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Owned For 44 Years: 1967 Pontiac Firebird

The owner of this 1967 Pontiac Firebird just couldn’t let it go – at least until now. The car has been in the seller’s possession for 44 years, but it hasn’t run in 36. It’s time for it to move along as someone else’s restoration project or, worse case, parts car for another needy machine. The Bird is located in Bayside (not the Saved by the Bell Bayside), New York, and available here on eBay where the auction sits at $4,045. The reserve has yet to be met.

The Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird were GM’s double-prong approach to taking down the Ford Mustang. Between the two makes, they sold more than 300,000 units combined in 1967, their first year. The Firebird would come a little better equipped than the Camaro and offered a different set of powerplants to get the job done. For example, while both cars came with a 230 cubic inch six-cylinder as standard equipment, the Pontiac had an overhead camshaft and put out 25 more horses than the Chevy. The seller’s car, one of 10,500 built that way in 1967, had the OHC engine – at least for a while.

I enjoy a car with a story, and this Firebird has one. The seller bought it in 1976 with the OHC-6 and a 2-speed automatic. After a while, the motor and tranny were pulled out in favor of a 327 Chevy V-8 with a 3-speed manual. In an odd twist, that pairing was also replaced later on, but the seller went back to an inline-six, this time a Chevy 250, with another 3-speed on the floor. While the car was last on the road in 1984, it didn’t find its way into the garage where it sits now until 1994. The Firebird doesn’t run as the wiring harness was buggered up during an attempted theft some years ago, so it will have to be replaced. At least the machine was well-used before its retirement, with 146,000 miles on the odometer.

The original Verdoro Green paint and Sandlewood upholstery appear to be intact, with the former subject to a fair amount of surface rust and something possibly deeper around one of the wheel wells. And there is mold on the seats. The car will not move or roll out of the garage, explaining the limited photos and no display for what the undercarriage of this sleeping machine looks like. In his words, there has been no bodywork done to the car during the time the seller has owned it. The glass looks good, except that the windshield has incurred a crack due to ice.

Paperwork may or may not be a concern. Since the seller bought it from a private person back in the day, he received no Bill of Sale when he acquired it. There is no title either because we’re told they didn’t exist in New York State in the 1970s. What the seller does have is the last registration slip in his name and can provide a notarized document stating that he is the owner. If you’re the winner of the auction, bring a flatbed with you to claim your prize. I hope the seller’s reserve price isn’t too high, because fixing this car will cost some decent coin, and a super nice 1967 Firebird is usually only worth about $20,000. With a base Chevy engine, maybe even less.

Comments

  1. alphasud Member

    Pity they removed the OHC engine. The HO version with the Quadrajet, higher compression and low restriction exhaust made 215hp. I know this is not the Sprint model but if I found a OHC I would turn it into a sprint.

    Like 11
  2. 86_Vette_Convertible

    I agree on the OHC. Back in the 70’s a friend had one that he had ‘tweaked’ some. It was surprisingly agile for a 6 cylinder.

    Like 6
  3. Jay

    NY car so
    Outer wheelhouses
    Cowl under windshield
    Rockers
    Quarters
    Fenders

    Rust

    Nice car though

    Like 7
  4. Desert Rat

    well at the very least I would put in a Pontiac 350 to keep it all Pontiac if a ohv 6 could not be found and a 4 speed. If the price doesn’t get to high this could be a fun project.

    Like 3
  5. Johnny

    Well with experiece I had with the ohc 6-4 barrel. I never liked it. I had a 49 chevy straight 6 out run me and my valves went to chattering. I was trying to get the guy stopped to see if he wanted to sale it or trade. He took my information and the next day I traded him my 67 Lemans .It had a Hurst shifter in it.. I dropped the 400 pontiac moptor and transmission I have out back,but this asking price of the condition its in? Don,t think so. My 77 Firebird is in better shape with alot of new parts.Plus new tires,rebuilt motor. Hear I thought it would be worth about $3,500. HAHAAH and its alot better shape then this car.

    Like 0
  6. David Bailey

    Growing up ,the Camaro was very cool, but the Firebird was the car if you wanted to be ‘tough’. It went like this , at least in Northwest Detroit: Firebird/Trans Am, CamaroSs, then Z-28, then Mustang/Javelin, then Barracuda. Of course, 1967 it would be that order, in 1968, maybe another. 1969 got very mixed up, but in 1970 it was all “Cuda”!. GTO , depending on year would vie for first place, too. Kind of like Pontiac , Was the Rolling Stones. Chevy was The Who. Then Fordf would have been Beatles. (Not that many Beatle fans among NW Detroiters, at least the guys.But growing up in Detroit we had all the good music!

    Like 1
  7. R.Lee

    Good that the USELESS ohc6 has been scraped and turned into a motorcycle made in japan in the 80’s.

    Take what is left and use for a drag car. Sell the original parts left and use the cash for the drivetrain. Nothing special about the car to even consider a restoration. Now if you have a pile of cash from an inheritance then spend all you want. Keep your local body shop in business.

    Like 0
  8. Rick D

    Would love to have all the original factory Everything, if the owner has it , to put this car back in numbers matching form. Original is my thang!
    Like my 72 barracuda, , for 48 yrs

    Like 0
  9. K. R. V.

    Oh nice old Firebird! I’ve always liked the first generation the most. A good friend of mine back in my neighborhood I grew up in, sort of like an older brother of mine had a beautiful 1968, Sprint 3.8, 4 speed with 4:10 Posi! That he had done a few good mods to. Like custom 3 into 2 headers with dual exhaust, along with the rear differential he added a Detroit Locker to, plus rear disk brakes! He showed me the Koni Coil-Over racing shocks he V6 added to the rear end, and adj Koni front shocks, with shorter stiffer springs in front. That car beat every 289 Mustang he ever ran against! That was the fastest Firebird I’ve ever rode in, other than a 70’s 455 SD, a friend I met a few years later had! I was with him the day he was arrested for drunk driving! He was plastered! I was only 16, at the time and could not understand why, he has not drank all that much, but it was meds he was on that caused the intoxication. I did not want to call my parents, so I walked home, about 5 miles! He lost his license for 5 years! We were still friends for a while after, mater of fact he restored his Fox MiniBike and sold it to my father to give me on Christmas! After a deal Dad made with him, that stipulated I helped him do it, for someone else, wink wink nod nod, that I had loads of fun on till I was able to get a real Motorcycle! A Hodaka 100. A couple years later I enlisted in The U.S.Army and haven’t seen him since. I know he still lives in the same home he inherited off his parents! And I’m sure he still owns that Firebird, as I’ve seen it in his garage, when I drove by a month ago!

    Like 1
  10. PRA4SNW

    Ended at $4,145, Reserve Not Met

    Like 0
  11. EDWARD CIPOLLARI

    The seller don’t answer e mails ? Why did he put it up for sale with little photo’s and no answers to condition of bottom & trunk + No under hood pic ???

    Like 0

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