GTP Cool Wall: 10th Ann Pontiac Firehawk. Voting Open!

I'm going for cool. Loads of presence and with that targa roof you could give people rides all day in the sun and they'd enjoy the wind in the hair/noise of the V8 combo. And if people not even driving it can enjoy it, I'd say that's cool.

Well its certainly more interesting than some of the other American cars nominated, so I'm leaning towards cool. I'll have to read up some more first though.

Seriously Uncool, this generation ov Camaro/Firebird/Trans Am/Firehawk(whatever else they called it) mainly appealed to jocks and rednecks(as with the previous generation). Sure it has the performance, but the looks of it make it seriously uncool.

Another tricky one. I don't really like F-body cars, for the most part they are owned and driven by idiots. Typically when I hear about a car wrapped around a tree it's some kid in a F-body. Cars that attract those sorts of people aren't exactly cool.

They are also modified pretty poorly too by a lot of people, F-bodies are almost like the Civics of the muscle car world I'd guess. 95% of the modified ones I see have an enormous exhaust, gaudy rims, bubbled window tint, and a really crappy sound system. That also isn't exactly what I would call cool.

Finally a car that was touted as the big bad American muscle car was actually built in Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec. Shouldn't it have been the big bad French-Canadian muscle car?

However, the Firehawk is exempted from a lot of that. It was too expensive and is still too expensive in the used market for young idiots to get a hold of it, although rich idiots were still there. It's also rare which means most owners aren't going to want to destroy the thing, but it's not so rare that they won't drive it or treat it with kid gloves, although I'm sure there are trailer queens. Finally it was modified in New Jersey by SLP, which at least means you can say it's somewhat America I suppose.

I am also impressed with the skidpad numbers, the 0-60 is rather meh though.

I guess in the end I'll go with "cool". It's an F-body which automatically knocks it out of sub-zero, but there is enough counteractive stuff to bring it out of the uncool zone.

Sub-Zero, 81%

Sub-Zero although I prefer a Formula to a Trans Am (Looks a lot cleaner IMO)

- Can easily be bought in good shape for around $10k Firehawks will be worth a lot more but theres not much difference between them.
- 13 second quarter mile times in stock form
- Contrary to many idiots, these cars can turn and will out-handle a lot of cars you would not expect them to
- Easily capable of 20 MPG or better highway even when modified
- Simple to work on
- Cheap to mod. A set of aftermarket heads, some headers, and a small cam can really wake one up all for less then a few grand.
- Great community of people associated with these cars but there will be some bad apples in the bunch as with ANY cars. I've hung out with many different Import and Domestic drivers. One group is not any better than another.

I know nothing about it, but anything with the name of "Firehawk" must be cool.

84SSccc

- Cheap to mod. A set of aftermarket heads, some headers, and a small cam can really wake one up all for less then a few grand.

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A few grand = cheap modifications? I want whatever job you have to think that.

Joey D

A few grand = cheap modifications? I want whatever job you have to think that.

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Compared to other cars, yeah I think it is pretty cheap.

After hearing about my friend's '02 WS6...I dunno, 4th-gen F-bodies have really grown on me. Cool. Not S-Z, but Cool. :3

and, yeah, a few grand is a lot less than Tens of Grands that you must spend to bring other cars, like, say, a Hyundai Genesis Coupe, up to a similar level of tune.

Also, I fail to see how some lame, happy British guy (he looks British to me) has anything to do with a Firebird.

it's a tweaked WS6 trans am with "fire" in the name = sub zero.

Jim Prower

Also, I fail to see how some lame, happy British guy (he looks British to me) has anything to do with a Firebird.

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Giant nostrils, upturned nose.

Oh....kaaaaay....

I...can't really see it. No matter how hard I try. The grille's not that big compared to stuff like the G8 and GTO, and those technically are engine intakes. Pretty sure it's a Ram-air WS6 type car, anyway.

Meh. I might see the correlation better if this was a Camaro of the same vintage (HYOOOOGE MOUTH, BIG EYES.)

Its a Firebird and Firebirds are always Subzero.

Jim Prower

Oh....kaaaaay....

I...can't really see it. No matter how hard I try.

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The two giant holes in the bonnet (hood)?

Every time I see them - on this and the Trans Am version, which are even bigger - they just make me think of Kenneth Williams.

I dunno. I don't think they're that bad on this car. It doesnt' look nearly as bad as the phase 1 LT1-era cars, and Pontiac was kind of all about overdone styling in that era, so I'm kinda used to it.

That, and I'm drawn more to the bug-eyes and huge smile...which says '97-02 Camaro more than the Firebird.

I think my favorite Gen IV F-body is the '92-'96 Camaro SS, but, given that that'd require an engine swap for the more powerful and refined LS1, I think I'd rather the Phase II Trans Am/Firebird. Maybe not this particular Firehawk, (Can anyone say RARE?) but I'd at least like to find a WS6.

Jim Prower

I dunno. I don't think they're that bad on this car.

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It's not that they're bad - or even whether they're necessary. They just look like Kenneth Williams' nostrils. And that's all I can think of when I see the car.

Okay, If you say so. X3

Fast as hell but ugly as sin, i give it an uncool.

Ardius

Well its certainly more interesting than some of the other American cars nominated, so I'm leaning towards cool. I'll have to read up some more first though.

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Blasphemy!! Challenger is much cooler

I gave this a S-Z for the simple fact of being a proper muscle car.

It's freezing, in a cooler full of ice around 1-2*F, not quite sub-zero though. There are even rarer, high performance F-body's of this era that hold that spot for me. (ZL-1 Camaro, Intimidator SS.)

The Cobra Anti-Venom.

This car is surely one of the rarer models that do not cost over 50,000$, that you actually have a chance at seeing once in your life. There were only 1,000 produced for 2001 in the gold and black paint scheme, 500 more in normal colors. I've only ever seen one, for sale, not cheap either. Like 84ss said, a head, cam and intake package and these cars really wake up, rev like no tomorrow and just generally preform very well. That can be done on the cheap as well, or it could be done not so cheaply. Still though, the aftermarket is HUGE, even though most anything you could do to the exterior would be pretty much a questionable mod, aside from taillight blackouts and new exhaust tips. (that aren't hanging down and 6 inches wide.) This car has the best (IMO) body appearance package of any 4th generation F-body, it's more understated than a Ram-Air WS.6, but still more than mean enough to tell it's not just a formula. It's like the Bandit Trans-Am had a kid, but the kid is more of an athlete and skinny

I love the way you sit in these cars, you feel so low down, it just feels racy. Though the front passenger will be less than pleased with the catalytic converter hump where they want to rest their left foot, but that can be overlooked. Over all though it's a comfortable car to be in, unless of course your a rear passenger, which should never be attempted by anyone unless, no just don't bother, remove the rear seats .

Great car with a GREAT engine, along with a very good chassis. Can do just about anything you'd want to do from cruising, to drag racing, to road racing and auto-X. Oh T-Tops FTW!! This is a pony car that knows all about left and right corners Respect the bird. 👍

Famine I'd agree for sure if it was the Ram-Air WS.6 we were talking about, the nostrils on that thing are obnoxious, so are that guy's

More Firehawk Pr0n

do want.

Uncool.

Was never a fan of the shape of the last few generations of Camaro/Firebird/Etc., something is just off about them. They also seem to be owned by every mullet wearing redneck and jock around here who drive around trying to race every Civic, stock or not, because they think they're "rice" and need to be shown that they're slow.

The same could be said for all those Civics trying to show the world they are loud and sound like they are going fast. I've never known an F-body owner with a mullet, maybe one day. BUT I've seen plenty of poorly done multicolor, ready to take off from size of wing, exhaust the size of a drainage pipe, boom boom speakered, taking up two parking spots backed in crooked, jdm stickered, driving 100mph 3 feet from each other "drafting" on the highway, Civics. Does that mean Civics are horrible cars? No, it just means people do bad things to them.

Lame people are in every car culture, do those people really ruin great cars for you that much? In my experience it's been the Civic trying to egg on the V8 car to see if their car is fast yet. Which usually results in Civic taking off from the stop light like he's going somewhere and the Camaro/Mustang leaving normal because there is no point.

Not trying to sway your opinion, just pointing out that Civic owners aren't the best thing to use for an example of a demographic that owns a certain type of car, they don't exactly lead by example where I live anyways. The F-body owners who do act like what your talking about usually park it in two pieces just past the telephone pole they knocked down. I will admit there are some bad apples for sure though, just have not seen the mullet yet

All that said, people do unspeakable things to F-Body cars too. Euro lights, 20 inch rims, body kits, whale tail spoilers, semi truck sized exhaust tips, super sized hoods that serve no purpose, fake vents, colored interiors. Plenty of bad things, I still LOVE the clean examples, done the way they were meant to look from the factory, with minor, and I stress MINOR exterior mods.

Cool. A nice modern musclecar.

Sub-Zero. It looked so much better than the camaro of the same generation.

Jim Prower

I think my favorite Gen IV F-body is the '92-'96 Camaro SS, but, given that that'd require an engine swap for the more powerful and refined LS1, I think I'd rather the Phase II Trans Am/Firebird. Maybe not this particular Firehawk, (Can anyone say RARE?) but I'd at least like to find a WS6.

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FYI, 1997 is the first year of the 4th gen SS model And the 4th gen was 1993-1997 for the first half and 1998-2002 for the second half with the LS1 engine.

LSX

The Cobra Anti-Venom.

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Only until 2002 when the Terminator Cobras went on sale as a 2003 model. And even still the regular N/A Cobra wasn't exactly slow. Infact the 2001 SVT Cobra is exactly as fast with a manual as the WS6 (and this Firehawk) manual to 60mph. 4.8s-5.2s rated. So it isn't really a "Cobra killer". Just saying...

I went with Uncool. Although the performance figures are solid, I'm a big fan of the SLP models, based on any GM vehicle. Plus, Pontiac built the Screamin' Chicken the year after. Still awesome.