Check out the 1974 Pontiac Firebird that Vanguard Motor Sales just put up for sale. It costs $64,900, which is a lot of money for a muscle car from that era. Still, we think it's one of the few that deserves it, partly because of its condition and the retro-looking yet fully built 455 V8 under the hood.
The look of the car is not the norm for a Pontiac muscle car from that time. There's no "fire chicken" on the hood, and the paint is dark blue instead of black. Orange decals decorate the exterior and carry over to the orange piping on the leather seats and carpets. Even though the cabin looks stock, it's been upgraded with better dials.
The Firebird Formula recently underwent a full restoration, which is why it's looking so perfect. The fiberglass hood does make the paint look a bit wavy, but those 15-inch Cragar chromed wheels more than compensate. I definitely can't afford the car, so how much for those wheels, okay, maybe just one?
In 1973 and 1974, Pontiac offered the Super Duty 455 engine (7.45L) in the Formula. The high-performance SD 455 delivered 310 hp for the first year but went down to 290 hp. Many people say this marked the end of the classic muscle car era, and there are only about 100 of these. Mind you, they did have the 455 in the normal Trans Am too.
Of course, the one we see here is making way more than the stock output at about 500 horsepower. It's got an Edelbrock Intake Manifold, March Billet Serpentine Pulley Setup, and a Demon 750 CFM 4-Barrel Carburetor sitting on top, not to mention the quad tips on the new Flowmaster exhaust system.
With all that power, we're happy to see that everything underneath is rust-free, while the suspension has also been updated with coilovers at the front. The rear doesn't exactly look ready for autocross, though, more just laying down some rubber on the weekends.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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