I got a call from a friend about three months ago telling me there was a 1971 Formula 455 in the local Pick and Pull yard. I had just had shoulder surgery so I was not in any condition to run out and start pulling stuff. I asked if it was a 455 HO car and he said it was, but the drive train was gone. I went by about a week later and took these pictures. The Formula 455 emblems were still on the fenders, and it was obviously an original manual trans car. According to what I have read there were no D port Formula 455's with manual transmissions in 1971, so if that is correct, then this was an 455 HO car. The "455" was still readable on the emissions sticker. I was told by a guy I know who got to the car first that the driveshaft was still there when he saw it, and it had the big fine spline yoke, indicating a heavy duty four speed.
The car was originally Castillian Bronze with deluxe sienna interior. It had gauges (with tach), power steering and power brakes. I got the seatbelts and a few other trinkets, and my buddy got a bunch of stuff. I snapped a picture of the data plate and wrote down the VIN. A few weeks later there was an ad on Craigslist asking whoever took the data plate of the Firebird in the Pick and Pull yard to contact the poster. I figured that meant someone wanted the numbers. Sure enough, I went by a week or so afterward and the dash VIN had been cut out. The car had aftermarket A/C and whoever took the public VIN did not bother to remove the A/C suitcase off the firewall, so the hidden VIN should still be there. No way to know if this was a Ram Air car without running the PHS, since the hood and engine were gone. Sad end to a cool car.
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