1978 Pontiac Firebird

By 1978, Firebird was one of the fastest, best-handling American cars on the market, blowing off the woeful 302-powered Mustang II, butting heads with the Camaro Z28 and even dicing with America's sports car, the Corvette. The base Firebird engine was a new 231-cu.in. Buick V-6, but the Formula came standard with a Pontiac 301 V-8 (soon replaced by a Chevy 305) and offered a 49-state Pontiac 350 or the alternate California/high-altitude Olds 350. For 1978, the Chevy 305 was joined by the Chevy 350, replacing the Pontiac engine. According to expert John Witzke, the automatics were overwhelmingly popular. In 1978, the 4,649 base L78 cars were also all automatics. We don't have a breakdown for the number of W72 Formulas with automatic for 1978, but a total of 21,384 W72 automatic Trans Ams and Formulas were built during the 1978 model year, based on John's research. Even less for the Y60 Skybirds. Trans Ams came with standard wheel-arch flares and front and rear spoilers, but you could only get the rear version on Formula. Also Formulas had a special twin duct hood. The Formula package did put the spoiler on the trunk (it had been optional on earlier model Formulas) and got you a console inside, along with a couple of convenience features like a remote left sport mirror and exterior graphics. If you wanted a little more attention, the W50 Formula Appearance Package brought aggressive striping and callouts. This solid Van Nuys California built 1978 Firebird started life out as a rare Y60 Esprit Skybird and comes with the original build sheet, warranty paper, and envelope that came from the original dealer. The original 305 chevy engine has been replaced with an 010 350 engine and an aluminum intake and 4 bbl carb and chrome valve covers to give it more horsepower. It has an automatic turbo 350 transmission, and open 2;41 10 bolt rear end for highway cruising. Dual exhaust with Flowmaster style mufflers sound great coming out of the quad chrome tips. Newer beautiful wh