Flareless Formula(s)
 

Formula's look much better with the full flare compliments. easy removal if concerned with the originality thing. this is a nice one. never liked white interior though.

look like somethings missing without em.

This looks great Pontiac should of had this as a option

all that AND the chrome?, would you like a T/A with all the chrome?
I prefer the more sport/ bling look I guess.
https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...7&d=1607305021

"easy removal"?? Sure, if you don't mind dealing with all the drilled mounting holes to have to deal with. Can you say 'new paint job'?

Wow...I just had to reply to your thread! That's a basically a picture of the custom F-bird I built back in 1978.
Started life as a 72 Esprit my father purchased new. He wanted to buy GP, but I talked him into the Firebird...tried to pull him into a white TA sitting on the showroom floor, but he wouldn't go for it : (
Anyway, fast forward to '77, I got my DL and Pop gave me the rusted Esprit after my Sister got done beating the hell out of the '72.
I'll make a long story short.....she had a 350 / auto. I put in a junkyard 400/400turbo trans out of a 70 GP.
My Pop always got a posi rear in all his cars. So when he ordered this '72 late in 1971. It ended up with a 3.42 posi out of a Formula/TA from the factory. The car was always fast, even with the 350. Now with the 400, she really came to life!
I loved the look of the flairs, so I ordered a complete set from the Pontiac dealer. I got a rear spoiler from the same JY that I found the 400 from.
Had the body all repaired and flairs installed, and painted her midnight blue metallic.
The interior I replaced with a complete take out from a wrecked '78 TA. The parts that wouldn't fit, because of the rear window difference, I spray dyed to match the saddle color.
Oh yeah, I put a Formula hood on her too. I found that in a different JY for $30 !

I changed the dash, gauges, radio, and ended up with gold snowflake rims found, yeah...you guessed it, the junk yard...lol
As a 17-18 year old, I was so proud of what I had created.
So when I look at that pix, I can see myself flying around the streets of the Jersey shore back in the late 70's, early 80's
I ended up selling her to my roommate in college. I received a call months later while on break, he smacked her up.

If you want the wheel spoilers you buy a TA. If you don’t you buy a Formula. Simple, Pontic got it right.

The only thing Pontiac didn't get right is if you wanted a flat hood, you had to like single exhaust 2 barrels :D and I am the lone flat hood fan this side of the Rockies I think.

Or, you painted and mounted full flare fiberglass units.

If Pontiac made TA's in pink you'd say they got it right.

Evolution of the 69 Trans Am?

The original design for the 2nd Gen T/A hood was the Formula hood, so Pontiac did have a plan for a "Formula w/ flares."

That is true. I can see it as being a continuation of the 69 TA hood "look". Which makes me wonder if they had used that hood on the TA, what would have become of the Formula design. I have never read of that aspect. I think Pontiac made the right choice, as the shaker became part of the TA mojo.

i guess if it was on the option list someone would have ordered a pink t/a

I love the spoilers and flairs. I am going to do that to my plain jane Firebird. It is hard to find a nice formula hood. It seems all of the ones I have seen have had the grilles broken out and the rear corners broken.

looks like a lot of people like it and would have most likely ordered it if it was on the option list .

This is fugly.

I think history shows Pontiac got it right......

No argument that the shaker conversion to a formula hood is always horrific.
And we are all happy with how these things came out, hence having one and being here. But these things could just as easily have been options on different models since they work, but look odd at times as non-standard, and we'd have supported those options too. But the only options I wished my 78 Formula featured was a front skirt of sorts and fender vents for heat extraction, and of course the smaller scoops were ramair functional rather than die-cast blanks. The flares are what I still don't care about, on my car anyway. They are one of the All or Nothing options.

Not to insult somebody's decision to do that to their own car...but I agree! Why didn't he put on a set of "Sawblades" too, to really top it off.

Ponch would disagree

While building my custom formula back in the late 70's, I picked up a shaker to cut into the formula hood. I had the hole all taped out, ready to cut....but just couldn't do it. I stepped back, and took a good look at the beauty of the stock formula hood. That made up my mind to put the shaker on the shelf.
I still have the thing sitting there, waiting to come to life one day : )

Butchered mess.

that's goldmembers car....

How about shaker scoop Formulas? This always throws the Formula guys for a loop.

Attachment 555853

Does anybody know if Ponch's/Corvette Summer car started out as a Formula or Trans Am?

Idk, but that car in Corvette Summer looked badass!

I think this guy with the gold "custom" is trying to go for the "Ponch" look from the TV series "Chips". Ponch drove a gold formula with the shaker cut into the hood, and all the TA flairs too.
I had to laugh with the "fugly" comment

Why? Factory made a Shaker hood Formula for 2 years.
NJ Steve has one, Oh and a Shaker Esprit too..

I prefer the formula hood instead of the shaker. I think that if I had ordered a 73 SD Formula new I would have been disappointed when I went to pick it up and saw it for the first time. I think I would have likely asked the dealer to fix it or make it right.

Of course they are so rare and valuable now that you really would be making a mistake to do it, but back then I would have.

I did a test and my flat hood has the same outside air CFM intake as a Super Duty! :) Seriously, If I had a SD I would box all the parts and put an earlier flapper shaker on it.

Or just drill out the three rivets and take the block off plate out of the scoop when you drive it and put it back when you park it. I did that for years back when I daily drove them

Because it does..

Pontiac had Flat Hood, Single Exhaust cars with 400 ft lbs of Torque at ONLY 2400 rpm.
Did I mention its a 2bbl?
Oh, I forgot... ESPRIT too......Yeah.. Touring car !!

Trans Am Started with 4 headlights And 2 hood Scoops.
Trans Am Ended with 4 headlights And 2 hood scoops..

I couldn't disagree more. Formulas deserve the clean look. As others have said, want flairs, buy a TA. I have seen way too many Formulas with this added and then they don't understand why they have a hard time selling them for what a clean original sells.

Just an oddball flip-side reverse comment here on the subject of adding flares to Formula's.

In late 70's or early 80's a local guy here converted a nice Blue 72 TA 4spd #'s Blk Dlx AC
removed flares & spoilers (all of them - even the rear spoiler)
added Functional Formula RA Hood and Breather
painted the car Brewster Green
shet happens

I tried to buy it from the next owner (a friend) in about 87, but he wouldn't sell.
In Greensboro NC
Then it disappeared a year or two later when he sold it without offering it to me.
Anyone ever heard of that car ? or did it go to the land of misfit toys ?

I'll bet that happened, people ordering the SD Formula and didn't know it was going to have the shaker. Just like people who ordered their auto trans car with no console and got a column shift. Doh!