Post by
JerryHofschneider »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/jerryhofschneider-u264571.html
Fri Sep 23, 2016 11:56 am
Yes, those are the "Fast n' Loud" 'Birds.
Rawlings rebuilt them for a guy who imposed a $10,000 per day fine on him if the cars were not absolutely authentic and ready at the agreed upon time. (He got them done, accurately restored and on schedule).
I watched that show and was nearly engulfed in a tsunami of nostalgia.
A 1967 Firebird hardtop was my first new car, and it remained my all-time favorite up until the 350Z entered my life.
I think that it was, and still is, one of the best automotive designs ever. The car's proportions and style are damn near perfect, the powerplant was the inspiration for a million ponycars to come, the handling was precise and the interior was simple without being cheap. If it were introduced today as a new car, people would heap endless praise upon it.
My 'Bird was gold ( paint code GG), with a black interior. It has the 400cid/ 325 HP engine, originally factory-fitted with a restricter plate on the secondary carb. That was the first thing that I modified, replacing the entire carb assembly with a 650 cfm Holley and adding an electronic ignition. We estimated that it gave the car an additional 30-50 HP on the top revs.
I strapped a tach to the steering column. I wanted the neat, hood-mounted tach, but could never find a gold hood in the junkyards.
It also had the rare clock accessory that was mounted directly through the carpeting and onto the transmission hump. The clock never worked the entire time that I owned the car, so I put a picture of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the clock face...
I practically rebuilt the suspension, adding roll bars, anti sway bars, Koni adjustable shocks and Wide Oval Goodyear radials. Radial tires were a brand new technology in the late '60s, and, man, did they make a difference in the way the car handled.
I ran Sunoco 96--when it could be found ( it was practically jet fuel ), and the change in performance over regular pump gas was VERY noticable.
'Bird was fast, faster than any Camaro or Ford, and she could outhandle anything from Detroit. Only British sportscars could frustrate the 'Bird's onroad dance.
But by anyone's criteria, this was a true sportscar.
It was automatic, NO vinyl roof, no air. 1967 was the only year the car had vent windows. I lived in western NY when I bought it, so A/C was not even a consideration, but when I moved to hundred-degree Dallas, vent windows suddenly had enhanced importance.
I bought the car at a bank repo auction. It had 2,500 miles on it, and I gave $2,600 for it. Around a buck per mile.
Me and the "Bird had a ton of excellent adventures, some monumental cross-country road trips and a sad, violent separation. After four years and 88,000 (nearly) trouble free miles, I rolled the car doing between 100 and 120MPH during an impromptu race on a country road against a GTO convertible. I was beating him, easily, when a car turned out of a driveway up ahead and I had to abandon passing the Goat. i locked the brakes, skidded and rolled.
The "Bird turned over once, jammed its nose into a ditch and hit a telephone pole the long way, tailpipe pointing at the moon. My passenger (my best friend) and I were uninjured, my Firebird was history.
"Ah,sweet 'Bird of youth, I'm glad I found you..."
I wrote all about the car and its demise in a post titled "Wrecks" --one of my "Skidmarks" stories here at NICO.
