Like many people, I like to search the list of Craig throughout the week. You never know when someone might be so crazy as to offer up, say, a ’65 Chevelle with carb issues for $500 (true story – and an interesting one, which I’ll have to write here someday soon).
Not every car you see is worth buying. Heck, many aren’t worth the time it takes to view the ad. But once in a while, you stumble across something interesting.
Courtesy of the Saint Cloud, Minnesota craigslist, I bring you… what might be a 1979 Red Bird.
“But what,” you ask, “is a Red Bird?”
In the late ’70s, Pontiac offered a series of three uniquely equipped Firebirds designed to appeal to women. They were colloquially known as the Ladybirds: the light blue Sky Bird of 1977-78, the mustard-y Yellow Bird in 1980, and the Red Bird – which I suspect the featured car to be – for 1978-79.
Mechanically, there was nothing special about them; they were just run-of-the-mill Espirit Firebirds, almost always equipped with lo-po motors and automatics. What set them apart were their appearance features. Exclusive colors and decals, various visual elements cribbed from the Trans Ams, a unique steering wheel, and color-coordinated snowflake wheels all made the Ladybirds something out-of-the-ordinary.
For those of you interested in learning more, this page offers a wealth of information on these special ‘birds – including this montage of decals.
Anyways, let’s get back to the featured car. In typical craigslist fashion, the seller’s pictures aren’t overly helpful, and the description is even less so. “1979 Pontiac Firebird – Collector Plates – Runs and Drives good!” doesn’t tell us much. For all we know, the seller is unaware of whether or not this car is in fact a Red Bird – let alone what lurks under the hood, or the condition of anything we can’t vaguely see in the pictures.
We can see what appears to be Roman Red paint (or would that be Mayan Red?), a lower accent stripe on a car that’s clearly not a TA, and red snowflakes. That’s a good sign. We can also see a faint outline on the sail panel, where the Red Bird insignia ought to be.
Looking inside, we see the red Trans Am-style steering wheel, the gold aluminum dash plate without the right-hand gauge cutouts, and (of course) the red cloth interior. If it’s not in fact a Red Bird, it at least has some of the trademark parts from one.
Another wonderful picture, which reveals nothing particularly useful. (Hey, look, sport mirrors!)
This is definitely a red ‘bird, but is it a Red Bird? Only one way to find out for sure: someone needs to visit its owner in Clear Lake, MN and find out. Or maybe not. $2600 seems a little steep for what appears to be a somewhat rough second gen Firebird, rare sticker package or not.
But if you’ve just gotta know, hit up their craigslist ad – and let the rest of us know what you find.
That pic from the lower right rear makes it look remarkably like a Riviera! But yeah, $2600 has to be all of the money for this and then some…Then again, maybe in a decade or so I’ll be telling people that I could have had a Redbird for a tenth of its current barnfind auction value…
Wha whaa whaaaat? > A Riviera <!?
I think that is a crystal clear residual effect of the very recent Curbside posts combined with several Holiday cocktails
Anyhow, In regard to this particular car, maybe Carmine will know, but I didn’t think the ‘colored-bird’ renditions had those high-end Trans Am seats, but I thought that they did in fact have the color-keyed honeycomb wheels that this one is sporting.
Wish we could see the telltale decals somewhere. It does appear to be one…. possibly 🙂
At any rate, its a very cool find all these years on, (I love Firebirds, except for the last gen), and as usual… it will be great to find out more details as this thread progresses.
The passenger side sail panel decal is clearly visible in the second-last pic.
Hi Mark… Those seats are part of the “Custom” interior which is standard on all Firebird Esprits. This interior is optional on Formulas & Trans Ams but not the base Firebird — after all, this interior is what makes an Esprit an Esprit. Most Trans Ams are loaded out & have this interior but not all of them.
The door panels are upgraded as well and the rear #$(^&* plastic quarter trim panels have ashtrays in them. I THINK that the grab handle over the glove box was also part of this interior.
Custom interior could be had in vinyl or velour — Pontiac went from the solid Lombardy velour to the Hobnail design in 1979 — this is what the subject car has. I do not like it!
Not sure if this pic will work, but if the angle is just right….But maybe I did enjoy too many cocktails!
Well, as a ’73 Riviera owner, it definitely works for me. Mmmmm
Nice! Was very fond of those boat-tail Rivs back in the day. And I still like them.
Very cool find Keith. As a teenager back around this time, I had subscriptions to C&D and R&T… and always took an interest in any special packages being offered or advertised. I totally missed this one. I always thought the Esprit alone, covered the ladies market for Firebirds. Don’t recall seeing these in the car mags, or advertised here in Canada. For an unrestored ’79 in Minnesota, I don’t find it looks that bad really. The interior looks very good. It does have that late 70s/early 80s GM cheapish look. Even the wheel well lip mouldings are all intact. It must’ve been protected from the salt for most of it’s life.
I liked the snowflake rims at the time, as they blended with the times. But find they look garish today.
US$2,600 is about NZ$3,200; that’d be an absolute bargain for any ‘Bird over here, let alone in a nice colour combo and running and driving well. I reckon a similar car here, with live registration, would be at least double the price. Good thing it’s a long way from me, as I like the late 70s Firebirds with the wrap-around rear window, and the interior and exterior colouring is rather attractive.
Though her star status was still to come right around the corner, Pat Benatar would have been a great spokeswoman for these. With the driver’s seat set at the greatest height. : )
I could see Joan Jett driving one of these.Thanks another one I’ve never heard of,one of our contributors pointed out Firebirds look a little odd with no spoiler and I agree.
A T-top and white vinyl interior would be so period correct for this ‘bird.
I’ve seen a few Skybirds, and a couple of Yellowbirds, but before just now I never knew there was a Redbird. Probably because I’m not a secretary. And also because Firebird really lost my attention for the final years of Gen 2 thanks to that unfortunate front clip.
Pretty nice interior, though. I’ve always been more of a Camaro guy, but I freely admit the Firebirds usually got better indoor décor.
Over the summer I noticed a female employee at a local hospital drove a Sky Bird to work several days in a row. It looked to be in very nice shape. Made me wonder if it was perhaps half of a “his and hers” pair of restored Firebirds. Hopefully she’ll be driving it again come spring, so I can get a picture of it.
I’ve seen a ’78 ex-Red Bird, years ago in a junkyard, resprayed and not looking anything like what it was. Didn’t realize until much later that it was anything special. So that makes one Sky and one Red. Still have to check the Yellow Bird off my list – only way I’ve seen those is in pictures.
I too have seen a bunch of the Skybirds but did not know about the Red or Yellow birds. Learn something new everyday.
Same here. I actually knew someone with a used Sky Bird and have seen a few others over the years. I’ve tried to be “up” on pretty much everything auto related (though not so much on trucks and SUVs) since my teen years when I subscribed to most all the popular car magazines. And, I still own them all, along with my father’s collection of Car Life, Motor Trend, and some others, which along with my large collection of sales literature was my point of reference before the days of the internet. Anyway, had been unaware of the existence of the Red Bird and Yellow Bird before today.
I just spent a very enjoyable 45 minutes reading the firebirdtransamparts page you linked to above Keith – some seriously fascinating and detailed info in there! If the featured car above is a genuine ’79 Red Bird, it apparently needs to be Mayan Red, as the Roman Red was for the ’78 model with the different nose cone. Having trawled through all the data, I’d put money on the feature car being genuine, and thus one of 4,248 built. Really interesting find Keith, thank you for posting it 🙂
I saw a mint one at the downtown East Moline car show back in 2012. Here’s the full writeup on the show: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/car-show-classic-downtown-east-moline-car-show-an-eclectic-mix/
The anti-Rockford….
You’re so right. And I loved watching the Rockford Files!
‘Tis a dangerous thing to browse CL when you have a little extra money…
Then just right then your wife puts her foot down and kills the temptation.
I guess the only way to find out is via the RPO number on the underside of the trunk or the glove box.
Those 2nd gen birds look better with the rear spoiler though
I def agree about the deck lid spoiler.
It seems as though it is a MUST on this gen’s body-style. What is odd is that, at least to me… maybe because of each division’s taillight treatments or something, it was even more visually required on a Firebird than a Camaro of the same generation to make the care look ‘complete’ or correct.
Anyhow, I owned both cars back in the day and they both did have the rear spoiler because they were Trans Ams and Z28s. I really need to dig up some pics for the forum here.
For what it’s worth I think it is a real one. I have seen the Sky Bird and Red Bird at car shows, but have yet to see a Yellow Bird in the metal.
C’mon over some time Tom and I’ll show you one! It’s only what….800 miles?
First one I have ever seen. I have seen the Red Bird and Sky Bird in the metal but this is first picture I have seen of the Yellow Bird. Good Looking Car especially with rear spoiler. How about a picture of your 73 Riv. The one above sure got my juices flowing. The Boattail is one if not my favorite car. The one above in Cherry without the top is beautiful.
Thanks for the compliment! My ’73 Riviera is in pretty bad shape — I wouldn’t want to tarnish the model by posting a pic here 🙂 You can click on my avatar & find it though.
Found it. Any 73 Boattail is better than none at all. I bet yours was a beauty when new. The Green Gold color was kind of neat looking with the tan interior. I like your 73’s. I agree 73 was one of the better GM years. So much style and the designs all seemed to work. Things for GM style and the country as a whole seemed to just go downhill after the Fall of 73. Of course there have been bright spots along the way, but the Fall of 73 seemed to definitely mark the end of the Post World War II optimism. Gas Crisis and Watergate in full swing. The GM designs as a whole just never were as good. Dad had both a 73 and 74 Impala at the same time. The 73 was the much better car.
I began my CC Cohort page just recently, so I only have about three cars on there so far. But one of them is a ’73 Riviera Stage I.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96938568@N08/
You have quite the collection Junqueboi… That is most likely what my driveway would look like if my wife didn’t keep me limited to 2 project cars (one in the garage, one in the driveway max is her rule). I too have a thing for these second gen Firebirds, although I would prefer a 1977-1979 Trans Am with the WS6 package and a 400. I was looking for one when I came across the first of the 60s Mustangs that I have had, and couldn’t pass up the offer. Three Mustangs later, and I still don’t have a TA, but have lived vicariously through a friend that did.
Anyhow, a cool collection of cars. I didn’t know that you also had some Mustangs fraternizing with your Pontiacs…
Alexander, now that is a Riviera! Just wish it did not have the raised white letter tires on it. Now that Mark 3 is splendid also.
You do an article about the Redbirds, yellowbirds, and skybirds and you don’t mention Junqueboi?! A 1978 Skybird was his first car!!! Heresy!
I just KNEW someone had done a writeup recently involving a Sky Bird. How could I have forgotten?
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/auto-biography-of-birds-cats-first-cars-and-growing-up/
Link added – another wrong righted!
You’re all right Mann! 🙂
I am likely the biggest fan of these cars that could ever be! Clicking on my avatar will send you over to Pinterest — “My Car Collection” and “Firebirds” have lots of Ladybirds.
Wow, that is a great collection Joel. Some of my favorite GMs. I especially like that boat tail. I guess because of their age, you don’t have to comply with local emissions laws, and you can tune them however you like? It was because I liked GM so much in the 70s, that I partially forgave them for the 80s. : ) Oh, but was it painful. I see you can accept 80s GMs. Many of them, I still can’t. But I knew there was hope when I first saw the ’92 Bonneville. At the time, I wished they had the snowflakes as a retro tribute option on them.
Thanks for the compliment Daniel. I live in a rural “non-emission” county so I never had to deal with emission tests thank goodness. A few years ago NC eliminated emission testing on pre-OBD2 cars (cars older than 1996) so it’s a moot point 🙂
I’d bet money that’s a redbird. I dated a girl who had a skybird, and it was equipped just like this one as I recall. She fit the car perfectly, Farah Fawcett hairdo and all.
I hope she aged better than these cars do!
If the subject car isn’t rusted out, I’d be all over that for $2,600. Minnesota is just too far away for me though. I still haven’t picked up Skybird #3 yet — it’s 700 miles away in Arkansas — ugh.
As some previous commenters noted, it’s likely the real deal. That gold-tinted instrument panel bezel only came on the Redbirds and Yellowbirds. The Formula wheel could be ordered on any Firebird as could the Snowflakes — even the rare red-trimmed variations. Also, the lower accent color looks dead on, etc. etc.
There was actually a non-running Yellowbird advertised on the Greensboro, NC Craigslist with its top cut off, sitting in a field (open to the elements) but the Barrett-Jackson owner claimed it was “1 of 265 made” and believed it was worth $2,000. Idiot!
There was a ’78 Redbird in Virginia that looked rusty…I almost called…I knew if I looked at it that it would end up in the driveway *sigh*.
Well, my goal was to own one of each color….but now I just want every one I see. By the way, Keith — you rock. Thanks for posting this car. I’m saving these pictures off & love hearing about any Sky/Red/Yellowbird sitings!
Thanks! Always happy to share a rare car sighting.
Might want to hang onto the guy’s number. Perhaps after several months of seeing it sit around (and a fair bit of Minnesota cabin fever setting in), he’ll be in a negotiating mood 🙂
That’s my ’78 Redbird!! Are you interested? I’m definitely in negotiating mood!
Why why WHY did I subscribe to this thread, ugh! YES, I am interested! A ’78 Redbird would complete my Ladybird collection. My username at gmail dot com is how to reach me if you want.
Thanks 🙂
With no slight towards my automotive soul brother Junqueboi, as a red-blooded American male, I cant get excited over cars that were marketed and sold to women. Ive seen a couple of Sky Birds, including one 40K mile original here locally but Ive never seen a Red Bird or a Yellow Bird. Interesting concept for sure, just not as exciting as a Trans Am or Formula. Back in high school I picked up a white ’80 Esprit (very feminine but very cheap) and I immediately spray bombed it black and swapped the V6 out for a souped up junkyard 455. My manhood was at stake.
And now, as then, those cars look odd without a rear spoiler.
Seeing the Red Bird, and your story, reminds me of another car from my youth: a red ’77 Espirit that my old man picked up for a song back when I was 11 or so. Red paint, red cloth interior, Rallye IIs, no T-tops. 350 car with a smokey 307 swapped in (which was promptly yanked in favor of a warmed-over 350 that he’d had laying around).
In this case, the car wasn’t overly feminine (though it was bought primarily for my mother). But I do recall its former owner being the college-aged daughter of the local GM dealer. There was a ’70s style rainbow sticker in the back window; upon its arrival, TASK NUMBER ONE was removing that sticker!
Many stories to tell with that one. The time my mother left a pan of brownies on the roof and pulled out, and the car’s aerodynamics swept them right into the open window and onto my brother’s lap in the back seat. The time she hit the driveway a bit too fast, caught mud, skidded, and rammed the garage door. The time she tried to drive it home with a bad water pump. Yup, there was a reason my dad got her a car of her own… his ’71 Grand Prix might not have survived her kind of driving much longer 🙂
To this day, in our family the term “turn-a-key-Susie” is used to describe a vehicle as being super-reliable and practically bulletproof, enough so that my mother could daily drive it if required 😉
There was a ’70s style rainbow sticker in the back window; upon its arrival, TASK NUMBER ONE was removing that sticker!
I bought my ’89 Camaro RS from a male friend, who was selling it on behalf a female friend of his whom I never met. When one is told that a 20-year-old pony-type car, without meeting the owner, is “one owner, lady driven,” one is naturally suspicious. Yes, it was optioned like a Secretary Special, i.e. not optioned much at all, except for the T-tops and the automatic. But if I thought that it, like most older F-bodies, had been owned by at least one pimply young male in its lifetime, I didn’t want it. But I knew the car’s feminine provenance was for real when I found the plush raccoon (as seen in photo) safety-pinned to the top of the rear seat.
There were also some stupid horizontal tape stripes just above the rocker panels. Not nearly as femme as a rainbow sticker, perhaps, but they had to go just the same.
The third and definitive estrogen signifier was the low-end stereo tuned to a lousy AM pop station.
Photo didn’t attach for some reason.
Sometimes the system won’t attach the picture if it is too big. Shrink it to about 800 pixels and it should go through.
Oh, and I think I know the tape stripes you’re talking about. My cousin Dawn’s first brand-new car was a silver base Cavalier coupe–with the 500% marked-up dealer installed stripe package. They were red and black and kind of swooped up over the rear wheelwell. It had some really bad aftermarket wheel covers on it too–like K-Mart bad–and they were put on by the Chevy dealer!
Still, she drove it for six years, so I guess she got her money’s worth. Traded it for a new teal green Cav Z24–much nicer than the ’90, and no goofy “dealer-added” schtick on it.
LOL Lt Dan, no offense taken! There’s a ’78 Redbird with 350 4bbl (Chevy) and factory 4-speed that occasionally pops up for sale that you’d probably appreciate though. I’d love to have that bad boy but it’s a bit pricey for my tastes.
It’s too bad Pontiac didn’t offer the 400/403 in these things — the fastest Girly-bird would probably be the ’77 model which was the last year of the Pontiac 350 (4bbl) engine.
I’ve had some pretty cool cars over the years, but nothing I’ve ever driven has attracted as much positive attention as the Skybird. Yeah, I’m 42 years old, but hearing “nice car!”, “gorgeous car!” from attractive females* is really a hoot!
* No missing teeth
Yeah there is something about having a car that the ladies say nice car about vs one that guys, particularly young guys, say nice car about. Surprisingly my lowrider Travelall gets comments from the ladies.
What an interesting car, a model I had never heard of. Like an above poster said, I don’t think it was ever marketed in the Great White North.
This one has a very nice interior for the day. With the 350 4bbl and THM350 these cars scooted along very nicely indeed. When gas was like a buck a gallon, nobody cared much.
Where I grew up on Vancouver Island, all Firebirds, be they Esprit or whatever, ended up with the same fate: jacked up in the rear, with wide bias ply “boots” on Cragar mags. There had to be a high-rise manifold, too, and a rough idle cam. Of course, such vehicles tended to live hard lives and were usually painted in dark grey primer. Finally, if you ever got a ride from a guy who had one, you always had to pay gas money.
They were definitely sold here. There were a few running around the Okanagan valley back then. The girl I dated with one came from a pretty well to do family and it was a graduation gift. She always let me ride for free!
Hilarious…especially about the gas money part.. .Funny thing is…these cars look awful to me jacked up in the rear, spoiler or not.
I worked with a guy, yes a guy, who parents told him they would buy him the car of his choice when he graduated college. He picked a “Sky Bird”, and had the dealer install the rear spoiler. The paint was a close, but not perfect match, so it was an obvious add on.
Every stereotype you might be thinking about this guy is absolutely true.
I’d been searching for the source of this story that I vaguely remembered – turns out it came from Ron Kidd over at junkyardlife:
“My story was told to me by a gentleman who grew up in a small northeast Alabama town. The daughter of a bigwig (maybe even the owner) at the local Pontiac dealership was pumped up and excited! She had placed an order for a new Skybird! She found herself having to explain again and again to the crowd of young people at the local hang-outs. No one knew what a Skybird was. Well, one was on the way and it was hers.
“One night she arrived in a brand spanking new 1978 Trans Am. It wasn’t even blue, but it did have a bird on the hood. “Is this a Skybird?” she was asked. “No,” she sadly replied. “We couldn’t get one.” There was some issue with availability and she had to “settle” for a new Trans Am. Poor girl.
“My guess is this was mid-year 1978 and the production of the new Redbird phased out the Skybird package and it was too late to get one. That was the last time that gentleman heard the word “Skybird” until he walked in my office one day and overheard a conversation I was having about one.”
Their post on Ladybirds is now 18 months old. They were seeking commenters to relate their own Ladybird stories, but none chimed in. Still an interesting piece: http://www.junkyardlife.com/2012/05/rons-colorful-firebird-request-we-need.html
Nice find.
One of the families in the neiborhood I lived in growing up had a Redbird. At the time I had no idea what it was. For all I know it oould still be in their garage (I should find out!). They had always been DINKS (dual income no kids), so it was the perfect car for them. I believe a 1990 Maxima SE replaced it as a daily driver.
My 1980 Formula Firebird had the same interior as this car…memories, memories. It also had the same deep red color on the lower part of the body. I’m glad it didn’t have honeycomb wheels – they look like a pain to keep clean.
I have no interest in this car, but the comment thread is a hoot. 🙂 By the time I was in high school, the “Man, some girl gets THAT car but all I got is this POS ____” machine was the 5.0 Mustang convertible.
i’m looking to purchase a skybird to complete my collection. It needs to have a pontiac motor. 301/350 …and idc what else. prefer the 350 and spoiler but i can live with a good body and i can fix the mechanicals like i did my 32000 original mile redbird and restored 80 yellowbird. please email me!!
And I thought that a red bird was a cardinal!
I currently own this car!
Needs lots of love, but the restoration is underway. Keeping it stock.
“We can see what appears to be Roman Red paint (or would that be Mayan Red?), a lower accent stripe on a car that’s clearly not a TA, and red snowflakes. ”
For ’78, the Redbird was painted Roman Red. For ’79, it was changed to Mayan Red. The ’79 Redbird was only member of the ‘Bird series that wasn’t painted an exclusive color. Mayan Red was available on any old Firebird or TransAm.
For both ’78 and ’79, the lower accent color was, surprise surprise, Redbird Red.
There is a still a debate if the snowflakes were painted Roman Red, Mayan Red, or either depending on the ’78 or ’79 model year. That’s because the red snowflakes were an option on Mayan Red non-Redbirds too.
One day at a time.
The finished product. Have put many trouble free miles on her since completion.