Slotted between the sporty-looking base Firebird and the “look at me” Trans Am, Pontiac offered all the go-fast goodies in an understated package called Formula. This 1995 Pontiac Firebird Formula in Oxford (extreme southeastern Pennsylvania) looks stock and never-messed-with, until you pop the hood, where someone’s definitely been doing some messing-around. A small block stroked from 350 cid (5.7L) to 383 (6.3L) plus an assortment of related parts improve the performance mathematics of this Firebird’s formula. A proper six-speed manual transmission with two overdrives keeps things exciting or mellow depending on your mood. Check out more pictures and details here on Craigslist where $7000 or best offer closes the deal. Thanks to Mitchell G. for spotting this spicy fourth-gen F-body.

Despite looking like a tired original mill, this port-fuel-injected OHV V8 builds synergy with its new-found cubic inches using rebuilt stock heads and other internals including a Tick Performance HaterMaker 2 camshaft boasting a powerband from 2800 to 6600 RPM. Don’t fret, though, you can’t stop 383 cubes from making torque in the sub-2800 category. Given the stock 275 HP rating, this mill should make a solid 320 plus. You could probably loaf this ride to work and back without cracking 2000 on the tach. Hopefully something’s been done with the engine management to account for the 36 lb injectors because tossing bigger injectors into a motor when the computer doesn’t know about them is a recipe for crappy MPG and daily driver frustration. Thanks to TransAmWorld for some data.

Credit the seller for calling the mileage 170k and not 70k, and the upholstery and other interior materials look worn but well-cared for, a good sign in general. Unless it’s been defeated, this ride has General Motors’ much-maligned Skip Shift, a feature that turns your 1-2 shift into a 1-4 shift at low RPMs, leveraging the V8’s bountiful torque to save fuel. Skip Shift eliminators appeared on the market about seven hours after people realized they were no longer in control of shifting their “manual” transmission, and at least one of my friends simply hammered 1st all the time on his Z28 so he could get into second and relax.

Most years of this era saw fewer Formula Firebirds produced than either base models or the Trams Am. To my eye, the Formula strikes the best balance of sportiness and stealth. Non gear-heads may mistake this ride for a six-cylinder base car, and that suits me just fine.

I drove one of these in ’96, a 1995 Formula automatic, and I’d have loved to try a six-speed. The owner’s go-to parlor trick was marking the Formula’s on-ramp top speed upon entering a highway, usually around 100 MPH. That’s the perfect game for an auto, but give me a stick-shift for the back roads. I don’t need an angry down-shift in the middle of a corner that requires Ninja-like countermeasures. Despite their size, these cars are really built for two. The rear seats are like little butt pads on either side of the driveline hump. Conversely, I’ve ridden hours in the back of my Fox Mustang and I’m six foot even. The Formula feels like more of a low-slung sports car, though, and when V8 Mustangs were cornering around 0.84g, these rides were in the 0.95 category, so give them their credit. Newer pony cars tip the scales around two tons, saddling each of this 3400 lb Pontiac’s ponies with less ballast. Do you consider this stroked stock-looking fourth-gen Formula a sleeper?