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Car Of The Day: January 30, 2010; Road Champs '81 Pontiac Firebird
Topic Started: Jan 30 2010, 01:25 AM (648 Views)
Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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Today's car of the day is Road Champs' 1981 Pontiac Firebird.

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Wikipedia
 
The Pontiac Firebird was built by the Pontiac division of General Motors between 1967 and 2002. The Firebird was introduced the same year as its platform-sharing cousin, the Chevrolet Camaro. This coincided with the release of the 1967 Mercury Cougar, which shared its platform with another pony car, the Ford Mustang.

The vehicles were, for the most part, powered by various V8 engines of different GM divisions. While primarily Pontiac-powered until 1977, Firebirds were built with several different engines from nearly every GM division until 1982 when all Pontiac engines were dropped in favor of corporate units.

Although General Motors revived the Chevrolet Camaro for the 2010 model year, there will be no fifth-generation Pontiac Firebird because of the upcoming discontinuation of the Pontiac brand after the 2010 model year.


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For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Firebird

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A nice effort from Road Champs, coming right as the real car transitioned from the second generation to the third generation (this one is copyrighted 1982 on the base). Opening doros, metal base, everything you'd expect from early '80s diecast.

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Wikipedia
 
The second generation debut for the 1970 model year was delayed until February 26, 1970, because of tooling and engineering problems; thus, its popular designation as a 1970 1/2 model, while leftover 1969s were listed in early Pontiac literature without a model-year identification.[2] Replacing the "Coke bottle" styling was a more "swoopy" body style, with the top of the rear window line going almost straight down to the lip of the trunk lid — a look that was to epitomize F-body styling for the longest period during the Firebird's lifetime. The new design was initially characterized with a large C-pillar, until 1975 when the rear window was enlarged. There were two Ram Air 400 engines for 1970: the Ram Air III (335 hp, 366 hp (273 kW) in GTO) and the Ram Air IV (345 hp, 370 hp (280 kW) in GTO) which were carried over from 1969. The difference between the GTO and Firebird engines was the secondary carburetor linkage which prevented the rear barrels from opening. Bending the linkage to allow full carburator operation resulted in identical engines. A distinctive, slant-nose facelift occurred in 1977, redone somewhat in 1979. From 1977 to 1981, the Firebird used four square headlamps, while the Camaro continued to retain the two round headlights that had previously been shared by both Second Generation designs. Curb weights rose dramatically in the 1973 model year due to the implementation of 5 mph (8.0 km/h) telescoping bumpers and various other crash and safety related structural enhancements; SD455 Trans Ams tipped the scale at a whopping 3,850 pounds curb.

The 455 engine available in the second generation Firebird Trans Am was arguably the last high-performance engine of the original muscle car generation. The 455 engine first made its appearance in 1971 as the 455-HO. In 1973 and 1974, a special version of the 455, called the SD-455, was offered. The SD-455 consisted of a strengthened cylinder block that included 4 bolt main bearings and added material in various locations for improved strength. Original plans called for a forged crankshaft, although actual production SD455s received nodular iron crankshafts with minor enhancements. Forged rods and forged aluminum pistons were specified, as were unique high flow cylinder heads. A 1967 GTO Ram Air camshaft with 301/313 degrees of advertised duration, 0.407 inch net valve lift, and 76 degrees of valve overlap was specified for actual production engines in lieu of the significantly more aggressive Ram Air IV style cam that had originally been planned for the engine (initially rated at 310 hp (230 kW) with that cam), but proved incapable of meeting the tightening emissions standards of the era. This cam, combined with a low compression ratio of 8.4 (advertised) and 7.9:1 actual resulted in 290 SAE NET HP. The initial press cars that were given to the various enthusiast magazines (e.g., Hot Rod and Car and Driver) were fitted with the Ram Air IV style cam and functional hoodscoops - a fact that has been confirmed by several Pontiac sources although none of those sources are listed here.[citation needed] There is still some controversy about what cam was used in the early press cars due to an article written by Jerry Heasley for Musclecars magazine titled "Mexican Shooutout." Mr Heasley did not start out with the intention of addressing that question, but in an odd turn of events, he did just that. It all started with a "shootout" between a 1973 SD455 Trans Am and a 1967 440 Dodge Coronet R/T set to take place at the Houston International Raceway in Texas. The R/T backed out at the last minute so Heasley decided to run Mike's 81K mile stock Trans Am for comparison against the times that had been published by Car and Driver magazine back in 1973. Out of three runs, Mike bettered the times published by Car and Driver twice, with a best run of 13.75 seconds. While some actual production test cars ran considerably slower and yielded 1/4 miles times in the 14.5 second/98 MPH range in showroom tune - results that are quite consistent for a car with a curb weight of 3,850 pounds and the rated 290 SAE NET HP figure that some sources suggest was "under-rated," High Performance Pontiac magazine dyno-tested an SD and gave it an honest 371 SAE Net rating. Pontiac offered the 455 for a few more years, but tightening restrictions on vehicle emissions guaranteed its demise. Thus, the 1976 Trans Am was the last of the "Big Cube Birds," with only 7,100 units produced with the 455 engine.

In 1974, Pontiac offered an inline-6, a 185 hp 350 CID V8, and 175 to 225 hp 400 CID V8 engines. The 455 produced 215 and 250 hp (190 kW) while the SD-455 produced 290 hp (220 kW). The 400, 455, and SD-455 engines were offered in the Trans Am and Formula models during 1974, but the 400 and 455 engines were the only other options in the 1975 and 1976 models. In 1976, Pontiac celebrated their 50th Anniversary, and a special edition of the Trans Am was released. Painted in black with gold accents, this was the first anniversary Trans Am package and the first production Black and Gold special edition. In 1977, Pontiac offered the T/A 6.6 Litre 400 (RPO W72) rated at 200 hp (150 kW), as opposed to the regular 6.6 Litre 400 (RPO L78) rated at 180 hp (130 kW). In addition, California and high altitude cars received the Olds 403 engine, which offered a slightly higher compression ratio and a more usable torque band than the Pontiac engines of 1977.

Beginning in 1978, Pontiac engineers reversed years of declining power by raising the compression ratio in the Pontiac 400 through the installation of different cylinder heads with smaller combustion chambers (1977 pontiac 400 engines also had the 350 heads bolted to the 400 blocks, these heads were known as the 6x-4 heads)(taken from the Pontiac 350). This increased power by 10% for a total of 220 during the 1978-79 model years. The 400/403 options remained available until 1979, when the 400 CID engines were only available in the 4-speed transmission Trans Ams and Formulas (the engines had actually been stockpiled from 1978, when PMD had cut production of the engine). 1979 marked the 10th Anniversary of the Trans Am, and a special anniversary package was made available: silver paint with a silver leather interior. The 10th Anniversary cars also featured a special Firebird hood decal, which extended off of the hood and onto the front fenders. In 1979 Pontiac sold 116,535 Trans Ams which still holds the record to this day. In 1980, due to ever-increasing emissions restrictions, Pontiac dropped all of its large displacement engines.

1980 therefore saw the biggest engine changes for the Trans Am. The 301, offered in 1979 as a credit option, was now the standard engine. Options included a turbocharged 301 or the Chevrolet 305 small block.

In the final year of the Second Generation Firebirds (1981), Trans Am still used the same engines as it had in the previous model year, with the only change being the addition of a new electronic carburetion system.


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Wikipedia
 
The Trans Am was a specialty package for the Firebird, typically upgrading handling, suspension, and horsepower, as well as minor appearance modifications such as exclusive hoods, spoilers, fog lights and wheels. In using the name Trans Am, a registered trademark, GM agreed to pay $5 per car sold to the SCCA.[5] Four distinct generations were produced between 1969 and 2002. These cars were built on the F-body platform, which was also shared by the Chevrolet Camaro.

The second generation was available from 1970 to 1981 and was featured in the 1977 movie Smokey and the Bandit, the 1978 movie Hooper and the 1980 movie Smokey and the Bandit II. The third generation, available from 1982 to 1992, was featured in the 1983 movie Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 and the 1984 movie Alphabet City. KITT, the automotive star of the popular 1980s TV series Knight Rider, was a modified third generation Trans Am. The fourth generation Trans Am, available from model years 1993 to 2002, offered between 275 and 325 horsepower.

Although the Trans Am nameplate was discontinued along with the Firebird in 2002, the body was used in the IROC Racing Series until the series' closing in 2006.


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craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

To think that Road Champs along with Yatming were despised by HW and MB collectors when they were released. Now these are seen rightfully so for what they are, really nice models with opening doors and an all metal body/base. Those features are now premium level stuff, not less than brand X.

Cool pic Swifty. :thumbup:
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Sak
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Ezekiel 25:17
Sean, is it Uniborn? You mentioned so on top, or was that a typo?

You know, Zach, I really love the wheels on this one- compared to other manufacturers, the wheels on this line were high quality. I loved Yatming's selection back in the day-the only problem I had was with fit and finish, which, in most cases, was really sub-par. One time, I got the '64 Impala out of the package with metal fatigue, which horrified me.
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DaWeber
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Station Wagon
Sak
Jan 30 2010, 06:52 AM
Sean, is it Uniborn or Road Champs ?
Uniborn was a brand issued by Universal Products . It was one of David Yeh's many companies in the Orient. I do not see where it could have been related or affiliated with Road Champs that originated in Suburban Phila before moving to n NJ and then to Calif as part of Jakks-Pacific (?)

Originally, Road Champs packaged Yat Mings before producing their own products - but I have no knowledge of Road Champs ever packaging Universal Products renditions.
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
Sak
Jan 30 2010, 06:52 AM
One time, I got the '64 Impala out of the package with metal fatigue, which horrified me.
That must have been one LONG boat ride. :D
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STUTZ
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Diecast junkie
Swifty
Jan 30 2010, 01:25 AM


Today's car of the day is Road Champs' 1981 Pontiac Firebird.


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Not a really nice casting, but it would look better without the opening door feature.
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
Sak
Jan 30 2010, 06:52 AM
Sean, is it Uniborn? You mentioned so on top, or was that a typo?
Road Champs, yes. Fixed! :thumbup:
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ErnestHughes
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Fullsize
one of this weeks better cotd. at least it has decent rolling stock. the gaps around the door could have used some attention.

EH
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
ErnestHughes
Jan 30 2010, 09:07 PM
the gaps around the door could have used some attention.

EH
Yes, about 8-10% more door is needed!!! :o
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