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The Firebird Esprit and the Firebird Formula came standard with the 255 hp (190 kW), 350 cu in (5.7 L). The Esprit could be upgraded to a two-barrel carbureted 400 cu in (6.6 L), 265 hp (198 kW), while the Formula could be optioned to receive the L78 4 barrel 400 that produced 330 hp (246 kW) or the L74 Ram Air III 400 345 hp (257 kW).
The Firebird Esprit and the Firebird Formula came standard with the 255 hp (190 kW) 350 cu in (5.7 L). The Esprit could be upgraded to a two barrel carbureted 400 cu in (6.6 L)265 hp (198 kW), while the Formula could be optioned to receive the L78 4 barrel 400 that produced 330 hp (250 kW) or the L74 Ram Air III 400 345 hp (257 kW).
After the 1974 SD455 was dropped the 1975 Firebird's top performance engine was an 'L78' Pontiac 400 cu in (6.6 L). Pontiac still offered the regular 455 (RPO L75) in its full sized cars, and after a negative public reaction for dropping the 455 engine, it was re-introduced mid-year as an available option for the 1975 Pontiac Trans Am.
With the exception of the Parisienne Safari, the Firebird, and Fiero, beginning in 1988 all Pontiacs, with the exception of the Firebird, switched to front-wheel drive platforms. For the first time since 1970, Pontiac was the number three domestic car maker in America. The median age of Pontiac owners dropped from 46 in 1981 to 38 in 1988.
The third generation Pontiac Firebird was introduced in late 1981 by Pontiac alongside its corporate cousin, the Chevrolet Camaro for the 1982 model year. These were also the first Firebirds with factory fuel injection, four-speed automatic transmissions, five-speed manual transmissions, four-cylinder engines, 16-inch wheels, and hatchback bodies.
New for this year were Firebird-inspired front bumpers, wrap-around taillights, and crease-style body lines. Replacing the Pontiac-built OHC six-cylinder as the base engine for Tempest, LeMans, and LeMans Sport was Chevrolet's 250 cubic-inch straight-six engine. V8 offerings included 350 and 400-cid options with 2-barrel carburation and a 330 ...
Firebird II (1956, left) and III (1959, right) The General Motors Firebird comprises a quartet of prototype cars that General Motors (GM) engineered for the 1953, 1956, and 1959 Motorama auto shows. The cars' designers, headed by Harley Earl, took Earl's inspiration from the innovations in fighter aircraft design at the time. General Motors ...
Pontiac upper management, already worried about losing sales of their Grand Prix models (the Can Am and the Grand Prix used the same dashboard and console, so a sale of a Can Am was seen as a loss of a sale of a Grand Prix by some senior Pontiac executives), decided to scrap the project after approximately one half year of production.