Pony cars and muscle machines were both becoming hot commodities in the marketplace during the second half of the sixties, and the timing for the Pontiac Firebird and Chevrolet Camaro was spot on when the pair was introduced for the 1967 model year. Pontiac buyers would have to wait until 1969 before the Trans Am became an F-Body option, but the Firebird 400 was certainly no slouch when it came to performance, filling the shoes as the top performer for the car’s debut year. This 1967 Firebird 400 here on eBay is an unrestored example, and while it needs work, this one seems well worth considering as a project. This ragtop Poncho is in Mackey, Indiana, with a current bid of $5,100, which falls short of the reserve.
As with most unrestored autos nearing the six-decade mark, there’s both good news and bad here, with one of the real positives being that this one appears almost complete. The seller mentions that it’s in above-average condition for having spent most of its life in Chicago, although this climate isn’t known for being particularly friendly to vehicles that spend their winters outside or on the road. Some rust and body filler are present, but thankfully, the corrosion doesn’t appear excessive, and most of the panels seem salvageable. I’m not spotting any obvious tears in the roof canvas, but the back window is severely faded and has a hole, so it’s time to put fresh material over the rails.
Stepping up to the Firebird 400 automatically got buyers an engine of the same displacement, which was basically the same powerplant as in the GTO, just slightly detuned. However, it still provided plenty of pep, receiving a factory HP rating of 325. While the engine here isn’t officially running, it will turn over and fire with some gas poured into the carburetor. I’m guessing both the motor and transmission would benefit from a comprehensive going through, and perhaps a complete rebuild would be beneficial for each component.
The seller doesn’t provide much information about the interior, but it appears to be in fairly decent shape overall, with a couple of exceptions. The dash pad has some damage where it looks like an aftermarket instrument was once mounted, and the steering wheel rim is cracking. Although the floors are reported to have some rust, the seller says he didn’t fall through when standing on them, so it’s possible that some patchwork in this area might be sufficient. This was as good as it got for the Firebird in ’67, and I’d like to see this one get the love it deserves and be back on the road soon. Does this first-year F-Body convertible tempt you to consider taking it on as a project?
I love first gen Firebirds, high school days, yeah, baby
This would be a decent project, for $10,000.
This is a serious project, from stem to stern. There’s very little here that doesn’t require some attention. It would probably best serve as a parts mule, though the asking price is getting spendy.
The ’67 wasn’t my favorite – Pass.
That fire chicken needs to be put on a rotisserie for completion.
Totally ready to be fixed up by a man. I YOU don’t know what you are doing, stay away… Terry. No MAJOR rust showing anywhere! Haven’t seen the floors though, but easily repaired if rotten. Would surely be worth $12K in it’s present form. 400 convertibles have to be very rare today. If it is was a 4 speed maybe even more, but would leave all the pansies out of the bidding. I had 4 speed 350 1968 burgundy Firebird and it was a conversion to a Borg Warner T-10. That made it so much more fun!
I’d say this is a rare enough bird to be worthy of restoration but it won’t be cheap or easy! Lots harder than a Camaro to fing correct parts for. Good luck! Love to see it when it’s finished!
The HP rating difference between the GTO and Firebird is due to the factory throttle linkage that didn’t allow the secondaries to fully open on the ‘bird. A set of uber-rare (read super expensive) RA manifolds and a tweak to the linkage will wake it up, but the cost is basically prohibitive. Tweak the linkage and just use the stock exhaust manifolds. This could be a really nice car, I had a 69 400 convert, similar, but had factory AC.
This is one of my favorite cars. If it were closer I would go check it out . I hope how ever gets it does a nice job on it .
Love this 400 conv. I think it has ’69 seats. But correct replacements are avail. The beauty of this car, is the trim tag. Most of the parts are available.
I think that is Ice Blue. The next beautiful thing about the car, is the drivability, and this one you can fix and drive.
I would say a comp pristine restore would bring up to $40k
The seats look like 1967-68 seats, starting in 1969 they would have had headrests.
Steve R
Correct on the 69 seats but didn’t the 68 seats have the release button on the side of the back to flip it forward? If so then these are 67 seats.
Had 67 400 4speed lots of fun. Back in 72
HAPPY 4th of July everyone. I love these Firebirds. I owned a Goldenrod yellow 69 400 thm 400. It had a black vinyl top and American Racing Wheels Torque Thrusts. It was loaded with a/c, p.s., power disc front brakes, electric windows and front bucket seats. I would love this car if it wasn’t from salt road winters.
God Bless America
Ah, my first love. I remember looking at and climbing into a showroom model of one of these at Arnold Wiebe Buick, Pontiac and GMC. I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. Of course my parents were looking at a Buick that was deemed “sporty” because it had white wall tires. The guy must have been close to closing the deal to let a little kid rummage through the new bird.
My second love came the following year, a girl which if I remember correctly lasted for one school day. That one ended abruptly when I received an ear pulling by a nearby teacher after kissing the girl. I know with certainty the ear pulling was not desired and I’m 97% sure the kiss wasn’t either.
By the next day I couldn’t stand her…nearly 60 years later, I still love these Firebirds.
Sold on 7/5/26 for a high bid of $9,700, there were 33 bids from 15 bidders.
Steve R
Reasonable price as long as the shipping was reasonable as well.
If the reserve is over $7,500 the owner is a dreamer. The market isn’t there for firebirds and a car requiring restoration from Chicago is going to be prohibitively expensive.