1980 Pontiac Yellowbird
 

I'm looking for more information on the 1980 Pontiac Yellowbird.

I just looked at one that has been sitting since 1997 and is in very good condition but needs some things sorted out.

The car is a one-owner, all original, and fully loaded as far as I can tell; I have a pic of the original invoice, which is handwritten with all the option codes she ordered.

It has the 301 V8/auto, PW, P locks, P trunk release, AC, T-top, spoiler, cruise, Rear window defrost, HD battery, Block heater, Full gauge package w/tack and clock, lamp group, AM/FM Cassette, Tilt steering, and Standard slip rear end.

There are a few other codes that I can't read in the description.

This car is rust-free and never winter-driven; it has been garage-kept and rust-proofed.

Things that I need to address: the car has been sitting in the garage for over 27 years; when I looked at it, the battery was dead, so I could not start it.
I will change the oil and drain the fuel tank before starting.

The interior will need a good cleaning; however, the bucket seats need new seat covers.

I have looked everywhere, and those seat covers are not available right now (Camel Tan cloth); my fingers are crossed that someone on this forum may have a source.

I know this car is rare and that only around 17000 1980 Pontiac Esprit's were produced, of which ??? were Yellowbirds.

If I purchase this car for my wife, it will be kept as a survivor.

Here are a couple of pictures.

Pretty cool find. I hope it works out.

Interesting car for sure, unfortunately the only tan cloth bucket seat covers I am aware of are the Hobnail/Camel type from Legendary. I don't know if your car has that pattern or not.

https://www.legendaryautointeriors.c...a79gfdc010611g

I have a 6 3/4 yd Roll of GM Camel Lombardy. I don’t have the Hob Knob though, I’d prob sell for the rite price. Serious inquiries only.

Great find. Even though those were marketed towards the female persuasion I would have no problem driving one around today. I have seen a few blue birds (my wife had a good friend in hs that got one new for a birthday present), I knew a guy with a redbird but I cannot remember ever seeing a yellow bird. Yes I know they made them just have never seen one in the wild.

whoa reaganomics survivor...lots of options too...nice 👍

Pulled the trigger on this car and will update once I have possession, and better pics.

I knew a girl wich her dad was a mechanic at an old dealer , she had one. I have a Pontiac book that has pics of the yellow bird in.

Turned one down about 6 years ago, an old man was selling it with low mileage and very little rust car was his driver.

I put that one in the " ones that got away" I would have liked to own it but I guess I used the money for something else

Nice find!

Pics from a book

The Foster twins (Foster Pontiac, Milwaukee) had I think a Red bird in Highs school. Might have been a '78?
That goes back a ways, Congrats!

It's interesting to see the different exhaust systems these cars came with. The one I just purchased has a full dual exhaust system with dual cats and mufflers leading into chrome Y-pipes when asked the original owner about it she was adamant that the exhaust was never replaced. Another one I saw had a transverse muffler mounted between the rear end and gas tank

The Esprits & base 301 Formulas & TransAms in 1980 came with pellet style cat convertor & a single pipe to the cross flow muffler. The W72 optioned 301 & the LU8 Turbo equipped cars had a different pellet style cat convertor, a Y pipe, & a small muffler for each tailpipe.

Another difference, the base '80 301 4 bbl T/A's (& other low horse Birds) did not have a large grommet in the cowl for the ESC harness to run through. The '80 W72 & LU8 equiiped Formulas & T/A's had that harness & small spark control box mounted behind a block off plate in front of the console. The base '80 301 4bbl T/As that I've had through here, when parted had 2.41 posi rears. All were AC cars. Beginning in the late 80's, I routinely bought early '70's & late '70's & '80's Esprits as a source for very nice Deluxe interior parts, solid straight doors, etc.

This car has the W73 option, once I get the PHS documentation I should know more. I have also requested the Vintage Vehicle Services info GM Canada documentation that will list all options that the car was ordered with along with the dealership the car was shipped to. This info is only available for Canadian built cars and US cars built in the US but shipped and sold at a Canadian dealer, once I have both I will post pics to show the different info.

W73 was the UPC code for Yellowbird option.
What differentiates your new find from most other Yellowbirds is being ordered with the 301W w Fisher tops & Rally Guage & Tach.

Clicking the grid style electric rear defroster required the addition of the HD Alt, which was of a new size case design. This 70 amp alt required its own style of PS & Alt brackets. . Another option that triggered the HD alt was the new for '80 models halogen headlights. In ordering my '80 SE Turbo, the zone office kicked the order back as i had ordered the both options & had not clicked off the HD alternator option.

What a great score, does it have the KPMH Canadian cluster? It's still missing a few options, but the 62B Deluxe Camel Tan interior seat covers are reproduced, both by Legendary and PUI, so getting new covers shouldn't be an issue.

Yes, it has the KPMH cluster. My research so far in regard to the seat covers is that they are currently unavailable and everyone that I have spoken to can't give me a hard timeline as to when they will be available. So, if anyone has a line on a set of these front seat covers, I would be very interested.

The big unknown in regard to the Yellowbird option is how many were produced? I'm hoping the Vintage Vehicle Services info GM Canada documentation will show the breakdown of number of 1980 Pontiac Firebird Esprits sold by color which would be awesome because the two-tone yellow codes 56/37 were only available on the Yellowbird.

Don't know how no one picked up on that, but documentation shows there was 3,850 Yellowbird Esprits made in 1980, All of which were automatic with no breakdown for engine options. Canadian PHS definitely will show how many were sold for the Canadian market, they were able to demonstrate how many 1979 Y84 's were made for my model. You're right, all the suppliers seem to say they are currently out of stock but they are being re-milled so they should be back in stock soon. I had ordered a set about a month or two ago and they had arrived and they were excellent.

Wow, that is an interesting number, if the 17000 number is correct for all 1980 Pontiac Firebird Esprits that would mean that 25% were Yellowbirds???

Where did you order those seat covers from?

Ayup, that sounds about right.

I don't recall, maybe it was Year One that had stock at the time? I went through my emails and can't find the order. They were the PUI covers, there was a bit of a wait, maybe 1-2 weeks, but they shipped and arrived pretty quickly. The demmand is huge, so they should re-stock soon.