This one is interesting! It’s a first-year Pontiac Firebird convertible and it’s clearly rough around the edges – it will need a ton of work. And it’s not a highly desirable H.O. or a Sprint model but it still possesses its own notoriety, so let’s look it over. This Firebird rag-top is located in Wylie, Texas and is available, here on eBay for a BIN price of $15,000. There is a make an offer option too.

Like a first-gen Chevrolet Camaro but not, there’s no mistaking the similarities between the two but a Camaro is a Chevy and a Firebird was a Pontiac – there were real differences that were more than just skin deep. And of course, a Firebird wore Pontiac’s unmistakable and defining beak. Total production numbers for the first year Firebird totaled about 82K copies but only 15K or so let the sun all the way in thanks to a folding fabric top.

Convertibles traditionally take a beating due to that little matter of the retractable top. The lid is sometimes left down during summer thunderstorms and then they eventually lose their sealing integrity as they age. The result? Rusted-through trunk pans and rear footwells. Let it all go long enough, and as the header seal deteriorates, there goes the front footwells – that jute carpet underlay holds water like a sponge. And then there’s the matter of the upholstery, tough vinyl Morrokide or not, it doesn’t like repeated soakings and of course, there’s the issue of sun damage. With enough sun exposure, vinyl fades, becomes brittle, and splits – that’s the case here. Between the seats and floors, a major interior redo will be required. One notable aspect of this Poncho’s interior is the center console, sans gear shifter. The automatic transmission is actuated by a column shift – how unusual an arrangement!

Water intrusion doesn’t only trash the interior, it gets down into quarter panel pockets and rots from the inside out. Based on what looks like Bondo patches, it’s a safe assumption that’s what’s happened to this ‘Bird. The rest of the body is banged up and shows evidence of patched over rust and rot that is obvious in the fender legs and rocker panels. With a quick look at the underside of the trunk lid and a quick glimpse of the trim tag’s “D” paint code, we can tell that this Firebird’s original Montreaux Blue finished was over-sprayed resale red somewhere in its past. It may be a bit of a stretch to call this convertible’s lid a “rag-top” but it’s clearly not in the best condition.

Another surprise is found under the hood and that’s the 165 gross HP, 230 CI, overhead cam (OHC), in-line, six-cylinder engine. It was the standard Firebird powerplant but unusual for a domestic with its OHC configuration. This was a time when an old-school, clanky, overhead-valve six would have sufficed as the introductory prime-mover. More importantly, it was a time when horsepower mattered and most buyer’s eschewed sixes, OHC or not, in favor of V8s. Back to the numbers, of those 82K total ’67 Firebirds produced, approximately 10K came equipped with John Delorean’s favored engine design – more than I would have initially thought. This two-speed automatic transmission-equipped pony car has been sitting since ’97 and the seller has made no attempt to start it.

Well, there you have it. This one is a serious project and probably not for the faint of heart. But it is an interesting find and not equipped in the typical fashion. While most seem focused on the performance variants of Firebirds, Mustangs, Camaros, etc. someone is going to see the value and standout nature of this OHC-equipped, first-year Firebird and turn it around, don’t you think?