[OG68]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

'690is my least favorite 1st gen and I don't care for convertible F or A bodies as much as hardtops but l like that blue one ...

I feel the same way regarding the 69 FB. Always thought the front bumper should have been a full Endura. The chrome bumper looks like an afterthought.

to me anyway...

[thews]

Originally Posted by OG68

I feel the same way regarding the 69 FB. Always thought the front bumper should have been a full Endura. The chrome bumper looks like an afterthought.

to me anyway...

I sort of understand what you're saying, but not so much. I had a 70 455 GTO when I was 16 with an endura, so i get the endura love. I now have 2 69 Firebird convertibles and I love the front end. You have to put yourself in the 1969 style transition from chrome to a painted surface. The endura was a new concept and not everyone liked it. You could order a 69 GTO with a chrome bumper. Anyway, for 70 - 73 Trans AM's, the endura is the bomb. I have a 72 endura front end in my shed I'll bolt to the front of my 80 Turbo T/A, just because it looks 100X better. The 69 Firebird is, IMHO, the pinnacle of Pontiac performance along with the GTO and in the discussion for the most beautiful car Pontiac ever produced.

[Scarebird]

I disagree; to me the 69 front end looks like a quick slap together of parts. The prevoius 2 years had a far better integrated look.

[OG68]

Beauty as they say, is in the eye of the beholder.

Like you, I think the 70-73 Firebirds were the highlight of the F bodies
and I think the 62 GP was the best of the B's.

and of course I'm a little biased towards the 68/69 A body.

[kingbuzzo]

I ♥ the '9s but I used to have one...I've seen some with the painted over the chrome nose and it doesn't look rite lol

[Greg Reid]

I think maybe it's that the chrome bumper blends with some colors better than others. Like the blue. It doesn't hurt the look as much as, say, Goldenrod.
And by the way, it's not that I dislike the 69 it's just that it's my least favorite of the first generation f bodyies.

[north]

Trivia, the 69 bird was going to have a full Endura but Mitchell said he wanted some chrome on the front, might be a true story or not. I think more likely is that they knew the 69 bird was a one year holdover so tooling up a full Endura bumper for one model year didn't make financial sense. Even though I own a few 69 Birds I'm not a big fan of the 67-69 bird styling. The basic body shape and roof line was nice, the back end of all three years are all nice and trim. As for the front end I find the 67-68 have an odd look, like they had too limited a budget to change the Camaro look, also 67-68 body has a bulbous look around the wheel openings. As for 69 I find the front end more natural looking but overly complex (they are an unbelievable pain to assemble with everything lining up square). The side view of the 69 squared up wheel openings is much nicer but I don't like the extra front overhang or the odd rear body spear line that bulges out quite a bit making the rear wheel opening wider in front than in back. If the instead used a look similar to the 70-72 GTO quarters it would have been quite nice. One nice plus of 69 though was the adoption of a unique dashboard, unlike the 67-68 which had a Camaro dash.

Engineering wise the first gen all had a surprisingly solid body structure (even the ragtops) and in stock form are quieter than you'd expect given the chevyII-Nova bones. On the other hand the seats are awful and the firebird in particular (they sat lower than the Camaro) easily bottom out their suspension. In general the interior trim is of economy car quality, flimsier components than the mid or fullsized cars.

[thews]

67 242 GTO in Florida at $9500 BIN. Crusty McRusty, but looks like the bones are all there.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/37545550763...0AAOSwchlmViKJ

[thews]

67 Firebird 400 convertible in Tennessee at $15.5K BIN. The other engine pictured is a 71 400. Comes with 1 piece floorpans.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/18646338572...4AAOSw-79mVfa0

[thews]

80 Yellowbird (ick) in Baltimore at $100 NR. Rare for a reason. Not sure who the target audience was for these cars.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/27648684198...kAAOSwgipmV8lG

[66sprint]

Target audience?

Maybe . . .

[71GP76TA]

Originally Posted by 66sprint

Target audience?

Maybe . . .

That or women....

[thews]

76 T/A Bandit restored at NR at $8100 in Michigan.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/27648578932...8AAOSw~Z9mVrE8

[vertigto]

Pretty red T/A, but I would want a few more shakedown miles.

[thews]

68 Primavera Beige NM GTO in NH at $17K reserve not met, but you can see the for sale sticker in the widow at $40K. Interior is beautiful on this rare color combo. Pretty car with hideaways.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12650893698...oAAOSwtBlmWqkh

[Shiny]

Looks great and definitely rare. Reminds me of the current trend for non-metallics on many newer cars. I think some of them look like city maintenance vehicles but now I will eat those thoughts.

[thews]

67 Firebird in Ohio with the reserve not met at $6.3K. The price of hot rod cars is going down at a steep rate IMO.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/36492775204...oAAOSwA4VmS1nP

[kingbuzzo]

[QUOTE=thews;6507217]67 Firebird in Ohio with the reserve not met at $6.3K. The price of hot rod cars is going down at a steep rate IMO.

Don't say that...my 401k not looking so great rn...lol

[thews]

68 Firebird in Indiana at $2K NR. Seller did some groovy Photoshop work on the pics.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/30559855536...cAAOSw5PFmXO4v

[thews]

67 Firebird in Illinois at $29K BIN. I love the bench seat.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/19642774055...Bk9SR8abt4T9Yw