Nice to see this Firehawk featured in Hemmings:

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/wit...0%28control%29

 

Very nice looking, but now I'm wondering if they came equipped with the Trans Am high spoiler like that... My old brain can't recall.

 

The earlier LT1 Firehawks didn't get the high deck T/A spoiler, but I think this became part of the package in 1996 (sans convertibles). But the specific car in that article does have a few visible modifications, such as the Borla exhaust tips, 3-point shock tower bar, audio system modifications, and some visible performance stickers on the underside of the hood (driver's side). The article does mention the car having some minor modifications, but they list "Magnaflow mufflers" when those are clearly Borla tips. Perhaps it's a hybrid system.

In any event, here are some images from the 1996 Firehawk brochure that does list (and show) the high deck spoiler as being part of the package:

 

Nice example. But this statement from the article has me scratching my head (emphasis added):

Other than the 454SS pickup, which isn't a muscle "car", I don't recall any "big-block" equipped cars from the '90s (the Viper doesn't count since its V10 was based on the Mopar 360 small block). I'm thinking the author wasn't old enough to buy a car in the '90s. That or is confused on the concept of a "big block".

On the T43 uplift spoiler, this was apparenly an option on the (Formula) Firehawks in '96 & '97 (no T/A-based Firehawks were built in '96 or '97).

1996: 37 Firehawk coupes built (25 M6 / 12 A4), 33 had T43 (24 M6 / 9 A4)
1997: 101 Firehawk coupes built (56 M6 / 45 A4), 95 had T43 (55 M6 / 40 A4)

So the "rare" '96-'97 Firehawks are the ones withOUT the T43 spoiler. In light of the SLP brochure posted above, it is possible that the uplift spoiler was not available on exported cars?

 

Interesting. Good info there!

 

In the full context of that paragraph, I took this to mean something a little bit different. I think he was saying that *in* the '90s you could still get an [original era] muscle car (meaning one from the '60s/early '70s) for a decent price, unless you wanted something super desirable with the most potent of big blocks. I recall this to be largely true, at least compared to today's pricing, but by the later '90s they had definitely gotten expensive compared to the giveaway pricing of the '80s. I don't think he was implying that muscle cars built in the '90s had big blocks - at least I hope that's not what he meant. If he did, then I agree completely with your assessment.

Interesting thought. The brochure does make it sound like the spoiler was standard, so the export theory for those handful of outliers makes sense. Is there an RPO for an export model that could be cross-referenced with the lack of T43?

 

That firehawk would look great at the 31st annual firehawk CompTA Rally at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk Ohio held in conjunction with the AMES Pontiac Nationals July 18th-20th 2025

 

I included a couple of RPOs for exported vehicles to Canada (Z49) and to Puerto Rico / Virgin Isle (CW7) in my production breakdowns, but there may be other RPOs for export destinations that I missed. In any case, this is plausible:

Z49 was not used on any Firehawks in '96 & '97. But CW7 was used on 2 Firehawk coupes in '96 (both A4s) and 6 Firehawk coupes in '97 (1 M6 and 5 A4s). The 2 CW7 exports in '96 explain some of the discrepancy (other RPOs that I didn't include may account for the remaining discrepancy), and the 6 CW7 exports in '97 exactly explain the discrepancy, even across the transmission breakdowns. So, IMO, exports probably explain why not all '96/'97 Firehawks got the T43 spoiler.

 

I've talked to guys who claimed that in the late 70's and 80's they could go to a junkyard and buy a big block engine for $200. No one wanted them due to fuel economy. The small block has been the engine of choice for the last 40 years.

 

Well $200 wasn't the same then as it is today.