[71firebird400]

2ManyT/A's

You're opinion is clearly the best due to you owning an REAL Trans-Am.

My dad's got a '69 Mach 1 428CJ 4-Speed car parked in the garage, yet he seems to appreciate the kids with the beat up Mustang 5.0's more than the rich old men with their restored Boss 429's. Stop being an elitist.

[455GRIN]

When I bought my Formula,it had the wheel splats, rear spoiler, formula wheel, engine turned dash. I'm doing the body work now and have decided to replace the spoilers.

In the meantime, I acquired a 80 Espirit. While I'm repairing the 70 Formula, I'm going to put the Formula hood and nose on the Espirit without any spoilers. I like the look with the clean lines.

[catalina_dream]

Something that no one has brought up to this point is that the majority of early second gen cars that have had a spoiler added have the wrong ends (mine included). I can see the beauty in both versions, spoiler vs. no spoiler. I say to each his own. However, when my car goes in to get freshened up, the spoiler will stay, but the ends will be modified to look correct (short version). To me, this is a bigger sin then actually adding the spoiler which was a dealer installed option.

JMO - Kevin

[x-bird2]

i prefer the spoiler for the most part. However, certain colors and trim combinations like vinyl tops, have their own unique appeal and show off the car's lines better without one. Me, i get to be the odd duck, mine is an original spoilered formula with the shaker and t/a hood. toss in the woodgrain dash and it just looks like an unfinished trans am clone to pontiac people. even if it hadn't been original, i would probably add it, the ta hood alone would just look weird imo. previous owners at one point --the first i think-- did put the wheel spats on it. the second added 70-72 stripes and engine turn dash.

[74 SD455 Formula]

Originally Posted by catalina_dream

Something that no one has brought up to this point is that the majority of early second gen cars that have had a spoiler added have the wrong ends (mine included). I can see the beauty in both versions, spoiler vs. no spoiler. I say to each his own. However, when my car goes in to get freshened up, the spoiler will stay, but the ends will be modified to look correct (short version). To me, this is a bigger sin then actually adding the spoiler which was a dealer installed option.

JMO - Kevin

Kevin,
I can fix that problem.I have a pair of early spoiler ends for sale.

My 74 Formula has the Spoiler and a T/A Shaker as well ( hate it!!!!! it's a T/A thing ) with the correct hood.I think the Firebird's look naked without the spoiler.Just my 2 cent worth...

[Formulabruce]

I bought a parts car not far from my home, 5 years ago, a 1970 from a elderly woman. This car had a vinyl roof, and a dealer installed trunk rack. her husband ordered it that way because the trunk was so small. They used the rack on a number of cross country trips. 250 chevy SIX and 3 speed auto on the column.
The rack was surface rusty and looked similar to GM 68-9 camaro racks but it was a bit wider.
Not a big muscle look, but wasnt bad either. Wish I had a pic now..

[RAIVJUDGE]

Well I have read everyone's opinion in this post and others. It is funny how everyone states it was not available on a 70. Maybe not from the factory, but certainly from the dealer. My car still wears it's original paint and it has a spoiler on it from the dealer, with receipts to prove that it was dealer installed. I have spoken to the son and daughter of the original owner who has since passed away. The whole family loved my car and that spoiler is staying right where it is. It is part of the cars history and a tribute to the original owner.

[necdb3]

It's all just a matter of someones opinion. I purchased a 72 F455 back in 1979 from the original owner who ordered the car. I remember asking him (because of the drive train) "why didn't you buy a Trans Am? And his reply was "he didn't like all the plastic crap that was on those cars". He even made sure that he did not get a Posi rear because "they are terrible in snow and rain".

[ta-kid]

Now its my turn.Having owned several trans ams I recently purchased an unmolested 71 esprit with 81000 miles.Now its molested.Ram air hood,4 barrel on the 350 and a rear spoiler without the correct ends.Getting painted right now,but i remember as a teenager back in 73 a brand new Red formula on the streets with the original ram air hood and all the T/A spoilers,and I was impressed with the look.Maybe it was the buccanner red paintbut it looked Hot.I even debated doing the all or nothing on mine but held back with just the rear spoiler and because all the raz I would of got from 2manyTAs. LOL. Maybe I should put a bird on the hood. NOT

[fbirdinconcord]

If I had a 70 with proof of dealer installation it would be a no brainer, it should be there. But as much as I think the Formulas look more balanced from the side with the rear spoiler I could never drill a hole to install one. But, if I bought a car with one I certainly would enjoy it until resto time.

[2manyT/A'S]

Originally Posted by ta-kid

Now its my turn.Having owned several trans ams I recently purchased an unmolested 71 esprit with 81000 miles.Now its molested.Ram air hood,4 barrel on the 350 and a rear spoiler without the correct ends.Getting painted right now,but i remember as a teenager back in 73 a brand new Red formula on the streets with the original ram air hood and all the T/A spoilers,and I was impressed with the look.Maybe it was the buccanner red paintbut it looked Hot.I even debated doing the all or nothing on mine but held back with just the rear spoiler and because all the raz I would of got from 2manyTAs. LOL. Maybe I should put a bird on the hood. NOT

Better a bird on the hood than cutting a hole in it for a shaker (YUK!)

Did I say something negative to YOU about the rear spoiler,TOO?

[1stgenbird]

There is a guy near me that has an unmolested 70 Formula with all the T/A spoilers along with a dealer added hood tach. He displays the dealer invoices when he sets up his show board.
It looks pretty good.

[x-bird2]

Originally Posted by 1stgenbird

There is a guy near me that has an unmolested 70 Formula with all the T/A spoilers along with a dealer added hood tach. He displays the dealer invoices when he sets up his show board.
It looks pretty good.

So i take it the invoices are for the hood tach and rear spoiler? does it have the wheel spats with dealer invoices?

very curious because my sd had wheel spats on it when the previous owner (deceased) got it. from what i can tell, he got it from the original owner whom i have been unable to find a name for. I talked to the son of the owner of the dealership where it was sold, and he refused to let me ask his dad if he remembered anything about it. I figure out of all the Pontiacs that went through over the years, the lone SD sold there would be something the man might remember, even if he is/was in his early 80s now. Always wondered whether the first owner had the dealer add them when he saw how it looked with the shaker and spoiler and nothing else. Of course I sold the wheel spats ....

[Norwood]

Originally Posted by 1stgenbird

There is a guy near me that has an unmolested 70 Formula with all the T/A spoilers along with a dealer added hood tach. He displays the dealer invoices when he sets up his show board.
It looks pretty good.

How can it be "unmolested" if it has T/A spoilers? Someone took advantage of that poor bird....

[Norwood]

Originally Posted by x-bird2

Of course I sold the wheel spats ....

Did you sell the mounting holes for those spats to ?

[bird72]

After a couple of weeks waiting patiently, I got my 72 F400 info from PHS today. On the order sheet, right below the printed nine options, was this handwritten note:


"Don't y'all put no damn spoiler on this car"............................

[eaglesan13]

I guess Jim Mattison is following this post!

Originally Posted by bird72

After a couple of weeks waiting patiently, I got my 72 F400 info from PHS today. On the order sheet, right below the printed nine options, was this handwritten note:


"Don't y'all put no damn spoiler on this car"............................

[x-bird2]

Originally Posted by Norwood

Did you sell the mounting holes for those spats to ?

Heh! I didn't, since I wanted to keep that part of its history. but I could've charged double for them since they'd been oversized by the tinworm.

Spoke with previous owner's wife today, (she's my sister in law) she pulled out picture circa '85 when he first got the car, still had its original rims (he put cragars and later turbos on it) and it had the wheel flares. She says he definitely didn't put them on and definitely bought it from its original owner. He was a black serviceman from the south who'd just gotten out of the military. Car sold out of Wilson, NC and Fort Bragg isn't all that far away. Previous owner was a car dealership GM in NJ who bought it on the spot for cash when the guy drove it into the lot for a trade, so checking through that dealership won't lead anywhere. Given that the car was only 12 years old at the time, there's a distinct possibility the original owner T/A'd the car up at the dealership. Might have been cheaper than buying a T/A, since all he needed to add were the chin spoiler, wheel flares and dash bezel. (All of which were on the car when i got it.) One bit of hope, i just noticed that NC DMV made an error with the VIN when they researched it for me back in '98. Going to have them try it again. SC has no history of it, if NC doesn't, then I'm going to try VA. My luck it will turn out the flares and chin spoiler i sold were dealer installed and i'll have to buy them again.

[Indiana1970]

Originally Posted by 2manyT/A'S

My observations on this (and I've posted this in the past) are that it seems the guys that are PRO rear spoiler DO NOT own a Trans am & feel they need to "SPOIL" their Firebird or Formula to make it look "a bit" like a Trans am. (I've ALSO noticed that these guys are the same ones that NEED to have the Formula steering wheel AND Trans am engined turned dash in their "wanna be" Trans ams.

.

For some people, this is surely true. Speaking for me and probably a few others, it is not. There's no, "boy I wish I had a car like that guy's" thoughts for me. I like what I like, for my own reasons, not to be a wanna be.

IMO, these cars simply have a more finished look with a spoiler. A friend of mine commented that without one, they look effeminate, the "female" version of the Firebird. I'm just guessing, but I think GM put rear wings on all models of the 4th gens for similiar reasons/customer demands.

My '70 base model had one already on it when I bought it. When I tracked down the second owner and told her the guy she sold it to put one on, she groaned. "It just doesn't look right", she said.

With less than 20 posts on these boards after over two years, I'm clearly not as passionate about Pontiacs as most of you. I guess I've got more of a man-on-the-street view of cars. Every man on the street I've asked, neighbors, friends, etc., all say it looks better with a spoiler.

It's just whatever suits your tastes...

[72blackbird]

2many T/A's,
I agree with you that the original spoilerless body lines of the '70 Firebird are beautiful, but I didn't put a Formula hood, T/A fenders, T/A front spoiler and a rear spoiler on the car because I wanted a T/A or was confused- I did it because it made my Esprit look meaner and different from all of the other plain-jane Firebirds. And my 'Bird has no problem backing up all of the scoops and spoilers with a 406, ported no.48s, and a bunch of other goodies.

You seem to be under the impression that because the rest of the collector world places a higher monetary value to your T/A that it's better than all of the Formulas, Esprits, and base 'Birds out there. The reality is that while your car may be worth more, it's definitely not the fastest or the most Badass 'Bird out there. The beauty of owning a 'regular' Firebird is that we are not afraid to put a 600+hp stroker motor under the hood, widen the factory wheeltubs to squeeze 18 x 12 wheels in the back, or race the car on a road course, strip, or winding canyon road without fear of wrecking it.

You own a rare T/A- nice. Ultimately your car is yours to do as you would with it- restore, race, drive, store in a vault. But remember your T/A is NOT considered by the whole Firebird community to be the most awesome second generation Firebird out there.

Geno