Float Like A First-Gen Firebird, Sting Like A Bee

Picture this scenario: You are the proud owner of a first-generation Firebird Sprint with the overhead cam six and three-speed on the floor. You join the Air Force in 1986 and leave the ’67 in your mother’s driveway — you know, for safe keeping. Then you come home a couple of years later to pick it up, and it is gone. Just an empty spot in the driveway where you baby once sat. Where did it go?

Mom sold it to the junkman for the whopping sum of $45. Why? It had bees in it. Bye-bye first-generation Firebird!

We’ve heard numerous variations of the “I built this car because I had one when I was younger” story, but never “My mother sold it while I was in the Air Force because it had bees” version.  

The Sprint’s replacement finally came in 1999 when the owner, David Last, left the Air Force. Not surprisingly, it looked nothing like the first-generation Firebird you see here. In fact, according to David, it was a shell and little else. It took years for David —with help from his friend Billy Hargrove — to turn it into the street sweeper you see here.

“When I got out in ’99. I told her I replaced the Bird and I forgive you. She had no idea what I was talking about,” remembered David, illustrating the point that there are two kinds of people in the world: Those who love cars and those who do not. “It didn’t move her one bit.”

True, the new Firebird, a ’68, had a motor in it, but it was in poor health. He took it out and decided what he was going to do (not realizing what purists would think).

Instead of rebuilding the 400, we decided to do a restomod,” said David, who gets lots of little comments at shows telling him what he should have stuck with Pure Pontiac Power. But he doesn’t care. He’s heard it all at this point. No one seems to be bothered by the Ford 9-inch out back, but that “corporate” V-8 gets everyone’s goat. 

We here at StreetMuscleMag.com are engine agnostic. Your author remembers looking to buy a ‘66-’69 GTO in the late ’70s and a large percentage of those he saw had big-block Chevys swapped in them. Some things never change.

About That LS …

The engine in this F-body is a 450-horsepower 6.0-liter Chevrolet Performance crate mill. The 364 was enhanced by a Texas Speed cam, and now makes 525 horsepower with mid-length headers, Hooker Blackheart mufflers, a Holley single-plane intake, and MSD Atomic 2 fuel-injection setup.

That is more than enough horsepower for a lightweight Firebird. A TREMEC TKO 600 five-speed with a hydraulic clutch sends all the good stuff to the aforementioned Currie Enterprises 9-inch, which houses a 3.55 gear.

Making sure it has all the grip it ever needs are Ridetech suspension goodies, front and rear. Its coilovers have found their way to each corner and 17×8.5-inch Foose wheels are wrapped in super-sticky Nitto NT05 tires (235/40ZR front, 255/40ZR rear). Tubular front control arms are employed, as is Ridetech’s rear four-link. There’s a quick ratio power steering box up front.

Inside, Outside U.S.A.

Another friend of David’s, Robert Kevas, did the body and paint on the Bird, which is remarkably straight. Kindig-It Design custom door handles were a difficult install, but they look tremendous — which is funny because the doors automatically pop open via the key fob as the owner approaches the vehicle. He also has a credit card in his wallet that will start the car in case he loses the fob. 

Perhaps the most unusual alteration is the headlights, which are Harley-Davidson parts. The LED front blinkers were built by Hargrove. The LED taillights were made by Hargrove since at the time of the build, no aftermarket LEDs were offered for the early Firebirds. 

The interior is remarkably stock. Classic Industries was sourced for the new carpeting and factory seat covers. Custom Autosound got the nod for the stereo system and Hertz for the speakers. Dakota Digital supplied the custom gauges and the steering wheel was something he found online that he liked. David went with Vintage Air to keep him cool — no mean feat in a black car with black vinyl seats in Florida!

While a ‘67 Firebird Sprint with a three-speed is a really cool car (and certainly one you don’t see every day) we think David’s new first-generation Firebird is way cooler. Yeah, it’s a ’68 and it has LS power, but on the bright side, there are no bees in it anywhere. We’d hate to see David get stung a second time around.