First firebird ever built!
 

Well, long story short... We have the first and second 67 Firebirds ever built(00001 and 00002), and need help getting these into the right hands! Any info you could provide would be great.

I've posted in other Pontiac forums, and someone reccommended I post in this site.

Below is my photo bucket with pictures of the 00001 convertible and 00002 hardtop in the background.



http://s1187.photobucket.com/albums/z386/swfirebird/

Welcome to the site! How in the world did you find those two cars?

These appear to be the first V8 firebirds produced during the 1967 model year, but that does not necessarliy make them the first Firebirds produced as there were Sprint 6 models also produced at Lordstown, OH plant (VIN code U). Those would have a VIN like:

223677U600001, with a 6 in the first digit after the plant identification...

Hmmm, that's a good point! And you may have cleared up one thing for me.

On the firewall tags where the consecutive build number is, the first car has "SHOW1" and the second car has "SHOW4"

I could never figure out why they skipped. Maybe SHOW2 and SHOW3 were 6 cylinder cars???


Consecutive Build Number:
Located to the right of the Assembly Plant Code. It is the consecutive body build number and indicates the sequence the car came off the assembly line. This number will not match the actual sequential VIN number.

Welcome to PY!

And congrats on finding those 2 Birds.

Maybe post this in the 67-69 Bird Section Also?

:)

Welcome to the forums! I also own a 67 Firebird. Looks like the early cars got the GTO steering wheel, as the standard Firebird wheel was a little different with plastic spokes with no brushed aluminum trim on the spokes? Have you ordered the documents from Pontiac Historical Services? They can often shed some light on details of the car.
They can be found here:http://www.phs-online.com/

Neat, however I have never seen a 67 "A" or "F" body car with the clear and colored steering wheel as is on the red car.

Where are you located and how long have you owned them?

Wow, incredible find! Definetly the first two V8 Firebirds produced at Lordstown.

I would like to hear the background story on how you got them. I assume if you wanted to get them into the "right hands" that these cars are for sale?

Welcome to PY.

I'm speechless!

How did you ever come to own these two special cars!

@ Don

Located in SE Michigan

Roughly 20 years for the #1 car and 15 years for the #2 car

Wow... very cool. Would love to hear more of the story on these.

Awesome....what a find. I hope they stay together as a pair.

That is great. Welcome to the community. Look forward to reading more about the cars.

These cars should be in the new Museum, and a few pages in HPP too. Would be cool to see the Cammer show cars someday..

sw- Put the coffee on... Keefe will be there momentarily...

I'm speechless.

Welcome to PY; I'm from SE Michigan as well, and looking forward to hearing more on this.

K

These two Birds probably have a cool history.:)

A little more info on the Birds'


#223677U100001

12B
ST 67-22667 LOR SHOW1 BODY
TR 258-A R2 PAINT
L2 MSR 4F

326 Convertible, 2sp Auto


and

#223377U100002

12B
ST 67-22637 LOR SHOW4 BODY
TR 259-B P2 PAINT
XL 2XGS 4F

326 H.O. Hardtop, 4 speed




P.S This is just a thought. Since these cars are SHOW1(VIN 00001) and SHOW4(VIN00002) and because gtoMN pointed out that 6 cylinder cars would have also had a 00001 VIN number, I wonder if the first six cars came out like below with each motor available at that time?


Show 1 - 326 Convertible
Show 2 - 6 cyl??
Show 3 - 6 cyl Sprint??
Show 4 - 326 H.O Hardtop
Show 5 - 400??
Show 6 - 400 Ram Air??

Do you known where they were sold new?

Cant wait to read the whole story here!c'mon tell it!lol

Maybe built as the 'Magnificent 5'?

(1 of each)

:)

I had #33 which was a red 400/400 coupe with black deluxe.
It has a note on the build sheet stating it was built for San Fransisco Auto Show,
I think the date was Jan 1967.
Im guessing quite a few of the first cars made were used on the show car circuit.
BTW glad they are still around!

That explains a good amount. There are incredible cars in Michigan, and you don't have to guess why. Were they found there? It never ceased to amaze me at the quality of them when I lived there in the 1980s. On a weekend you could drive down the street when garages are opened and see fantastic original cars. The midyear Vette I think about today was $11,000 in 1981. I remember shopping for drivers in the 5K range. This one was super.

This is a photo of the first Firebird rolling off the assembly line. Same car?

I wish I was that lucky... Welcome Aboard, hope to read more on these gems...

Welcome to PY and I hope you enjoy the forum. Appreciate you sharing the cars with us and curious in seeing and hear more.
Brew

This is awesome!! What a pair of cars. Welcome to PY and a massive thanks for sharing info on these cars. It blows me away that these have even survived, let alone ended up side by side over 40 years later. Like everyone else can't wait to hear more on the history. Have you got the PHS paperwork on them?

I just love how this sort of stuff just pops up. Made my day!

Are those safety glasses?
Evidently you had to wear glasses to work there?

Dude, you own the Crown Jewels. Congrats to you and welcome.

Maybe these cars were what they call "pilot cars" made for testing and show circuit. and made before the "mass production" of them.

Ya; safety glasses.

My kids sometimes ask me if I have any of those old glasses around.

"Why?" I say.

Their reply: "...because tomorrow is 'Nerd day' at school and we are going as YOU!".

:mad:

I would think a red car would show a darker color than that in B&W?

:confused:

Maybe white was 1st car?

:)

Welcome to PY ! Thanks for posting about these cars. It is great to hear these two cars ended up together. Its like finding the holy grail! Congrats!!!!

I'm wondering if the photo is showing the first car from the other plant.

The first car from either plant would still be VIN sequence number 0001.

K

My neighbor and friend who has a TA, has the original Life magazine with that 2 page ad on the inside front cover. I think the model have a timeless beauty, both the car and woman.;)

The pic of the white or yellow convert has to be from a different factory if it is serial number 1 since it is a V8 convert as well. There should be a serial number 1 hardtop and vert with a OHC serial number as well, right?

@MikeNoun
- Not trying to dis-credit your picture, but the title on the picture is "67 Pontiac being built," Not first Firebird. A nice retro picture though!

@Keith
- 67's were only made at Lordstown, OH. Norwood, OH and Van Nuys, CA started for 68's

Ok - thank you (my historical expertise stops beyond Pontiac built '65 GTOs) :o

Mike,
This picture looks like it shows your pictured car, second in line.

Well, don't pay attention to the file name, that was simply the title I used in order to file the picture on my PC.

The picture I posted is indeed the first 1967 Firebird to roll down the Lordstown line, and it was a Firebird 326 convertible. The photo is documented. I was merely asking if this was your car.

This may very well be a red car. Sometimes a red or blue car can appear white depending how the photo negative was processed. However, it could also be the 2nd car, as shown in the photo above, as it appears it's next in line behind the hardtop.

Keep in mind that many plants did not and, even today, do not build in exact VIN order, so it's entirely possible for 0002 to come off the line before 0001.

K