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1967 FIREBIRD
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In 1966 one of Pontiac’s top designers was assigned the task of transforming the Chevy Camaro, then called the F-car into a true Pontiac. Due to the late design start Pontiac was not ready to announce the Firebird until late January of 1967. By than Pontiac had five version of the Firebird. The main differences were the engines which came directly from the tempest line. They offered two 6-cylinder engines and 3 different V8’s.
The V8’s came with stiffer rear springs with radius rods for better stability, a lower axle ratio, and an optional 4-speed gearbox. The top of the line Firebird was the Firebird 400. It came with a 335 horse powered motor from the GTO. To appear to be inline with the GM horsepower guidelines, Pontiac listed the engine at 325-horse power. To keep speeds down Pontiac installed a device that did not allow full throttle. Performance enthusiast quickly learned that this was easily removed. Test showed that the Firebird 400 was marginally faster then the GTO. Some GTO buffs were more then a bit annoyed at this, others joined the growing Firebird ranks.
The Firebird while being slightly faster then the GTO dominated the Camaro. The Chevy Camaro did not have a motor that could compete with the 400. The Ram Air option added an additional 25-horse power. This made the 400's hood scoops functional and also changed the engine designation to L64. Included was a hotter camshaft, stronger valvetrain and low-restriction cast-iron exhaust manifolds. The horsepower was unchanged at 325 but at a higher rpm range, 5200, then with the regular 400. The 400 Ram Air also came with chrome valve covers, air cleaner and oil filler cap. 65 Ram Air Firebirds were built in 1967. 63 hardtops and 2 convertibles. Both convertibles came with automatic transmissions.
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