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FBIRD69's 1969 Firebird

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Why did you get your Pontiac?


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Why did i get my Pontiac ?

My parents have had many different cars mostly GMs,

at 16 i was driving around in a Trailblazer LT,my sister totalled that,at 17 i ended up asking my mom for a 2001 Red Grand Am SE of hers that was just sitting in a storage lot,that car was reliable,but so many things were wrong with it,in april of last year as i was about to invest in full overhaul and maintanance my mom said "look for another car instead"as a college gift,

Found a 99 Grand-Am-Gt with 89xxx miles posted at 3500$,

after all was said and done we paid 2500$

ive learned a lot in this last year ive had with it,somethings id rather not go into details about but,knowledge is knowledge..

next up im looking at a G6Gt,an 04-06 GTO,

or hopefully a G8 GXP,but id settle for just a G8....

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  • 1 month later...

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A bit of back story, my parents had what used to be called Star Route mail routes. Mom had one that was 100 miles a day every day except Sunday. Dad was a policeman and also had a route that was about as long as mom's route but only went on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Needless to say they have had all kinds of vehicles; IH pickup, '57 Lincoln, Volvo station wagon ( that car would go just about anywhere! ), lots of American Motors cars; Ambasador, Rambler, Gremlin, '69 AMX ( Man! I loved that car! Dad told me that another officer had a Mustang and challenged dad to a race, so they found a stretch of highway and proceeded to drag with a State Patrolman as refferee. The AMX beat the Mustang and then beat the Mustang and the State Patrol car, too in a second race. ) an '80 AMC Eagle, Subaru's and the usual Chevys, Chrysler and Dodges. Even had a VW beetle, a GLC Mazda hatchback ( my school car ) and a Renault Encore ( hated that one!! ) So we kids got to drive all kinds of vehicles growing up, from pick-ups to compact cars to station wagons and everything in between.

After I got married, we got rid of my baby ( '80 Mazda GLC ) and got an '80 AMC Eagle sedan Automatic 4WD. After that we got an S-10 Blazer, '93 Subaru Loyale Sedan and our Chevy Suburban. I even inherited my Aunt's '83 Cadillac Brougham Diesel ( love that car, too ). We had thought about trading the Suburban and hubby wanted to look at those Dodge Caviler while we were at the Black Hills Stock Show in Rapid City SD. UGH! I'm 5'4" and I felt cramped in it. No back storage either. So we looked at what the Chevy dealer had there. We liked the Equinox. After we got home, hubby and I were looking online at the Equinox and there was a thing for checking the Blue Book for your trade-in. Hubby said we should see what we might get for our '96 Suburban. So I entered the info and clicked 'Submit'.

Two days later a dealer in Chadron called us and asked us if we had heard about the Pontiac Torrent. We hadn't. They had two and asked if we would like to check them out. We went up and were told the '08 Torrent was being test driven, but the '07 was available to look at. We test drove it to Gordon and back. Hubby was very impressed! I knew I liked it, but it helped that hubby liked it, too :)

We went back the next day with our Suburban and traded. While waiting for some paperwork we checked out a Solstice. They told us that it was the same price as our Torrent. Tempting! But with 3 boys that are into rodeo........we stuck with the Torrent :lol:

Since mom and dad carried mail, I do tend to look at cars with that mindset. I think my mom would have liked the Torrent as a mail car. He hasn't let me down yet on the muddy &/or snowy county roads and it handles great on snowy, slushy and icy highways. I haven't felt this comfy behind the wheel on slick roads since my mom and dads and our '80 AMC Eagle.

I've had to drive to and from Denver International Airport at least once a year and he handles I-76 just fine. I'm glad to have a car that can handle dirt roads, muddy roads, highways and Interstates plus my boys and all the wrestling meets, track meets and rodoes we go to.

Only thing I would add is handles on the inside doors, it would help my mom-in-law get in and out easier, and they could have not used smooth chrome on the shifter. When the sun hits that.....OY! Other than those minor issues, its a great car on the farm :) Right now the only other vehicle I love to drive as much is my Freightliner Semi ;)

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  • Founders

That's cool that you got to drive a bunch of cars, really puts forth what you like the most, even if you were just a kid.

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I got my first Pontiac when my grandpa gave me his 2000 Grand Prix GT when I turned 16. It is still my car today and I wouldn't trade it for anything, especially since they don't make Pontiac anymore ;)

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;) What's the longest you've had a car Mark?

Well, I'm answering this a little late but, the longest I've owned a car is my Ranger that I got in May of 09. :lol:

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  • Founders

Well, I'm answering this a little late but, the longest I've owned a car is my Ranger that I got in May of 09. :)

Proud of you Mark, you made it two years :rofl:

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That's cool that you got to drive a bunch of cars, really puts forth what you like the most, even if you were just a kid.

Mom and I used to say if we could take the best from each car that we would have our dream cars LOL

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I guess I've never posted in here...

When I was about 9/10ish, I very distinctly remember seeing and hearing a purple metallic 99 LS1 TA. I fell in love with the car and then when I was 16, my uncle calls me up and says he has a 96 firebird project car. We spent the summer fixing up the car, and then I bought it from him.

It's been a wonderful thorn in my side ever since. lol. That car has caused me so much trouble, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. except maybe a newer firebird.

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I guess I've never posted in here...

When I was about 9/10ish, I very distinctly remember seeing and hearing a purple metallic 99 LS1 TA. I fell in love with the car and then when I was 16, my uncle calls me up and says he has a 96 firebird project car. We spent the summer fixing up the car, and then I bought it from him.

It's been a wonderful thorn in my side ever since. lol. That car has caused me so much trouble, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. except maybe a newer firebird.

You think your firebird is a thorn in the side? At least you can get parts. It so hard to find parts for a 1978 Phoenix LJ haha

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  • Founders

You think your firebird is a thorn in the side? At least you can get parts. It so hard to find parts for a 1978 Phoenix LJ haha

Oh yeah... Well... I got nothin, I can still find parts :rolleyes:

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  • 5 months later...

Bought my first Pontiac back in 1980 (A 1968 Grad Prix) Because it had a Ram Air 400 engine in it and I liked the hide away head lights, bucket seats and factory 8 Track tape player. Had a Tempest shortly after because the GP puked and I ran across it cheap. ($1,800.00 back then if I remember right) Now I have a 95 Formula M6 LT1 T top car. I like the looks and styling MUCH better than the chevy version. Bought it cheap ($1,400.00) from my stupid brother in-law with a blown head gasket. Always wanted a M6 car. 9 years ago bought a 96 Bonneville with 82K with some kind of paint splattered on the side of it from one of my wife's co-workers. Sold it to us cheap ($3000.00) because of the paint splattered on it. Said the body shop he took it to couldn't get it off. I got it off the same night we drove it home with some "Goof Off" I bought at Home Depot. Now just purchased a bone stock 04 GTO (yea, I know it's just a re-badged Holden Monaro) But it is a LS1 car with a A4 so my wife can drive it too. Biggest thing I guess is that I got into all of these cars really reasonable, and I like the performance and styling. To me that is what Pontiac was always about.........performance and styling. :lol:

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I'm gonna play my cards right and keep it as a hobby car, maybe throw some Antique plates on it :cheers: and buy a daily driving Pontiac.

This might come true sooner than expected. :lol:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Where to start? Well, I owned a Ford Focus and it was falling apart so I went to a dealership and saw a 03 Chevrolet Cavalier, and my Dad and I traded in the Focus for the Cavalier (without test driving it, mind you, because My Dad didn't have time). Well, we should tested it because it was in awful shape, the tranny was messed up (automatic, it was slipping), wrong bumpers were put on it, no grill. I had to complain and stop by multiple times just to get some of the right parts put on it. Eventually all that was left was the tranny issue, and I was so fed up with the issues, I sold it after just over 10 months. So I went back to the same dealer, said I wanted to trade it in for something else. Test drove a yellow VW Golf GTi VR6 that had a major electrical issue that would kill the battery if you turned it (alarm was stuck on and they couldn't figure out how to keep it off), so that didn't fly with me anyway, and then I saw a certain Pontiac Sunfire down at the end of lot and thoroughly looked it over and test drove it multiple times, a few days later, I switched to the Sunfire.

Old Cavalier:

morgan021.jpg

And a few days after I got my Sunfire:

morgan034.jpg

Much happier with my Sunfire.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I started with a Ford Expedition. Got bored with it after a year. Sold it and bought a WRX. I hated driving stick, so I looked around. I really wanted a GXP Bonneville, but couldn't find a good one near me. So I went down to GTP's. Called on a number of them. Then as I'm looking at one ad for a GTP a guy called wondering if I was interested in his GTP. I didn't even remember calling the guy. I wasn't really interested, but just for sits and giggles I asked the mileage and price. 63k for $5500. Sounded good, I went and looked at it, fell in love with the interior, 2 tone gray and black, liked how clean it was, and bought it. Sold the WRX a few days later, but did charish the idea of having a turboed car and a supercharged car at the same time. I'm not a fan of GP's, but at the time it was going to be my only car so I needed a FWD for winter, and auto. I knew GTP's had superchargers, but I didn't know how fast they were. I liked, and still like 91-96 GP's, but I love this engine. I've been very pleased with the car.

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  • 1 month later...

To tell you the truth, I never really wanted my car, it was old, and falling apart. It also used to be my grandma’s and who wants to drive a grandma car? Then I realized my grandma is Italian and it must have been able to keep up with her insanely fast driving, and it did. But that was before I knew anything about Pontiacs or cars in general. But then the car’s curves and winds caught my eye. the red metallic paint, the gold rims, the gold pinstripes, the chrome molding all came together perfectly. It was different from other cars on the road. The other cars were all common. They were silver, dull, bubbly shaped, boring cars. They almost all looked the same to me. I wanted to be different. I wanted to be the person who would drive up to event and turn all the heads. And I do even when the car isn’t fully restored. I did some research on the car and found out that Pontiac has probably the best history out of any car company out there. From creating the first muscle car, to setting the standard for performance. it was all Pontiac. Then I learned that the Pontiac Bonneville was luxurious and sporty for an affordable price. It was a revolution. I looked up the stats for the car and found out it was pretty quick. My friends doubted it saying “it will go 0-60 in never” and guess what, I was laughing about a quarter mile ahead of all of them in the end. I love my car, and I will continue to cherish it. I am still currently restoring it.

mypontiac.jpg

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i got my g6 coupe because it was a great car i wanted something sporty. i test drove 5 cars first on i drove was cici loved every minute good power comfortable and very sexy curves. second choice 05 rx8 when they pulled it up it was emitting slight blue smoke i thought maybe its been sitting for a while, so i drove it sitting at a stop light it would idle rough for 10 seconds then normal over and over. once over 1000k it ran fine had the paddles cool bluish green paint and two tone brown and black interior, plus those cool half doors. but the running issue turned me away. i also test drove a vw gti turbo, is 300, a4, accord coupe with a 6 speed, and subaru legacy but cici had me hooked went back and signed the papers picked her up the next day.

192769_1915988908608_1508540397_2089020_166613_o.jpg

here she is the day i first looked at her

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My dad did mechanic and body work in his own shop in our back yard, he was always into classic and race cars so we always had people with cool cars hanging out at our place.

In 1970 I was 12 yrs old and a friend of my dads pulled in driving his new car, it was a 1970 GTO Judge convertible in palladium silver. That was the coolest thing I had ever seen and I instantly fell in love with the 70 GTO. That was what I wanted, I drove quite a few Pontiacs and then, in the mid 80s, a friend of mine was selling his GTO, I bought it immediatly, it was a 70 GTO and rusty underneath because the original owner had driven it in the MN salted roads in the winter. I drove it for a few years and then parked it, in 2007 I tore it completly apart and redid it, now its a blast to drive and show off in.

:)

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  • 11 months later...

Well it all started when the ex husband and i were looking for a new car..he was looking at Broncos,Fairlane and other Fords..So we were driving home and I saw the car I wanted. She was in this shop with big glass windows . I screamed out " stop the car,their is the car i want ". She is a 1974 Formula Pontiac Firebird ,she was gold and she was real shiny. We went back the next day so I could have another look..They started her up, my belly went funny. She rumbled in this little show room. She made the glass shake. I just had to have her. The car yard was glad we took her as the shop kept getting broken into. Thieves tried to steal it twice.I brought her homethat day, and it was raining. I had to drive her to work that night. She leaked like a sieve. We got to where i worked at McDonalds and all the kids their said a gangster car is outside. She has been on fire, the bonnet has hit the roof and she has been broken into and stolen from me. We have been together for 18 years in July. I will never sell her. I have so much fun driving her. When I'm[media]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4600880734774&set=pb.1074975128.-2207520000.1360818957&type=3&theater ready to give her up, I will give her to my 2 sons, so they can have some fun.


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