5 Limited Edition Firebirds Every Pontiac Fan Should Know About

Drivers with an affinity for American sports cars boasting style to burn and better-than-solid oomph under the hood, the Pontiac Firebird has long been a vehicular object of desire. That's become even more true since Pontiac put an unceremonious end to the build in 2002. With the legendary automaker subsequently going under itself a few years later, it's no particular surprise that its long-running pony car offering remains coveted by collectors in all of its various makes and models.

The first generation of Firebirds hit the streets in 1967, establishing itself as a competitor to Ford's iconic Mustang. Though the Firebird never quite emerged from the shadow of the Mustang, the build certainly carved out its own niche on the pony car scene, with Pontiac giving the build numerous upgrades both inside and out during its 35-year production run.

If you tracked the Firebird's progression over that span, you know the build became a regular presence in the pop culture pantheon, making notable appearances in film and TV projects like "The Rockford Files," "Smokey and the Bandit," and "Knight Rider," to name a few. You likely also know the final iteration of the build could not look any less like the first, and that Pontiac produced a number of limited edition models between those first gen vehicles and the last. Here's a look at five limited edition Firebirds we think every fan of the build should be aware of.

During its production years, the Pontiac Firebird was hardly known for subtlety. But then, subtlety wasn't really a viable option for any build that is supposed to be competing against legendary sports cars like the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro. Still, even some Pontiac diehards might argue the automaker took matters to next-level territory in 1977 with the release of the so-called Sky Bird Firebird. 

A special edition version of the Esprit variant of the Firebird, the earliest seed of the Sky Bird was reportedly planted in the mid-1970s when Pontiac bosses realized that women were a substantial portion of the pony car's consumer base. Thus, Pontiac debuted the sky-blue Firebird Esprit variant — initially dubbed the Blue Bird — at the 1976 Chicago Auto Show, and it proved an instant hit with customers. A production model was quickly announced for the 1977 model year. 

An unexpected trademark on "Blue Bird" would prompt Pontiac to pivot to the Sky Bird name, which was just as fitting given the vehicle's distinctive blue on blue livery. And yes, even the vehicle's snowflake wheels were donned in the color. While the color wasn't the cherry red or pitch black most people associate with pony cars, the Sky Bird delivered some serious under-the-hood power, with several engine options available, including a 350-cu.in. V-8 version capable of producing 170 horsepower. While official production numbers are difficult to come by, estimates put the actual tally at fewer than 4,000 units.   

Pontiac was never been particularly shy about celebrating its pony car offering while it was still in production, and the automaker often did so by manufacturing an eye-catching limited edition runs of the vehicle, which was just the case with the 15th Anniversary build in 1984. Those vehicles were, of course, Trans Am branded Firebirds, meaning they hit the road sporting a few performance-minded upgrades, including an improved drivetrain, better tires and wheels, an Aero Package, and a muscular 5.0L HO V-8 engine.

As you'd expect with any Firebird-branded machine, style was a big kicker for the 15th Anniversary edition, with Pontiac outfitting each with a removable T-top canopy, leather-wrapped interior features, and a sleek white paint job boasting deep blue detailing. Most notably, that blue carried over to the raised shaker hood — which fronted a miniature version of Firebird's famed "Screaming Chicken" hood decal – and even outlined the all-white cast-aluminum wheels. 

All-in, a case could be made that the 15th Anniversary edition of the Firebird is about as perfect a representation of the 1980s version of the build as you could find, which is, perhaps, why a modified unit was eventually selected as the pace car for the 26th annual Daytona 500 NASCAR race. Surprisingly, a Firebird Trans Am in the limited edition anniversary variety could be had for a reasonable $3,499 in 1984, though it should be noted that Pontiac only made 1,500 units of the model available to the public. 

Pontiac first conceived the Firebird as its answer to popular pony cars of the 1960s like the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro. As such, it's worth noting that the first generation of Firebirds have a lot in common with those vehicles in terms of looks and overall performance. Prior to the Firebird's debut, the legendary John DeLorean designed the Pontiac GTO for about three years. He helped bring the Firebird into existence in 1967.

With the O.G. Firebirds proving popular among consumers, the famed designer — or perhaps infamous depending on your perspective — took a few extra liberties in the 1968 model year with the Firebird Sprint, outfitting those builds with a 6-cylinder overhead cam engine that took inspiration from European touring builds of the era. The use of that engine (dubbed the OHC-6) made the '68 Firebird Sprint a bit of a rarity in an American marketplace that was increasingly turning to V8 power in the sports car arena. Nonetheless, the Sprint's OHC-6 could still push the ponies up to 215 hp, which was impressive enough for the day. 

Though technically not an official limited edition run in the Firebird lineup, Sprints boasting the OHC-6 are still pretty rare, with Pontiac moving an estimated 4,662 Sprint coupes in '68, and just 657 convertibles. Given their uniqueness and relative scarcity, you can understand they are now sought after on the vintage car market.

2002 is no doubt a year to forget among the Firebird faithful, as that was when Pontiac finally ended production of its pony car. Pontiac was, of course, facing hard times itself by the early 2000s. It wasn't tenable for the automaker to support a full-on sports car division. Unfortunately, the end of the line for Firebird Pontiac also meant the end of the line for the Firehawk branded versions of the build, a limited edition lineup renowned for their high-performance capabilities. 

If you're unfamiliar with the Firehawk editions of the Firebird, it essentially found Pontiac teaming with famed customizer Ed Hamburger and his Street Legal Performance crew to give the pony car a full-blown muscle car makeover. The team-up first began in 1991, with SLP producing precious few of the highly modified builds. It did, however, fit each with a L98 350 V8 engine with ported heads and Corvette's 6-speed transmission ZF transmission to produce a Firebird that could hit 360 horsepower and go 0 to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds. There's even a long-standing rumor that SLP even produced a single Firehawk that year that could push 400 hp.

Rumors aside, Pontiac and SLP continued to produce muscled-up Firehawk Firebirds, only ceasing production on the limited edition builds when Pontiac pulled the plug on its pony car. It sent the build out on a high note, however, moving 1,505 Firebird Firehawks off the lot in that final year.   

We've already highlighted one of Pontiac's anniversary Firebirds, but we'd be remiss if we didn't also acknowledge the anniversary edition that hit the streets in 1979, as it marked 10 years of production on the elevated version of the build, better known to the masses as the Trans Am. There has, of course, been a lot of discourse about the differences between a Firebird and a Trans Am over the years. But at least in the early days, the Trans Am was essentially a souped-up version of the Firebird fitted with more high-performance bells and whistles.

Given that Trans Am became synonymous with the Firebird brand, 10 years was indeed an anniversary worth noting. Pontiac celebrated the occasion in high style as well, in part because changing emissions requirements were set to put an end to the use of its celebrated 400 cu-in V-8 in future model years. As it was, the 10th Anniversary Trans Am would be the last of the 400 Firebirds, with Pontiac releasing 7,500 units of the high-powered vehicles to mark the occasion.

While 7,500 doesn't exactly seem all that limited, there's a subset of the 10th Anniversary editions that bears singling out, as 1,817 were also outfitted with a desirable Borg-Warner Super T-10 four-speed transmission, thus offering a considerable performance upgrade. Combined with the stunning silver paint job, shaker hood, t-tops, and full-sized "Screaming Chicken" decal, those T-10 are covetable, to say the least. These days, one could reportedly fetch you anywhere between $68,000 and $187,000 at auction, depending on mileage and condition.