This 1979 Pontiac Firebird Redbird was found by Rocco B here on Craigslist. The car is located in North Ridgeville, Ohio near Cleveland. The seller reports that the Redbird has 53k miles on the odometer but that it has rolled over once so it is actually 153,000 miles. The seller is asking $15,000 which is top of the market for these cars currently. This car is powered with the anemic L37 301 cubic inch V8 engine so it is not going to be flying around. The listing was posted 5 days ago. The Redbird was a cosmetic package that included a red theme with gold pinstripes.
Pontiac offered some great performance cars including the Formula and Trans Am in the 1970’s but they also offered the Firebird in a special appearance package that ran from 1977 through 1981. The cars were named after their color choices – the Skybird, Redbird, and Yellowbird. The Redbird was produced in 1978-1979 and, of course, was all red. The Skybird was made in 1977-1978 and was painted in a light baby blue. The Yellowbird was built in 1980 and 1981 and was painted a pale yellow. To match the exterior of the car, Pontiac equipped on Redbirds with a red cloth or vinyl interior. The red was called Carmine because it was a dark red color. This car has several options including the deluxe interior, tilt steering, remote mirrors and air conditioning.
Engine options for the Redbird included a standard Buick 231 cubic inch V6 engine, offering fuel efficiency. Buyers could opt for the more powerful 301 cubic inch V8 engine, like this one. The 4.9 liter 301 cubic inch V8 engine was in its third year of production and could be equipped with a 4 bbl (L37) or a 2 bbl (L27). The L37 version was rated at 150 horsepower and the L27 version was rated 10 horsepower less. In California, the Redbird would receive the Chevrolet LG3 305 cubic inch as the V8 engine option. The LG3 only produce 133 horsepower but that was still more than the 105 hp V6.
This car has some rust issues and the front bucket seats need to be replaced. The Pontiac Redbird road on 15×7 aluminum wheels which, you guessed it, were color keyed to the car’s red exterior. Production for the 1979 Redbird was only 4,248. While this car may be rare, it may not be as desirable as the asking price pretends. Overall, it is a nice cruiser.
Around 1983, a house on my paper route had a ‘Yellow Bird’. Seems like the same thing, more or less, but it was yellow. When I asked my dad about the dual exhaust tips on both sides (4 total), he told me it was 2 into 1 into 2 into 4. It took me drawing it out on paper to understand it.
Why do so many GM vehicles of this era have the driver’s side low beam headlight that looks dark?
IMO, i think they never perfected these RECTANGULAR sealed beam headlights. The highbeams also are rarely used, tho i was surprised to JUST! learn that hi & low beam sealed beam headlights are not the same & do not have the same part # ! – even on ’67-’69 birds with 4 circular headlites.
I always thought they were the same/interchangeable – & don’t understand now why they aren’t.
The low beams have 2 filaments in them, one for low and one for high. The high beams have only one filament used just for high beams, thus 2 part numbers. I just retired from working aftermarket car parts for 35 years and these headlights went from something you sold every other day to something that was hardly worth stocking anymore.
This car is right down the road from me in North Ridgeville. I would take a look if the price were reasonable. It’s not. Never understood the mania around Trans Am’s and this is a Trans Am in name only.
It is not a Trans Am in name, either. It is a Firebird, but not a T/A.
Red Bird, Yellow Bird, and Blue Bird were all available
If only it had T-Tops 😢