1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Coupe

In 1964, Pontiac changed the automotive landscape forever with the introduction of their GTO, which signaled (as many believe) the beginning of the muscle car movement. As the years progressed, the company became responsible for building some of the greatest American performance cars of the era, ending with the Trans AM Super Duty 455 of 1973. The Firebird Super Duty shared little with other 455s. Many of the internal components were sourced from Pontiac's 366 NASCAR engine. They had a stronger block with iron four-bolt mains, forged-steel connecting rods, aluminum pistons, high-flow heads and manifolds, and a Ram Air III camshaft. Essentially, the Firebird was a full-race engined detuned for street use. Conservatively rated at 290 bhp, the Firebird easily developed over 350 horsepower in stock form and careful tuning bumped that figure to more than 500 BHP.

In May of 1973, a test of a street-legal, automatic 455 Super Duty posted a 13.7-second quarter mile at 103.6 mph with zero-to-sixty taking just 5.4 seconds.

This Pontiac Firebird was originally ordered by the Cerami Pontiac Corporation of Paramus, New Jersey, and equipped with the best high-performance options available. Originally finished in cameo White with black bucket seats, the car was specified as a Trans Am and optioned with the Super Duty 455 engine, wide-ratio four-speed gearbox, heavy-duty radiator, heavy-duty battery, tinted glass, engine-turned instrument panel, stereo radio, roof molding, lamp ground, and padded Formula steering wheel. With nearly every expensive option selected, this car cost its original owner more than $5,200.

This car was owned by Dan Mazzoncini and Pontiac collector Stephen Lesko, before being acquired by the current owner.

This Super Duty 455 retains its original body panels and has been given a complete rotisserie restoration performed by Cummins Restoration of Grand Haven, Michigan. It has its original matching numbers engine block and is currently powered by the correct Super Duty 455 rebuilt by Joe Caroto of Pittsburgh, PA.

In total, Pontiac built just over 4,800 Firebird Trans Am for the 1973 model year. Of those, only 252 examples were given the Super Duty 455. From this limited supply, just 72 were further equipped with the four-speed manual gearbox.

By Daniel Vaughan | May 2013