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Once corrected the SD-455 was recertified and was released for production in late April 1973. Given how late in the model year it was, Pontiac decided not to incur the costs of recertifying the SD-455 for other models other than the Firebird. Ultimately Pontiac produced only 295 1973 SD-455 Firebirds (252 Trans Am, 43 Formula).
The 1974 models featured a redesigned "shovel-nose" front end and new wide "slotted" taillights. The 400, 455, and SD-455 engines were offered in the Trans Am and Formula models during 1974. A June 1974 test of a newly delivered, privately owned SD-455 Trans Am appeared in Super Stock and Drag Illustrated. With an unmodified car and a test ...
The 1974 models featured a redesigned "shovel-nose" front end and new wide "slotted" taillights. The 400, 455, and SD-455 engines were offered in the Trans Am and Formula models during 1974. A June 1974 test of a newly delivered, privately owned SD-455 Trans Am appeared in Super Stock and Drag Illustrated. With an unmodified car and a test ...
Pontiac also produced a single 1973 Grand Am station wagon as a feasibility study. This was a LeMans wagon converted to a Grand Am. A functional ram-air induction system was developed for the Pontiac A-bodies utilizing twin NACA openings in the hood, but the option was dropped due to the inability to pass federally mandated drive-by noise ...
Also announced for the '73 GTO and Grand Am was the Super Duty 455 V8, which was rated at 310 hp (230 kW). Cars magazine tested an SD-455-equipped 1973 Pontiac GTO and chose it as Car Of The Year, yet that engine never made it to production in a GTO or other Pontiac A-body, but would be limited to the Firebird Formula and Trans Am.
Also available was the L77 V code 455 with 270 horsepower (200 kW) available only without air conditioning. Although Pontiac's SD 455 cubic-inch engine lasted one more year with 290 horsepower (220 kW), Oldsmobile's high performance 455 engine would only last one more year culminating with the L76 optioned 455 W-30 Hurst/Olds in 1974.
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The SD 455 was available for one more year in the Trans Am. As emissions regulations were increasing, two of the three iterations of the 455 cu in (7.5 L) engine were discontinued after 1974, with the final version of the 455 remaining available through 1976.