Fictional private investigator Jim Rockford famously drove a series of gold Firebirds in James Garner’s popular TV series The Rockford Files, and the first of those Firebirds was a 1974 Esprit. I wouldn’t say Rockford tributes are coming out of the woodwork lately, but this is the second one I’ve written about in the past month, and it’s good to see that people still care enough about a 50-year-old television drama to replicate the protagonist’s car. After all, it is a cool one, and Pontiac had to sell more than a few Firebirds as a result (I bought a ’74 because I like Rockford, but Pontiac was already out of business at the time). This Esprit is for sale on eBay as an auction with a “Buy It Now” option of $19,000. Too much? Let’s take a look.

It’s been discussed a million times, but only the initial ’74 Rockford car was an actual Esprit; after the first season, the show switched to Formulas painted up to look like regular Firebirds. Formula drivelines and suspensions were more suitable for the almost weekly car action that appeared on the show. In 1974, Esprits were only available with two engines, a 350 and a 400, and both were two barrels. There wasn’t much of a rated power difference between them (20 horsepower), but Rockford’s car had the 400, so our featured ’74 isn’t an exact replica.

The interior also isn’t quite right; the Rockford cars had a tan interior, but few will know or care when ogling your Firebird. This one has new front seat upholstery and carpet in addition to a new gold paint job seven years ago. According to the seller, it has an honest 41,000 miles on the clock.

Here’s the Pontiac 350, putting out 170 horsepower with dual exhaust. The 350 is a torquey engine, but there is no power at all past about 4000 rpm (from my experience with my ’74), and to be fair to Pontiac, that was the case with most 1974 models. The 350 had a 7.6:1 compression ratio, which would have been big news in 1950, and the camshaft timing was a far cry from the old Ram Air IV Pontiacs. Still, it’s a great engine for cruising around, and it’ll leave a little smoke at the stoplight if you’re inclined to such silliness.

By the way, the air conditioning crowds the F-Body engine compartment, and it is not blowing cold air in this one.

The current high bid of $3,700 has obviously not met the reserve, considering the “Buy It Now” price. It looks like a nice Firebird regardless of its TV star power, but are there enough fans of The Rockford Files out there to justify the asking price? Given the number of Rockford tribute cars I’ve seen this month, the answer might be “yes.”