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1975 Formula 455 Firebird "angry Bird" Ram Air Buy Now Option! 3 Days Only! on 2040-cars

US $21,000.00
Year:1975 Mileage:72976
Location:

Wauconda, Illinois, United States

Wauconda, Illinois, United States
Advertising:

 1975 FORMULA "455" FIREBIRD - BUY NOW!, THREE DAYS ONLY!

     I originally purchased ("Angry Bird") about 13 years ago with 64,400 original miles on the odometer.
This car is actually a real Formula 400 car but the engine had been replaced with a 1970 dated 455 CID Motor before I bought it.

    It has been rebadged as a "Formula 455"

    I do not know much about the motor other than it has a real Pontiac Ram Air 2pc. manifold dated 1971 and is very strong. It was rebuilt about 15 years ago.

It does not smoke or burn any oil. Motor sounds tight and healthy.

It has cam that is lumpy when engine is cold but smooths out slightly when engine get to operating temp.
The engine runs between 185 and 195 degrees depending on outside temp. Use of premium gas is recommended with this engine. It has a newer radiator and fan clutch.

   The hood is a real factory functional Ram Air fiberglass and steel hood feeding cold air into the dual snorkel air cleaner.

   I had the TH400 trans rebuilt by T.S.I in Addison, IL (known for racing transmissions) with all heavy duty components to withstand the horsepower of the motor. I also installed an aluminum drive shaft and new u-joints, and changed all the gauges to AutoMeter. They are all very accurate including the electronic speedometer (no cable).
   The AutoMeter digital odometer shows 8,576. miles driven since I originally purchased it 13 years ago with 64,400 miles. All lights and turn signals function as they should. The Bright Light blue indicator light has been relocated to just above Firefird dash emblem. A new carburetor was also installed at that time however it may need a choke adjustment be cause it is not electric. It has new brake calipers, brake hoses and pads on the front.

   The car was originally silver in color however, I recently (last year) had it repainted completely, and wet sanded flat. I did a full color change to black (with 4 coats of clear) because the car was extremely straight, and nearly rust free. The car wears all of its original sheet metal. The jambs are shiny and free of over spray. It will be hard for anyone to find silver paint on this car as it was fully disassembled before paintwork was done.

   This past few months, I installed a new headliner using the original material, a new parcel shelf, a new fuel tank, stainless exhaust tips, and new wheels, tires, and four shocks. I also lowered the car about one inch all the way around.
The car still has the original carpet which is is great shape. The dash and part of seat back is showing slight signs of sun fading but it is soft and not cracked anywhere. The original radio works great but the original speakers have been replaced with correct replacements.

  The car runs great but could use a little more fine tuning such as the mechanical choke and transmission shift point adjustment on the adjustable modulator on trans. There is no jack or spare tire with the car. Most of the A/C components have been removed and are long gone. The steering is very tight and responsive. Just a few minor details to work on, but car is very respectable as is.

  I have recently spent $12,000. in paint, wheels and tires alone. Keep that in mind when bidding.

    I have added pictures of the car as I originally purchased it 13 years ago next to my 1969 Camaro,  and one as it is being disassembled for paint so that you can see that this was always a nice straight honest car.

The Good:

Very strong Motor

New front Calipers and Brake Pads/Hoses

New Fuel Tank

New Paint with "mile deep" flat finish

New Year One 17 inch honeycomb Wheels

New Tires (less than 100 miles)

The Needs:

Seam restitched in driver's seat

Some detailing under the hood

Carb choke adjustment, and other minor adjustments


  I will miss Angry Bird but I will look forward to finding another one to play with.

  Please contact me with any questions. I will be adding pictures of trunk area as well as others.

  Mileage shown on odometer of course is not actual.

Total mileage on car stated is within 10 miles of actual miles the car has been driven. 
  A non-refundable $200.00 deposit is required for winning bidder. Car must be paid for and picked up within 2 weeks of auction end.

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Auto blog

Junkyard Gem: 1996 Pontiac Grand Am SE Coupe

Thu, Jun 22 2023

The Grand Am was the best-selling Pontiac model in the United States for every year of the 1990s, and it outsold most of its N-Body platform-mates (including the Chevrolet Corsica/Beretta) during nearly all of that decade. A sporty-looking compact with two or four doors, the Grand Am offered true 1990s radness—and, in some cases, respectable performance — at a good price. Today's Junkyard Gem is a nicely preserved example of the facelifted 1996 Grand Am, found in a Denver-area car graveyard. This is an SE Coupe with base engine and transmission, the most affordable Grand Am available in 1996. List price was $13,499, or about $26,523 in 2023 dollars. The factory-issued Monroney sheet for this car was still inside, so we can see that the original buyer got the car at Bob Ruwart Motors in Wheatland, Wyoming (about 175 miles up I-25 from this Pontiac's final parking spot), and paid a total of $16,054 ($31,543 in today's money) after the cost of options and the destination charge. The '96 Grand AM SE buyer had to pay extra for cruise control, air conditioning, power windows, rear glass defogger and other features we now take for granted on new cars. The base engine was the 2.4-liter Twin Cam four cylinder, a member of the screaming Oldsmobile Quad 4 family. This one was rated at 150 horsepower and 155 pound-feet. A 3.1-liter V6 with 155 horses and 185 pound-feet was an option. If you got the V6 in your '96 Grand Am, however, you couldn't get a manual transmission. This car has a proper five-speed manual, which made for fun driving with the high-revving Twin Cam engine in a machine weighing just 2,802 pounds (which is quite a bit less than what the current Honda Civic weighs). It traveled just over 160,000 miles during its 27 years on the road. The body and interior were still in fairly good condition when the car arrived here, so we can assume that some expensive mechanical problem doomed this car. Perhaps the original clutch wore out and the owner didn't consider it worth replacing. After all, a mid-1990s Detroit two-door with a transmission most people can't drive isn't worth much these days. Though nobody knew it when this car was new, the Grand Am would be gone in nine years and Pontiac itself would get the axe five years after that. It makes the ordinary extraordinary. Husbands and wives would argue for 12 hours over who got to drive the Grand Am, if we are to believe this ad. Proud sponsor of the 1996 Olympic team.

Detroit City Council vetoes Autorama stunt, objects to Confederate flag

Wed, Feb 20 2019

Detroit's Autorama hot rod show will stage its 67th annual event next month, and wants to kick off with Burt Reynolds tribute. The plan is to re-create the Mulberry Bridge jump from " Smokey and the Bandit" using a movie-correct 1977 Pontiac Trans Am. But the Detroit City Council voted 7-1 to prohibit the jump. Why? Because the Trans Am's front license plate holder displays the former Georgia state flag, a portion of which is the Confederate national flag, and the city council doesn't like that. In the movie, Bo "Bandit" Darville was a Georgia driving legend, and the flag on the car was Georgia's flag at the time. Councilman Scott Benson laid out the council's position when he said that the car "still proudly flies a Confederate flag, which is a symbol of oppression, slavery, as well as home-bred American terrorism. So this body said we are not going to support that type of symbolism nor the audacity to support that type of activity in the city of Detroit." It seems part of the council's ire comes from the same event two years ago. A stunt group called the Northeast Ohio Dukes re-created a "Dukes of Hazzard" jump in 2017 using a series-correct 1969 Dodge Charger, complete with a Confederate flag on the roof. Benson said the stunt group "expressly said they would not display that [Confederate flag] symbol during the jump." Not only was it displayed, but when driver Raymond Kohn gave interviews after the jump, his driving suit featured the Stainless Banner on the collar. Seems the council has been grinding its axe in silence for two years. Now Benson accuses Autorama of "a history of supporting images and symbols of racism, oppression, and white supremacy." Autorama is certain to take place March 1-3 at Cobo Center. This year's show will have around 800 cars on display, along with a special exhibit of 17 low riders and a Batmobile built by Flint native Carl Casper. Even if the Bandit car doesn't make the jump, the Trans Am and other memorabilia from the film will be there. A spokeswoman for Autorama said, "We are continuing to work to try to resolve this with the city." Related Video: News Source: Detroit News Auto News Government/Legal TV/Movies Pontiac Convertible Classics Detroit pontiac trans am smokey and the bandit

The U-2 spy plane needs high-performance cars to help land

Thu, Oct 15 2015

Typically, aircraft deploy their landing gear from three main points. Most military aircraft, for example, deploy two gears at the back and one forward, like a tricycle. Some civilian aircraft flip the layout, with two in front and one in back - tail-draggers. The U-2 Dragon Lady is wildly different than any of these. With a 103-foot wingspan but a body that's just 63-feet long, the layout of the U-2 makes a traditional landing setup infeasible. Instead, the U-2 utilizes a pair of wheels, one up front and one in back. With such a bizarre layout, landings are so tough that since the U-2's earliest flights at Area 51, the US Air Force has used high-performance chase cars to guide the pilot down safely. The landing process isn't over there, though. As this video from Sploid shows, balancing out the aircraft to fit the detachable "pogos" – think training wheels for spy planes – is a comical procedure requiring a number of airman using their full body weight to even out the U-2. This video also recaps some of the great vehicles that have served as chase vehicles for this legendary spy plane. They include Chevrolet El Caminos, and the Fox-body Ford Mustangs so favored by the California Highway Patrol. For the last several years, the USAF has utilized products from General Motors, using fourth-generation Chevy Camaros, before switching over to the Pontiac GTO and most recently, the awesome Pontiac G8. It's fair to say that if you're a gearhead in the Air Force, this is the job you want. Check out the video, embedded up top. News Source: Sploid via YouTubeImage Credit: Sploid Chevrolet Ford GM Pontiac Military Performance Videos