Don’t look now, but bidding is already over $20,000 for this clean, stock, once-repainted 1967 Pontiac Firebird. Truthfully, I wasn’t that excited by this car aside from its charming original qualities, but when you dig a little deeper, you see the reasons why so many bidders are in the mix. The Firebird is equipped with a 400 V8, automatic transmission, and shows just 54,000 original miles. The only downside is the Firebird once wore that pretty primrose yellow color but was changed years ago to a lipstick red – but that’s also pretty typical of the era. Find the Firebird here on eBay where it’s located in Las Vegas.
The seller listed this Firebird with no reserve. He snagged this survivor after finding out the longtime original owner was looking to downsize. The Firebird was sitting in the garage but occasionally started; still, it wasn’t seeing much use in recent years, which explains the low mileage. All the seller claims he had to do was drop in fresh gas and a battery and it fired right up. We get so used to seeing muscle cars equipped with hood scoops, spoilers, and T-top roofs, it’s pleasing to see a car that is not necessarily poverty-spec but equipped like a mid-range commuter, complete with white-line radial tires and hubcaps.
The interior is original, and while I’m sure plenty of us love red, the biscuit upholstery would look even better with a yellow exterior. The door panels, seating surfaces, and dash are all in great shape, with the latter still crack-free. This really is the kind of vintage car you can get in and drive while making modest mechanical improvements to ensure it is as reliable as possible. The seller explains that while it is a runner and that all major functions work as intended, he would still recommend a proper tuneup and fluid changes along with a set of new tires.
Of course, those details are minor in the grand scheme of things, especially since this is a numbers matching car, which is likely driving a fair amount of the interest. Cars like these weren’t typically coveted by collectors like a Trans Am was, so finding a non-T/A car that has clearly been loved since new really is a find. The respray appears to have been pretty detailed, as the color transformation extends into the engine bay. Overall, we all know collectors love survivors, and this Firebird auction is evidence that they’ll pay real money for a car that remains as close as possible to factory condition.
I’m thinking that steering wheel ain’t original but would be happy to be proved wrong. Nice car regardless but, agree, too bad abut the repaint.
You are right on the steering wheel , not original
About the color
I prefer red but the original diaper baby yellow is soo ugly that it looks good on these
I ve had many firebirds , although i grew out of them , i still like to look at them
Beautiful car. This would look might fine wearing a deep dark green and the interior could stay tan. Someone will get a nice runner and soon too.
I owned a classic car once that was repainted a different color. At first I didn’t think it would bother me. But it did. I only kept that car 9 months.
I know how you feel .; when I go to car shows and see a “restored” car that’s repainted in an obviously wrong for the year color ( like a 74 Charger painted Plum Crazy purple) , I barely look at it – Of course the owner can do what he wants with his car, but it just bothers me
I agree. I’m a stickler for originality too. I might make some changes, like upgrading my Impala to a dual-circuit brake system, or upgrade to electronic ignition, but bolt-on modifications only; nothing irreversible. And it HAS to stay the original colour!
In the case of my Impala, Mist Blue Metallic.
An amazing find. Beautiful & rare, unmolested Firebird.
Unmolested?
It was painted super fast without regard for anything except more dollars during this auction.
Over spray everywhere. How much mud poorly applied to the old paint is under there?
They even shot primer thru the door crack while painting and didn’t even attempt to cover it.
What a mess!
Since the paint isn’t original, you won’t feel too bad when you swap in a proper transmission. Pretty car, but too about that slushbox.
Lipstick red, Resale red, (not so bright) red . . .
So many other colors this car could be.
You missed one: Arrest-me Red!
As for the not-so-bright, that obviously doesn’t apply to this colour, because to me it’s WAY too bright.
The not-so-bright applies to the person who decided to deviate from the original hue. Not only does this colour not work with that interior, but changing the colour reduced the value of the car, IMO.
I’m right with Jeff on this car. I like it specifically because it isn’t a muscle car model, that it is a regular commuter-look car. And that it would be even better in the original yellow. [I too had a collector car in a non-original-color repaint, and that always bugged me.] That said, nice car.
Shouldn’t a Firebird have 6 vertical gills behind the driver door?
If you zoom in on these lousy low-resolution photos, you can see the quarter panel gills.
What’s missing; however, is the deck lid mounted “400” callout on the right side corner, which begs to ask; it this a 400 car missing an emblem, or a 350 car with a 400 hood?
The seller didn’t include the VIN in the listing, so we’ll never know.
Personally I don’t mind a color change if the OE hue was awful and there’s nothing really wrong about red. However I’m just so tired of cars wearing ‘easy-to-sell’ colors like red, black or white. The ‘Y’ code means it started life wearing Mayfair Maize, which translates into Butternut Yellow in ‘Chevish’ – IMHO the sweetest solid color GM ever offered in the 60s! Together with this off-white interior these OE colors would make such a beautiful subtle combo.
I’d rather paint a Pontiac originally wearing red into Mayfair Maize than the other way around
A coveted missing option on this gem is a “hood tach”! Since the dramatic muscle-car bid craz started more picky buyers are looking at details like a lot less of these were made compared to its cousin Camaro, thus values are sneaking up. At twice the present bid this low mileage western U.S. one-owner matching #’s bb is a buy???
I have seen this steering wheel on Pontiacs before. (I worked in a Pontiac store in the early ’70s) So I am not so sure that this steering wheel was not an option back then. Also an original 400 Firebird of this vintage would come with a 400 Hydromatic. It would be nice to have a later model overdrive transmission, but the current one will NEVER break. (with reasonable maint.)
1968-1970 were the strongest 400s issued. I have driven MK I Firebirds with every engine option. And MK II Firebirds with every engine option And Camaros MK I & II with almost all engine options. And the MK I ‘Birds with the V8 just have a feel and personality all their own. Actually reminds me of a lighter weight Jensen Healey. The suspension tuning is just enough different to give the car a Grand Touring feel all it’s own. I would buy one in a heartbeat if the right price and opportunity presented it’s self.
But wait a minute, a 1967 Firebird with an A.I.R. pump? I never saw one of these engines with a smog pump. I don’t believe that even California Cars came with smog pumps. (later model engine?0 Also note that this is a NO A/C car! Which saves some weight on the front end but these cars “Astro Ventilation” was really no great shakes.
I think ’66 was first year for smog pumps in calf. it was definitely no later than ’67……rare to find one still installed 55 yrs later
Had a ’70 Grand Prix new; co-worker had a ’69 GTO and another had a 400 Firebird. That Firebird could show its taillights to the other two with no sweat – always wanted one..
If you read the seller’s write-up in eBay, it becomes clear that this is a THREE-owner car, including the seller, who is the current owner.
The seller bought it from the second owner only a couple of weeks ago, probably picked it up cheap, and is selling it for a quick profit.
Granted, the car had one owner for over fifty years, but he was the SECOND owner. The discrepancy would give me pause before bidding.
I wouldn’t bid on this car, however, not just because I don’t like the colour, but because it was changed from the original colour.
I like that it looks like a secretary’s car with the whitewall tires and full-disc wheel covers. I’d bet money that the next owner is going to make a lot of changes, including swapping out the wheels for a set of Magnum 500s or Torq Thrusts, or something of that ilk.
I’d be very afraid of this one it looks there may be problems. it looks like the chrome inserts in the gills are missing, the grills look like they were rattle can painted, and the body lines behind the rear wheels look wavy. these cars were notorious for rusting out the 1/4 panels.