As the 1974 lineup was rolling into showrooms with a revised front
fascia, the Arab oil embargo hit, changing forever the way Americans would think
about high performance and gasoline consumption. Although the days of the upper
level performance engines were numbered, (the SD 455 was discontinued after
1974, the HO 455 a year later) the oil crisis years would be very kind to the
Firebird, with sales exploding in the late Seventies. Why? One reason was the
Trans Am, which had gradually evolved from an elite model to a mainstream
offering; in 1976, for example, Trans Am production topped 46,000 units - nearly
double the amount produced the year before. "It's the young singles buying
their first new cars who can afford the higher prices of a Trans Am,"
Pontiac General Sales ManaLer Jim Vorhes explained to the Detroit Free Press in
1976.
1974
would also see the first "Special Edition" Trans Am, painted in a
black-and-gold paint scheme that quickly become as much a part of Trans Am
legend as the original white-and-blue combination. Honoring Pontiac's 50th
anniversary, the Special Edition models were all to get Hurst-built removable
T-tops, but installation problems ultimately limited T-Top production to just
643 cars, with 1947 built with normal roofs.
|