For a brief moment I forgot this amazing 1975 Pontiac Firebird is a 1975 Pontiac Firebird

Or Space: 1999

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Was it the Tappet Bros who said all female drivers of this car were/are named Donna? It’s been my experience that it is true statement.

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“re-built to stock specs in 2015, and the car is said to have accumulated less than 500 miles since.”

Sounds like someone didn’t even get to enjoy the fruits of their labour.

Also note, it does not have an airbag; best not to drive it over 35mph.

0-60 by, oh, around 4 o’clock.

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185 horsepower out of 400 cubic inches, and you’d be lucky to get 13 MPG. What makes me LOL is that today there are minivans that could dust it. :smiley:

If I were buying a 1970s car to restore (LOL!), my first thought would be “modern crate motor.” Better fuel economy, better emissions, and a hell of a lot more horsepower.

I know there’s the concours crowd that insists on keeping everything original, but I’d want something to drive, not to park in the garage 364 days a year.

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Anything that ‘blistered’ muscle car exteriors was considered cool. Might still be the case.

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A late-model Toyota Sienna minivan can dust 1980’s supercars.

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Nostalgia is a powerful thing. I remember my parents loving their 1965 VW Beetle. My father called it a “great little shit box” which was apparently a compliment. Me, I’ll go for something more up to date. This could be because my first car was a massive lemon, a VW Rabbit. Everything broke down or fell apart except for the clutch. The clutch was made of vibranium. That clutch is probably a critical part of a supertanker or an SpaceX rocket engine today.

I learned to drive in one of those:


(My mom’s car was just like this, though a much darker green. She insisted on the stripe when buying the car.)

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Firebird was the car you went to in the High School parking lot to score weed.

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This was typical at the time for optional gauges. They would stick a clock in there if you didn’t get the option in question. In this case, probably a tach if you ordered the manual transmission. Oil pressure gauges were already going away in many cars by the mid 1970s, replaced with idiot lights.

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This is a style element that is an homage to drag racing. Track-only drag cars often have a large tach fitted right on the engine, viewed through the windshield, typically with a large shift light at a configured RPM. That’s what this design element is trying to capture,

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As a kid I thought that firebird was the coolest… and as an adult watching the show it’s obvious that car drives like crap.

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Or in town, or on a public road anywhere.

Oil pressure gauges were gone in most cars by 1960. But the Firebird was a performance car, so it got more gauges.

yeah - I had a 73 cutlass daily driver with rocket 350 and am pretty sure a new civic si would destroy a stock firebird in any performance measurement other than decibles per gallon.

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My 1974 CJ5 Jeep still had one, and I loved it. :grinning:

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No, you want the 1970 model.

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As someone who has driven a lot of old and new cars on the track, there’s no question modern cars are in a different league of better. The nostalgia people have for “muscle cars” covers up what terrible cars they were by modern standards. Drum brakes, carburetors, live axles, leaf springs, pitman arm steering boxes, incandescent headlights, bench seats, the list goes on. The cheapest Kia you can buy can destroy a 1970 Ferrari on the track. It really makes you appreciate how refined the technology is, and how the benefits have “trickled down” over the years. And this is without even getting into safety. My 1974 CJ5 was the love of my life, but it was a goddam death trap, no question.

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0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds. Back in the day, anything under 10 seconds was sporty performance.

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