This week’s Throwback Thursday segment features a lengthy promotional video for the 4th generation Pontiac Firebird. The 4th gen was the final run of the Firebird, running from 1993 through 2002 and from 1998 through 2002, GM offered up the best performing Firebird ever. This video looks at many of the features which worked together to make the late 4th gen Firebird the best performing of its kind – and perhaps the best performing Pontiac ever.
The video starts off with a commercial which we have featured before, showing a trio of Pontiac Firebirds creeping through some dark streets before blasting off into the fog. However, where the normal commercial ends, this video adds 3 extra minutes of detailed footage on the 1998-2002 Firebird Trans Am.
While the video shows the late 4th gen Pontiac Firebird stretching its legs in a variety of high performance settings, the narrator runs through the key features of the Trans Am. Of course, the root of the Firebird’s performance is the 5.7L LS1 V8, which offered 305 or 320 horsepower, depending on the package chosen. This made the Firebird one of the most powerful cars in the class, allowing it to get to 60 in under 6 seconds while running the quarter mile in “under 14 seconds”.
Next, the 4th gen Firebird featured a traction control system and an electronic brake force distribution system – both of which are common features on many cars today, but these were high tech goodies back in the late 1990s.
Finally, the video talks about the 4th gen Firebird Trans Am’s sport suspension setup and the individual components before taking a minute to highlight the other, non-Trans Am versions of the final Firebird.
So, if you have 4 minutes to kill today, kick back and enjoy this video detailing all of the key features of the late 4th generation Pontiac Firebird.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
