I'm taking a brief interlude from
Car Disgust
this morning for the Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am SD-455. Why? Well,
because I wanted to use the SD-455 to help set up and contrast with the
object of disgust this afternoon.
I'll explain more this
afternoon, but for now I'll just foreshadow that there will be a yin to
the SD-455's yang. Anyway, on to this fully worthy object of lust.
What
had once been a bright automotive sky full of muscle car stars in the
1960s had dimmed in the early 1970s. Many of the brightest stars had
been blotted out, one by one, by the dark clouds of federal emissions
regulation and skyrocketing gas prices. Even the greatest giants of
automotive performance had eventually succumbed, sliding into the
mediocrity of paint-and-sticker performance packages.
This all made the 1973 debut of the
Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am SD-455 all the more surprising. Far from
another cosmetic performance model saddled with a limp, lifeless V-8,
the SD-455 was the last hero of the muscle car age, fortified with 455
cubic inches of high-compression goodness. Weary, depressed performance
car fans of the time searched the SD-455 for inevitable compromises,
only to wax ecstatic when they found none.
The SD-455
wasn't just an echo of past glory; it was the real thing, complete with
low 5-second 0-60 times and sternum-splitting throttle response. In an
age of sad, faded heroes, left to wither away and die, the SD-455 was
one last immortal.
And, just to continue to hammer the point home, a stark contrast to this afternoon's Car Disgust.
--Chris H.
Ralph L on February 02, 2008 at 02:36 PM
No comment on the flaming chicken?
Tony Eimen on August 27, 2008 at 09:24 AM
Not a comment on this particular Firebird, but rather, the Pontiac 455 engine. I bought a 1968 Firebird that someone put a stock 455 engine in place of the original 400 some years back, when you could still pick up old musclecars for a song. I still have it to this day.
Man, upgrade a few minor things, like better heads (I used 6X heads, shaved down for 10:1 compression), better cam, intake and carb, good Flowmaster exhaust system with headers, and this recipe makes one of the most pleasing big block engines I've ever seen, with an intoxicating exhaust note; just as happy to cruise slowly as it is to drop the hammer and engage warp drive.
And to think with 8:1 compression, the SD-455 could still achieve under-5 second 0-60 times in a very heavy car. I can't say enough about how sweet those 455's were. It even gets 14 mpg on the highway on pump gas. Not bad for a big block anything.
on February 23, 2009 at 07:05 AM
i <3 ur car dont sell it
on February 24, 2009 at 03:14 PM
how much u asking 4
That Car Guy on April 28, 2009 at 03:26 PM
I had a friend that put one of these, backwards, through a stacked rock fence at 110. His girlfriend wound up in the back seat.
But the good news was that since the rear of the car was damaged, the front could be saved with all of the original numbers. Last I heard, the car was waiting for the transplant, even though a donor car had been found.
Jonathan on May 03, 2009 at 12:42 AM
Don't forget the '74 SD's! We truly were the last of the line. Every time I have mine out, I'm still smiling an hour later!!! ;)
jimmy torres on July 28, 2009 at 11:51 AM
cars last longer than women do lol