Rare Firebird

[StealthBird]

The original plan for the 69 T/A was to use a standard paint scheme. At the last minute, the white/blue stripes scheme was developed. The prototype 69 T/A was Palladium Silver, and used a fiberglass hood, compared to the production cars that were all painted white with blue stripes, and had steel hoods.

There was also a 69 Firebird "mule" car created by PMD Engineers to test the upcoming 455HO. This was supposed to be the 455 version of the 400 RAIV. They used a 455 shortblock, RAIV heads, and oddly enough, had a 66 Tri-Power setup on top (would have been changed to a Q-jet for production). Although this incarnation of the 455HO never made production, there actually was a 455HO d-port version available in the 1970 GTO's, much tamer, with a milder cam and steel intake. Pontiac picked up the 455HO name again in 1971, with low compression, round port heads, and aluminum intake back in place.

The 69 Firebird 455HO mule car was Carousel Red with black headlight bezels, black chin spoiler, and had black accents on the windsplits as well as on the sides of the hood scoops. This mule car was seen all over Woodward Ave at the time, but of course this 455HO never made it into the production 69 or 70 Firebirds. It was originally thought that with the delayed introduction of the 70 Firebirds, and the long 18 month run of 1969 Firebirds, that Pontiac could offer a 455HO and market the 69 Firebird as the 70 Firebird until the 70-1/2 Firebirds arrived. There are two versions of the original 69 Firebird brochure. The later version has the "1969" removed from all the text.

There was another PMD Engineering 69 Firebird 400 Convertible prepared as a media fleet car, and it ended up in Hollywood for use on the last season of "I Dream Of Jeannie". It was driven by Roger Healy, but was rarely seen on camera. There were a few scenes where you could see the car in the background, and there was one episode where the cast was sitting in the car. From the few times it was used, it appeared to be Rallye Green (Camaro color), and had side air extractors mounted in front of the rear wheelwells, facing forward, and a Trans Am hood.