I was just in Las Vegas but I didn’t see this car cruising down the strip. This is a 1978 Pontiac Firebird Formula equipped with its original L78 400 cubic inch engine and automatic transmission. The car can be seen here on eBay with a bid price of $2,550 and only 1 day left in the no reserve auction. The car has been repainted at least once in black and gold with the W-50 paint scheme. The exterior of the Formula is void of any decals or emblems but the seller states that he or she will include the correct decals with the sale of the car. I have put these decals on a number of Firebirds and it is not that difficult.
The Formula has a black deluxe interior that shows a lot of sun damage. The car retains its original steering wheel and has tilt steering, air conditioning and an automatic transmission (Turbo 350). The data tag located on the cowl would tell us a lot about the car but it appears to be attached by screws instead of rivets so it may have been replaced or just removed and re-installed. Please correct me if I am wrong about this. I know that early 1970 Pontiacs used rivets.
The engine is said to be the original L78 400 cubic inch V8 motor and is claimed to be in good running condition. The air pump is still installed and the car is said to be rust free. In 1978, this version of the 400 cubic inch V8 produced 185 horsepower while the optional W72 400 cubic inch V8 engine developed 220 horsepower. An Oldsmobile 403 cubic inch engine was also an option that year and generated the same horsepower as the base L78 engine.
The car is equipped with 15×7 snowflake wheels which, if original, indicate that the car left the factory with the base suspension and not the famed WS6 suspension. I have owned a 1978 Formula and found them to be great cars. Even though the Formulas don’t get as much attention as their big brother, Trans Am, I think these are sharp looking cars and good examples will increase in value in the coming years. What do you think?
The cowl tag was originally held on by screws, as it’s not the “official” VIN tag (that’s down at the left hand corner of the dash, under the windshield).
I like the fact it has no decals, straight up paint job gives it more of a “serious” vibe. I feel the same way about the TA, so most will disagree.
I believe the Olds 403 was the only engine available here in California for any so called performance.
Throw on a modern high flow cat and muffler, whatever smog legal performance you can do and just drive the ___out of it.
Olds 403 from the pic. Not a bad foundation to start with.
I agree, not bad, but wouldn’t you be a little concerned by a seller that doesn’t know what engine is in his car?
You can clearly see that it has an Olds 403 in it. Lots of confusion over this through the years. The 6.6 litre would be the 403 as the Pontiac 400 is 6.5 litres and would say “400 cu in” on the shaker.
Brian, if you read previous comments you will see this has already been called out as being a 403 Olds. No confusion. You may also want to look again as there is no shaker on this car since it’s a Firebird Formula. Trans Am’s had the shaker. Hope this helps.