so they said)
A great car for you to feature, Adam. I always liked the uniqueness of the Sky Bird, Red Bird, and the Yellow Bird special editions.
absolutely gorgeous
That white Super Duty T/A - the Thunderbolt and Lightfoot car.
Enjoyed learning about the Firebird Sky Bird. Please more videos on these edition cars, no matter how corny. I'm sure there were many more in the 70s and 80s although most have vanished from our memories. The Levi's Gremlin is another gem that comes to mind. 😄
Skybird was produced in 1977 and 78. Redbirds were built in 78 and 79, and Yellowbirds in 1980. I almost bought a used 1978 redbird in 1982 with 350 engine. I should have bought it. .
Compared to a lot of current SUVs it looks really nice. Good to see some colour! I live in the UK 🇬🇧 and during the seventies and early eighties the Ford Capri was really popular, and people bought them for their looks, nothing wrong with that!
Imagine THAT in Smokey & the Bandit.
I was there at that show at the same exact day! I can even see myself walking in the background 😂
My girlfriend's daughter owned a used "Skybird" in 1996! A VERY NICE RIDE!
I had a ‘73 Esprit, it’s my favorite car of all the cars I’ve owned.
My uncle bought one of these brand new, I believe his was a 77. I remember riding around in it in the early 90’s! Unfortunately living on the Texas gulf coast, it ended up getting a significant amount of rust around the floorboard and he sold it very cheap instead of fixing the rust problem.
Those are all super cool and I had no idea about the Skybird/Redbird/Yellowbird.
Oh My Gosh!! My dad or other people I knew owned many cars like those you've highlighted. But the Sky Bird was owned by me! I had a 1977 model year. Velour interior w/factory installed radio and 8-track player. LOVED that car!
my grandmother had one of these in California in the '70s. She never let me drive it.
Thanks for acknowledging what is among one of the best looking GM vehicles of the 70s. For some, like myself, I find endless appeal with looking at the enduro nose with the long hood, the shape of the top of the windshield and the sloping back end.
Back in the late 70's I spotted a '77 Bonneville Brougham 4dr. with this special order Sky Blue paint and same color honeycomb wheels. That car would be worth a ton if it still exists.
I love the steering wheels on these cars. We had similar styles on our Holdens.
I was a little boy during the malaise era but I can’t help thinking how easy it could have been to strip the smog gear and retune those V8 cars and really uncork their power. Especially if they still had carbs instead of TBI setups.
My neighbor had the Sky Bird. She was so proud it and I thought it was a nice looking car.
Great vid!!! 👍👍
The color remembers the 50`s years with this blue cake tone colours, where was so popular among the cool people the cake tones on cars
Awesome video!!!
I love the color!
Beautiful cars.
Great video and cars, but speaking as a car guy, i do want the ferocious road burning Trans Am! 455 H. O. And 455 S. D.!!!!😁🔥🛠️
I remember you also had full gold editions and silver editions with matching interiors. Those where very beautiful.
Make mine Rockford tan/gold with all the Formula go fast goodies but on the base trim looks.
Adam, looking forward to your take on the Mustang grande!
I remember seeing yellowbirds and redbirds, but don't recall ever seeing a bluebird. Very cute and chick - like car.
My mother had a 78 Formula... Cool mom T-Tops Rod Stewart in the cassette player.
By the time she got it in 1982 from a friend of my fathers it had already been ran through the wringer. 305 2bbl, Cat plugged from constant running of 100LL, smoked like a choochoo for what ever reason, T-Tops leaking like they weren't even there, door handle delete, interior smelled like a wet dog and the floor pans were already on their way out... ohh and the parking dent in the left front fender. My brother took it over about 1987, floor pans gone, exhaust from the y pipe back gone, someone tried to steal the factory radio out of it so the dash was wrecked. Finally got tired of the twice weekly ritual of cleaning the fouled sparkplugs found out the cylinders were tapered 25 thousands. Wait don't order yet.
So my father and brother built a stroker engine, not a 383 but a 334 which he beat to death leaving no tire unbalded with the one wheel peel. He finally rolled it over on some back road doing who knows what but at least it was out of its misery.
There was down the street and around the corner a very nice skybird unlike my brothers fireturd. Sadly the lady that owned was killed when a garbage truck backed over it while she was in it.
Great looking survivor.
Today i would say the yellow bird is the rarest of the 3 of them, good video Adam, if you need more Camaro/Firebird content let me know, for future episode you could do the traction juice bottles option that were in the trunk in the first gen Camaro, i dont recall the transam getting it as an option just the Camaro - Mark
Slap a set of ported and polished #13's on the 455, now use the race fuel, lose the iron intake and exhaust manifolds. Edelbrock performer RPM and Twysted pypes headders, 3in dual pipes, no mufflers or CAT's, I love Wisconsin. My Pontiac engine was broken in and ran out on the Dyno.
On race gas it was making 881 HP at 6800 RPMs. It was still climbing so I lost the Highly modified split 4 barrel Holley and put 2 4779's on it. HP was 983Hp at 7200 RPMs Torque peaked at 6800, 834 ft lbs of torque.. 030 over bore, and stroked to 4.5 . The block was a 3in main 400 block which is only. 030 smaller bore then the 455. I tell everyone a different displacement every time. For some reason when I start it , they don't believe it is a 326..... lol..... I say ok you got me, it's a 389 bored out....... lol....... No ? Ok it's a 400 with a 4in stroke ???? 4.12 bore and 4.0in stroke 428 crank. Or is it a kre 535 with RA V heads. It's hard to explain why you have pushrods passing through the intake port. I even had a fellow try to convince me it had BBC heads on a Pontiac block. That's funny shit. Oh yeah anyone who drove a car that color should be beaten every time they drive it. God dam ugly. I like my 66 Tempest custom sleeper. Everyone thinks that it weighs over 7000 pounds.
Chilton manual, 66 tempest custom with 326 v8 and spare tire and jack. 3050 pounds. Then it went on a diet, no inner fender wells, no wipers, and motor, no back seat, light weight front buckets, stock gas tank gone. Fuel cell, battery in trunk, electric fuel pump stock fuel pump i cut the pump lever off. Solid lifter roller cam, Howards shaft mounted roller rockers 1.65 ratio. Needle cam bearings, electric water pump, electric fans, Ansen Sprints.
Rear end Detroit locker, 4.11 gear. It's a ford 9in built by Currie G-Force lethal weapon 5 speed clutchless manual. It runs low 12's
😂 Sometimes 😅 my best is 11.97.........😂 Yea when I lift half way down the track.
One of my friends had one, his had the velour seats and T-tops.
I know where there's a Sky Bird sitting in Loveland Ohio!
A Red Bird sat in my backyard for ten years! Along with a late '60s Cadillac Calais.
my mom had a Pontiac Firebird Formula 400 with the redbird package as her first car though the model year on that was 1979 and my paternal aunt Betty drove a used 1970 Trans Am in the late 70s early 80s then my maternal aunt Dorothy had a 1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 when her and Uncle Joey were dating then mom bought a 1982 Ford Mustang GT Coupe on her 20th birthday Sept 14th 1982
When I was very young, my dad almost bought a '78 Pontiac Skybird as shown in the video. He was too concerned for safety when driving me around, so he ended up buying a '78 Buick Regal turbo with the exact same powder baby blue color as the Skybird.
I had no idea of a Skybird version of the Firebird Esprit, it was performance luxury as you can get back then. All I recall about the Esprit is that James Garner drove one in The Rockford Files, and it was a 1975 model. Beautiful nonetheless.
I had a 1978 Redbird. They came out before 79.
I actually knew someone who owned one of these, back in the day. Her last name was Fink and she was a buyer for women’s wear at the downtown Sibley’s store. Anywho, she traded it in for a Lincoln Versailles. Oh, the 70s!
Automakers have been marketing versions of sports cars to women forever. I started the first grade in 1965 and my teacher had a brand new Mustang. The Mustang was crazy popular then and car was very nice, but had the I6 engine and automatic, so not terribly sporty, but not boring like the Falcon.
I remember a Skybird on my block for years with the personalized plate MAI CAR.
I've owned two of them, so sad I sold them both years ago!! They also made a yellow bird and a red bird. My sister had a yellow bird.
Pontiac had a nice 2 hour long infomercial with “Smokey and the Bandit”where not was the Trans-Am the star, but most of the Police Cars were Pontiacs.
I've always wanted to do a James Rockford Firebird and waited too long since they are stupid expensive and have been grabbed up by all the Smokey and the Bandit fans by now.
The Redbird was available as a 1978 model as well.
nice vid. i have a 80 se turbo
There was one identical that ran around the town I lived in when I was in my late teens/early 20s back in the mid 80s.
All of us in high school during the 1970’s hated the power robbing emissions controls that destroyed performance, none of us liked the horrible brown skies in Los Angeles that also obscured the Mountain Views except for the day after a winter storm when we could see snow covered Mt Baldy at over 10,000 feet high. I had terrible asthma, couldn’t take a deep breath without coughing and the ozone destroyed the rubber seals, hoses and tires of our cars. Today it’s incredible how well the computerized engines work with their high performance and much cleaner exhausts. We didn’t know or talk about climate change and sending carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
I love the red SkyBirds and Formula 400. The spoiler always made the back end look better. Was true with the Camaro as well. I personally was never a fan of the Trans Am or Z28.
Don't forget about the 1955-'56 Dodge La Femme in shades of pink and lavender, a specially trimmed Custom Royal Lancer intended to appeal to the ladies, complete with lipstick, a pink umbrella and a pink rain cape.
Please do a feature on the one year only body style 1972 Pontiac Luxury LeMans. Special grille and trim, factory rear wheel fender skirts (!), top of the line morrokide interior, in hardtop only, available in 2 and 4 doors. I’ve got pix of mine if you need them. Thanks! Ps, the LLM was carried fwd in 73 and 74 in the colonnade coupe and 4-door post bodies.
I had a 74 LLM coupe
@@RareClassicCars Awesome! Did people believe you when you told them the skirts were factory? Pontiac sure knew how to cut a pie into multiple slices!
My local (Fargo) classic car dealer had one of these a while back, I'd nearly forgotten about it till I saw this video. I had wondered what the target market was.
What the heck you mean? The target market in Fargo was Margie, don't ya know!
Cool😍
One of my friends had a Yellowbird with a v6
5:15 Nissan also produced a Bluebird. As the 180B and later 200B models, they sold quite well in Australia.
Also in Europe.
There were also Redbird and Yellowbird Firebirds, all marketed toward women in the late 70's.
Just saw an article in Classic Cars on this model and same color. I never knew this vehicle option was made.
Totally LOLd about the bluebird bus comment.
Nice. 👍🏼
I'd love to take one of these and build a crazy engine with quiet exhaust for the ultimate sleeper.
Do the late 80's Toronados.
Very cool cars. I was lucky enough to have got my hands on a 1988 Toronado Troféo.
Ewww why?
Ol Lonny Martinez's mom on Hazel Ct. used have a Sky Bird!
A teacher owned a Skybird in my junior year at high school. It did not have the rear spoiler but had the velour interior. You could not miss it in the school parking lot compared to the other drab colored cars the other teachers drove in 1978. One fun fact at the time, she no doubt had to get her husband or father to co-sign the loan for the car as this was the way during those years for women.
No, the loan thing ended in 1974.
WOW! 🏁👍🏼
The late 70’s Mustang II had similar packages
Guy I knew in HS (early 80’s) bought a Skybird off the local Pontiac dealers used car lot. Not surprisingly his name was Jon Byrd.