The Ford Mustang, which made its debut in 1964, is recognized by many as the country’s first pony car. That isn’t quite accurate, though, since Plymouth unveiled the Barracuda a few weeks ahead of the Mustang. And the origins of the pony car concept date back to the late 1950s, depending on who you ask.
Although the identity of the first pony manufacturer remains unknown, General Motors was a bit of a latecomer to the game. September 1966 saw the arrival of the Chevrolet Camaro, the company’s response to the Mustang. Furthermore, Pontiac was left out of the pony car market until the Firebird was introduced in February 1967.
Not surprisingly, the latter was nowhere near as popular as the Mustang and the Camaro. While Ford and Chevrolet sold hundreds of thousands of pony cars annually, Pontiac had to settle for five-digit deliveries. The nameplate moved 82,560 units in 1967, 107,112 examples in 1968, and 87,708 in 1969.
But even though it wasn’t as successful as its main competitors, the Firebird was popular enough for Pontiac to keep it in production for decades. Specifically, the Firebird remained in showrooms over four generations and through 2002. That’s a whopping 35 years!
Furthermore, the first-generation Firebird is among the rarest pony cars of the golden age due to its limited sales volume. It’s not as valuable as a Mustang or Camaro, to be sure, but those vehicles are hard to come by these days. All in all, the Firebird is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a late 1960s pony that makes a statement.
Though this first-year coupe isn’t exactly reliable enough to drive to the neighborhood cars and coffee gathering, it is evidence that fans are making every effort to preserve the vehicles that were put into storage and forgotten about. Before the owner’s son called YouTube’s “Puddin’s Fab Shop” to get it working again, this Poncho sat for almost thirty years.
Neglected for 27 years, the Firebird emerged from storage with many issues, including worn-out paint and surface rust. Unfortunately, the engine bay was also taken over by rodents, which filled it up with debris. At first glance, the Pontiac looked like the kind of car you don’t want to touch.
However, our host didn’t waste any time in giving the Firebird a much-needed wash because he is accustomed to working on cars like these. Additionally, the engine room was well-maintained and showed off several performance enhancements from the pony’s heyday of street racing. That mill, by the way, is a 400 cubic inch (6.6 liter) V8 that was originally rated for 325 horsepower.
In addition, he restarted the old V8 and drove the vehicle through the field behind the store. Even if there are still many hours of work needed before this Poncho is safe to drive, this is still reason to celebrate the preservation of another classic Pontiac. Watch the video below to hear it scream back to life.