(first posted 4/3/2018) During the filming of the ’70s TV detective drama “The Rockford Files”, lead actor James Garner, in the titular role of Jim Rockford, always drove the latest model of Pontiac Firebird Esprit. Granted, Rockford’s ride was finished in Sierra Gold and not black, but with each new season, the model year of his Firebird kept pace… until the fall ’78 season. Reportedly, Garner was aghast at the frontal styling of the ’79 Firebird and insisted on keeping the ’78 in action through the end of this series in January of 1980. The show’s original run had begun in the fall of ’74.
I don’t consider all of my tastes to be outside the mainstream. In fact, I’d say that my preferences generally split the difference between those of a quiet, cerebral, arty type and the dude at the party who just wants to make sure you’re having a good time. With that said, and apparently contrary to the opinions of many, I genuinely like the ’79 Firebird restyle. A lot. Some might try to wreck it for me by saying the front end looks like an anteater or the two Snowths from that famous musical number from “The Muppet Show”. It won’t work. The style of the 1979 – ’81 Firebird, to me, will always look hot.
The timing of its introduction probably has something to do with this. By ’79, the buds on the tree of my car-love had just started to bloom, and the Camaro and Firebird were two of the must fascinating, beautiful, powerful-looking cars, both in my eyes and also in those of many other young kids like me. Taking the elements of this restyle on their own merits, the full-width-look taillamps (which were separated on all models by a central, plastic-covered fuel filler door) were a solid win, or at least a push, compared with the slatted units of the previous design.
The absence of the grille openings in a traditional spot above the bumper line looked positively radical, and I mean that in a good way. Even if this look, when originally conceived, was supposed to include retractable doors over the four headlamp cavities, I like the headlights better exposed, as the production models ultimately turned out. Hindsight may be 20/20, but the somewhat hard slope of that plane on the header panel combined with just a flat surface with cutouts for the headlight doors would have looked far too plain. (I do like the aftermarket smoke-effect headlight cavity covers that many of these cars were fitted with.)
The sight of this car, rounding the northeast corner of Monroe & Wells in the Financial District in The Loop made me wonder about what the story was, here. Was the female passenger impressed with this car? Was the driver trying to do so? One doesn’t take your vintage F-Body out into the city instead of the Camry just to get from Point A to Point B. Had I just maybe witnessed part of an action shoot for a TV program? Regardless, this scene put a huge smile on my face.
Perhaps, somewhere, on a somewhat empty stretch of industrial road in Cook County, Illinois, the driver was able to successfully execute one of James Garner’s / Jim Rockford’s famous “J-Turns” – not that we necessarily advocate that kind of thing here at CC. Still, both the car and this stunt remain two of my favorites. Cue Mike Post’s excellent instrumental theme music, a Billboard Hot 100 top-ten hit in 1975, and fade out.
Downtown, The Loop, Chicago, Illinois.
Wednesday, September 6, 2017.
More superb photography Joseph. These shots have really nice warm tonality to them, but it’s not just that. You capture the car beautifully against the blurred backgrounds.
Rockford is a top five TV theme for me. Fortunately I found the original on a BBC (!) compilation. For any diggers out there, the Daly-Wilson Big Band does a completely hyper full brass version of it that kicks serious butt. Unfortunately the version on YT has some guy drumming to it.
Thanks so much, Don. I’ll admit to a bit of post-processing of these pictures. When I had set out to draft this piece, my first idea was to try to present these pictures as if taken from the late-’70s / early-’80s.
Mike post did a lot of great work with his TV themes. Until just last year, I didn’t know (or had forgotten) that “Magnum, P.I.” initially had a different, jazzy intro than the theme many of us are familiar with.
My grandma used to love “that handsome man” and watched every episode of Rockford on her her bulgy-faced and boomy green n’ white, whilst smoking at a rate to match his on the screen. As a littlie, loved to squat next to her watching stuff my dear parents called “bloody rubbish” (which of course, it bloody was).
I can’t even remember much what Rockford drove, but I just loved it when all the smokin’ and adult plottin’ was done and a chase finally started up, because holy moly, the baddies gigantor US barges rolled and polled and screeched and hubcap-threw and smoked and slid about, and maybe, just maybe, even crashed! Oh, the joy for rubbish. I’d watch now for the same reasons…
Now that you’ve informed me, I must say I’m with Jim. That ’78 is a melty kit-car effort, the gold one pictured is a nice thing from a stylist.
But very nice photos there, as usual.
Justy, I love(d) this show for all the reasons you cited in your second paragraph. “Adult plottin’ ” made me laugh – yes, these episodes had storylines, but I don’t think all of them were half-bad!
Nice photos as usual. Pulling off 4 solid pan shots in short order is impressive.
I will acknowledge that the ’79 front was a well done effort to update an increasingly out of date body, but I much prefer the ’77-’78 look. I do think that other colors worked better since the grills didn’t disappear into a solid monochromatic wall.
I too prefer the ’77-’78 Firebird nose. The ’79 front end had an unfortunate tendency to warp and melt in the hot Florida sun.
James Garner felt the same way. He much preferred the styling of the ’77-’78s. When the restyled ’79 came out he had them put front end clips from ’77 and ’78 models on the new cars and those were what was used in the TV show.
I always thought it was a big odd that the Firebirds Jim Rockford drove were the “Esprit” models. The “Esprit” was the luxury Firebird model and was popular with women. (OTOH, the last few Firebirds Rockford drove were actually Pontiac Firebird Formula models that had the ’77 and ’78 model front end clips and hoods.)
Originally, “Rockford” was to drive a Trans Am, but then James Garner figured a “gumshoe” on spotty income wouldn’t be able to afford one.
Also, a TA would stand out too much on the job. Esprit had nicer interior then the plain jane models.
But Rockford could afford to live on the beach in Malibu. Even in a trailer, that ain’t cheap.
Did they also change the rear panel for the final seasons? Those look like 1977 – ’78 taillamps to me…
Thanks, Dan! I just stood there, pivoted slowly and smoothly, and fired away with my shutter finger. Usually works every time. 🙂
I can imagine that for many who really liked the ’74 Banshee III concept car, and saw some of its themes in the ’77 Firebird restyle, the ’79 – with a completely new and different front end – might have been something of a letdown.
For me, though, the ’79 style was the “new one” I remember from when I first really started paying attention to cars. I would love a ’79 Formula in charcoal gray / silver two tone.
I think any of the two tone schemes where the bumper is a different color than the upper nose being out the best of this design.
Silver/charcoal is great, and I just saw a picture of a blue over light gray that looked pretty nice.
Wonderful action shots.
The last few weeks I’ve been driving by a house with a base, red ‘79 Firebird. It looks great although it’s obviously got a few years on it. Part of me hopes it’s a six cylinder.
Joe you aren’t alone in your appreciation of the header panel of these.
My dad had a ‘79 in gold with a V6 and a 3-speed manual, no center console just a shift boot and carpet. He still has the 3-speed knob with the Pontiac logo in one of his toolboxes. I wonder if there are any like that still around?
Adam, my first new car was a 1979 Firebird. I could not afford the $8000 Esprit’s the local dealer had on the lot, so he ordered me one I could afford. I choose Nocturne Blue with oyster interior. 3.8 V6 w/3 sp manual was base. Still was just over $5000. My future wife said as I was ordering it, “You better get A/C if you still want to date me!”. So, I added A/C, rear spoiler, body colored Rally wheels, white letter tires, AM 8-Track player (no FM) plus a few little things. Came to around $6500. Ordered it and it came in two days before high school graduation. By the way, my girlfriend became my wife and we are still married to this day. I’ll try to post the price sticker soon. $500 well spent for A/C. I found out after searching for years that they made 0.8% 3 speed manuals for 1979, about 1600 total out of the 211,000 Firebirds!
I’ve often wondered how many gold Firebirds that James Garner “sold” for Pontiac?
My favorite was the 1975 model, with it’s well integrated but still visible bumpers and that lovely wrap around rear window, lifted from the ’53 Studebaker Starlight coupe/hardtop.
IMO the second generation Firebird had one of the most attractive & informative dashboards of any 1970’s cars.
I have the entire series on DVD and have watched every episode countless times – my favorite show by far – from the characters to the cars. Had a massive crush on his attorney as his kid (Beth Davenport played by Gretchen Corbett). James Garner apparently had Firebird Formulas for the show, but had them repainted and labeled as Esprits. For the car chases they needed the bigger motor and suspension of the Formula model. When you watch the show, you can often see when the car gets wrecked (a common occurance) it’s an older model, 70-73. I much prefer the 74-78 generation (owned a 76 Esprit for a number of years, regret selling it), although I’m pretty sure 79 or 80 was the highest selling year volume wise. I think the massive popularity of these had more to do with Smokey and the Bandit than The Rockford Files. if I were to guess. I prefer the understated Esprit to the Trans Am, personally.
According to the editors of Consumer Guide, 1979 was the high-water mark for Firebird sales – with close to 211,500 sold for the model year – and over half that figure (117,000) being Trans Ams.
Sales fell off a cliff for ’80, with just around 107,300 sold.
I like both the Esprit and T/A, but the one I’d like to learn more about is the Formula. I always thought that was such a cool name for a submodel. They always seemed like a more serious, less-image conscious choice for a performance car shopper.
Count me as not all that big a fan of the 79 facelift. Though, as pictured here, looking shiny to the point of being liquid, it doesn’t look all that bad. Nowadays, also here in Florida, when you run across a Firebird outside of a car show it is always weathered and faded.
Dan, I seem to remember the “melted” look of the header panel you described, on some examples. If those headlights had been hidden, I wonder if Pontiac / GM engineers would have chosen a different material / composite out of which to make them. I’ll reiterate, though, that I like the headlights exposed.
Great post! In college my wife (then girlfriend) shard a ’76 T/A with her brother, so I got quite a bit of behind-the-wheel seat time in it over several years. It was silver/red with a 400/4-speed.
Decent torque off the line but, like all malaise-era smog-choked motors, ran out of breath in a hurry. Pretty fast for the times, but that wasn’t saying much. The thing I remember most about it was the ultra long, heavy doors that must’ve weighed 300 lbs each (exaggeration, but not by much).
Handling, though, was superb. GM’s excellent variable ratio steering box, BFG T/A tires and relatively thick anti-roll bars gave it lightening quick reflexes, yet it had a decent ride with its variable rate spring and shock tuning. Herb Adams was the best chassis engineer of his day and really knew what he was doing when he developed the T/A suspension package.
Looks-wise I always preferred the Firebird over the the Camaro during this era, but never cared much for the “shovel nose” look starting with the ’76 models. The ’79 T/A front end is my least favorite. Of course, styling is subjective and “YMMV” applies.
Garner was correct.
71-73 maybe best looking sports/sporty car of all time.
74-76 Good looking adoption of 5-mph bumpers
77-78 Batmobile treatment tolerable–barely
79-81 HORRIBLE
I agree on the 70-73 models being near perfect. I always thought the ’76 year was very attractive (I had a ’75 Trans Am). The rest…not so much.
The plastic-covered fuel filler door you wrote about was my pet peeve about this car. Even when they came from the factory it was sagging, not flush with the tail lights, or both.
Ford Granada Syndrome.
I remember the easily-breakable Granada fuel door flaps well, which were on the higher-level Ghia trim only. By 1980 it seemed half of these were missing the flaps. It didn’t help any that pre-facelift models had a bunch of different colors that matched the bodyside molding and (optional but common) vinyl roof, which likely made them more expensive and/or hard to find. Mercury Monarchs (including the base model) were even worse, because while the “Granada” lettering was entirely on the (usually missing) fuel flap, “M O N A R C H” was spread out to the color-matched plastic moldings that flanked it, with only the “N A R” on the flap. This led to many Monarchs having “MO___CH” spelled out below the trunk lid.
My father had a Mercury “MO CH”. 1975 or ’76 with a 302/2bbl. S-L-O-W and handled like an LTD (not in a good way). Couldn’t even break the tires loose.
I wish he had gotten the ’76 Town Car he originally looked at. THAT was a real man’s barge.
I was a big fan of The Rockford Files but have not watched it in decades. I always liked how Garner avoided the decal-covered sexy models for the Esprit model. That was a really good looking car under all the lipstick and makeup as worn on Smokey & The Bandit.
I will join the consensus. I think the 74-76 was really nice – it was as good of an adaptation to the big bumpers as was out there. And your pictures are fabulous, as always.
Maybe it’s just my age, but I never thought about these much differently than the others. I was surprised at all the hate for them here on CC a few years back. I guess I prefer the previous generation a bit more, but I don’t find these ugly either. Would be welcome in my driveway anytime.
Excellent shots and a great find.
I give Pontiac a lot of credit for refreshing the Firebird’s styling through the years (more than Chevy did with the Camaro). The Firebird did a great job integrating the 5 mph bumpers front and rear (probably the best of all GM models) for ’74. And Pontiac took the lead on the smoother “aero” look for ’79–the new nose was very contemporary and fresh, even if not universally loved. That said, My favorite Firebird “face” was the ’77 – ’78.
For some reason, even though it was the low-performance, brougham-tastic seventies, Pontiac managed to keep ‘excitement’ alive, mostly via the Firebird and always well-styled Grand Prix. Rockford’s gold, whitewall festooned, low-key Formula-disguised Espirit was surely part of that, maybe even more than Burt Reynolds’ Trans Am.. It’s one of those things that anyone of any age with interest in automobiles in the seventies can instantly identify to the point that seeing ‘any’ gold, non-Trans Am or Formula seventies Firebird immediately brings the name, “Rockford” to mind.
For the most part, the seventies sucked, but The Rockford Files didn’t. A really great (and quite sad) reminder of how times have changed is the trailer that Rockford supposedly lived in next to the beach. Yeah, that’s not happening in today’s Los Angeles.
One of my favorite cars of the ‘70’s paired with one of my favorite shows of the period. I like the 1974-76 models the best and agree a solid case can be made for the relatively understated looks of the Esprit. However, my inner demons (redneck?) would absolutely insist on a ‘75-‘76 Trans Am in Silver with a black interior!
Great photos and I agree that things starred going downhill with the Firebird in 1977, especially the Trans Am. Like an aging movie star piling on the make-up in an attempt to stay relevant. Even more annoying was that quality control also suffer horribly in the final years. My favorite was always the Firebird 400. Most of the T/A goodies in an understated package.
Terrific shots. So much better than sitting still. Maybe we should change our name to In-Motion Classics?
Thanks so much, Paul. These pictures were another case of being in the right place at the right time. I think I remember hearing the exhaust reverberate under the L tracks, which put me on alert that something cool was coming.
Lovely photo – to me this ‘Bird looks like a resto-mod, though; I think it’s the wheels and something about its stance.
I guess I am the outlier, I like the 79-81 Firebird and think it is the most attractive of the 2nd generation.
Prior to the 77-78 and the 79-81 facelifts, the cars looked like warmed over Camaros (especially the ones with no spoiler on the rear deck lid)
The Camaro by contrast hung out with outdated round headlights till the 2nd generation was axed in 1981
Leon, apparently, we are the outliers!
The final iterations of the 2nd generation Camaro and Firebird seemed the most differentiated from each other, so I completely agree with you. I am also a fan of the 1978 – ’81 Camaro, too – but (if this makes any sense at all), I like it in a different way than I do the 1979 – ’81 Firebird. Same platform, similar cars, but to me, two different flavors.
The 2nd gen Camaro was an attractive car also
The trouble with the Rockford Firebirds for me is that they did not have the rear spoiler. The 2nd generation Firebird is one of those rare cars that actually look unfinished without a rear spoiler. Where as a lot of cars have a spoiler on them that looks like an afterthought, the Firebird needs one to be complete.
I love the back drop of the Chicago L. It is pretty cool to see something from the 1890’s still in use and to see the Victorian era metal work of the columns next to modern buildings.
Chicago used to have a nice street car system that flourished until the early 1950’s when a Chicago street car (called a Green Hornet) crashed into a gas tanker on State Street and killed a lot of folks.
I’m with Rockford, I would have stayed with the ’78 too.
When these first appeared for ’79, I did not care for them preferring the Smokey and the Bandit look of the 77-78 models. But this look grew on me and now I think I like it the best, especially in black like that; Trans Am or Formula. The 74-76 look in Esprit configuration is also a favorite for me. There was a series of posts here a while back featuring a beautiful red Esprit (’74 if memory serves) that was purchased and fixed up. That was a really nice looking car.
Joseph: As always, awesome shots! – You have a gift, sir.
My ex-wife when we were dating had an ’81 Camaro with the lame 265 engine, but the car was fun to drive, especially with the T-Tops off. It wasn’t a Berlinetta, but it sure looked like one; painted in that darkish blue with a tan interior and matching pin stripes. The Berlinetta was ok, but I think I prefer its sister car, the Esprit.
Oh, and the Rockford Files: Yeah, I watched that every week while it originally aired. I haven’t seen it in decades, though. And Mike Post was THE MAN when it came to TV Theme Music. I only like John Williams better as a soundtrack man, but that’s like comparing apples and oranges.
Correction… “lame 267cid V8 engine” in the wife’s Camaro Berlinetta wannabe.
Oh, and the ’74 Esprit I mentioned above was our own Aaron65’s car…..
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/the-very-many-cars-of-my-life/coal-update-1974-pontiac-firebird-esprit-the-praise-of-fun/
Beautiful.
My ’79 Malibu has the 267 engine. I don’t find it particularly slow for it’s time. Actually when it was new it seemed like a pretty good runner. That is probably because with the four speed manual it just seemed that way. Of course the V6 in my 2009 Mustang can outrun it. Trust me, even thought the Malibu has given me very little trouble over the years, if I had it to do over again I would have gone for the bigger V8.
That engine wasn’t awful, just slower than I thought a V8 Camaro should be. Of course, hers was an automatic, although she could drive a stick. We later got a Turbo Coupe and she could drive the hell out of it. ;o)
Perhaps your Malibu is also lighter than her Camaro. A buddy of mine around that time had an IROC Z with the 305, and that felt a lot lighter to me than her Camaro of the previous generation.
You could be right about the weight thing. I never thought about that. Another reason I just thought about that might have made it seem fast is the fact that the car I traded in on it was a 4 cylinder , 4 speed Mustang II with AC. It was no ball of fire. The day I took delivery of the Malibu was the day after we returned from a trip to Florida from Southern Indiana in that Mustang II. That was me, wife, 6 year old and baby along with clothes, etc. for 12 days. The Malibu seemed like a limo with a Hemi after that trip!
The 1978-83 Malibu was indeed lighter than the F-body cars, especially when V8 equipped. Typical Malibu V8 curbweight was in the 3250-3300 LBS range and the F-body cars were generally 3500 plus with a V8. When equipped with the 267 the A/G body cars had a comical highway geared 2.29 rear end and the F-body and full sized cars used a 2.56. Stick shifted 1979 A body may have used a 2.73 but I would have to verify that for sure so felt quicker than the automatic equipped cars.
Also note that the 267 went from 125 HP and 215 torque in 1979 down to only 115/200 for 1981 so performance suffered a bit. Even still it made 30-35 more torque than the Chevy 229 of the same time period so was better to drive in day to day driving. The 305 for sure was the way to go if you wanted power and decent MPG as long as you didn’t frequent the secondaries.
I worked at a Chevrolet dealership in 1981 and I pondered the reason for the 267 V8. It had only a few more hp than the V6. I don’t have torque ratings so maybe thats the reason? Maybe customers demanded a V8 no matter the output. “Hey, it DOES have a V8, no six cylinder for me!”
Yeah, the 267 in the Malibu wasn’t terrible. For the time, anyway. I had a ’79 267 and then an ’82 229, and even though the difference in rated HP was only 15 and rated torque 35 or so, the “butt dyno” registered a discernible difference in acceleration.
Retro-Stang Rick, your ex’s ’81 Camaro almost-Berlinetta, in that dark blue with the chamois interior and T-tops, sounds like something I’d want today for just a Saturday cruiser. I was searching classifieds a few years back, and you’d be surprised what a deal could be had on a late 2nd-gen Camaro equipped with one of the lesser engines.
And thanks RE: the photos.
I loved driving that car with the T-Tops off during the spring. Having never had a convertible, but always wanting one, this was a great place to be when the weather turned nice.
The only real downside (besides the V8 I mentioned to Rick above, that didn’t really seem any faster than my Essex powered ’83 T-Bird at the time) was the color keyed wheels. Don’t get me wrong… I absolutely loved the look of them.
But the downside to those wheels were the center caps which we locally referred to as “popcorn caps”. These were so easy to pop off that they were FREQUENTLY stolen. I used to buy them in bulk and keep them in the trunk for when they would “disappear”.
My mechanic at the time used to have a similar Camaro, and told me the story of how he tried to fix that problem of easy theft. He screwed them into the wheels somehow. He came out of a store one day to find his popcorn caps gone, and laying there on the ground, neatly arranged by his tires, were the screws. The thief was even thoughtful enough to make sure the screws were placed such that they wouldn’t result in a flat tire. How nice….
I’m open to negotiation on the front when it comes to 79/81 vs older but the hidden taillights on the 79-81 cannot be beat!l
Yeah I’m not the hugest fan of the 79 nose, but I do feel its taillight panel was the best of them all. Ironically though, this example doesn’t have them, being a base and not a Formula or T/A, the all red standard versions weren’t near as attractive.
While I like the front of the ’79 Firebird I have to say that I prefer the ’77-’78 .
As to Rockford, I didn’t get to see most of the episodes during their original airing due to the time slot. I caught them all a few years later when they were rerun. I became an instant fan and have remained so ever since. In fact, it is my all time favorite TV show. I visited California for the first time in 1981 and made it a point to find the filming location. We even had lunch at the Sandcastle restaurant. Later I walked over the ground where the trailer was always parked. Of course this was after the series was cancelled. In 1996 we visited the area again but couldn’t go down to the restaurant because they were filming one of the TV movies. I did get a glimpse of the Firebird, though.
Needless to say, I have all the episodes on DVD.
My Dad worked out of town all week, so after supper on Friday nights he would take a nap on the couch and Mom would watch Rockford. She told me that every time the phone rang at the start of the show, Dad would wake up and look for the phone.
While I like the front of the ’79 Firebird I have to say that I prefer the ’77-’78 .
As to Rockford, I didn’t get to see most of the episodes during their original airing due to the time slot. I caught them all a few years later when they were rerun. I became an instant fan and have remained so ever since. In fact, it is my all time favorite TV show. I visited California for the first time in 1981 and made it a point to find the filming location. We even had lunch at the Sandcastle restaurant. Later I walked over the ground where the trailer was always parked. Of course this was after the series was cancelled. In 1996 we visited the area again but couldn’t go down to the restaurant because they were filming one of the TV movies. I did get a glimpse of the Firebird, though.
Of course, I have the whole series on DVD.
My dad worked out of town all week. On Friday evenings after dinner he would take a nap on the couch and Mom would watch Rockford. She told me that every time the phone rang at the start of the show Dad would wake up and try to answer the phone.
A friend bought a ’79 Formula with the 6.6/4 spd in Bright Blue. Always liked that car- all the chassis pieces that made a T/A go and handle as well as it did, without looking quite so… overwrought. I’ve often wondered what happened to that car, since I’d love to have it now.
My younger brother had a Smokey and the Bandit clone but I like these too. These cars just bring back so many good memories.
Jim Rockford’s Firebird was the only exception to my “Whitewalls on a car? Yuck!” rule.
I watched the Rockford Files from the first episode in 1974 (when I was 9 years old) all the way through the end in 1980. I don’t want a “Bandit” clone, I’ll take a “Rockford” clone!
I agree on the whitewalls except for maybe cars of the ’50’s. I noticed that on the pilot episode that the car had raised white letter tires. Just not the same effect. The color was a little different, too. I once read that they decided to mix up a custom gold color for the series because they thought Pontiac might change color options over the years. All the cars, except maybe the pilot car, were painted the same color that differed slightly form the gold offered in 1974.
Rockford’s car is my all time favorite TV hero car.
You picked several of my favorite topics!
First, I feel strongly that James Garner simply the best. He gave his fans a strong character each and every movie or show. He could handle a car very well, and he was a sharp business man. But the best was-he did his job, talked to his fans, and once he was home his family was it.
Second, I don’t hate the 79-81 Birds, I would always the 77-78. Probably because I’m OCD! More seriously, I don’t see any thought put forth into changing the front and rear appearance. So many nicer drawings exist, so I’ll presume the bean counters said no to anything to radical (to be read costly)
Finally, the J turn. I’ve always heard it called a “Rockford “
but Garner tells people more than once that he didn’t invent this maneuver, and credits the rum runners. I think that shows that he didn’t want to be high and mighty.
The real question for the readers is: have you done a Rockford , and in what?
I’ll go first…. A few times… once with my 75 Caprice, once in my 77 Cutlass; both of which were relatively uneventful.
Then, my brain left me and tried it in a 1976 Lincoln Mark IV!! Whew buddy, you’d better have extra road and threw hands on the wheel!
I have done a J turn a few times. I live in a small town but in 2020 I started seeing news reports of people in the city ending up running into a riot and getting pulled out of their cars and beaten or getting their cars destroyed. I thought that even though I rarely venture into a city and always pay attention to my surroundings, anything can happen. So I watched a how to video on youtube and taught myself how to do it in our church parking lot on the edge of town. It was easier than I thought in my 2009 Mustang even with a manual transmission. I did get overzealous one time and got going too fast and my hand slipped on the wheel. I did a complete 360! I wish I had that on video. Anyway it was early in the morning when it was still dark. My headlights painted all the surrounding houses. I performed it a second time without any problem and then I decided that it was time to go home before someone called the Sheriff.
I will say that your front tires sure don’t like it and I also wonder if that is the reason that last year I had to replace both front hubs. I haven’t practiced it lately but know I could use it if the situation ever arose.
I for one love the 79 nose and tail. I had a subscription to Car and Driver and in 79 they tested one in gold with the 400 CI Pontiac V8. It made a lasting impression on 11 year old me. But to think that stock even my little Honda could dust it in a stoplight duel….Better to live in the rose tinted view of nostalgia.
Rose colored view of nostalgia? Compare a 1979 Honda car to the 1979 TA/Formula for a more apples vs apples comparison. Apples to apples.
Or a late model hondawhatever to the present successors of the V8 sports coupes. Mustangs, 6th gen Camaros. Apples to apples.
Skewing the comparisons to make an apples vs. turnips comparison is dishonest.
I prefer the 1977 and 1978 Firebird nose. The Esprit model with whitewalls was more suitable for Rockford’s character in the show. Watched all his episodes growing up at that time, and understood he did a lot of his own “wild” driving scenes like that 180 degree reverse to forward in one continuous motion. Buddy had a new 1981 Black Formula Firebird w/ T-Roofs at that time, great handler, as I was told it had the “Formula” handling suspension, had all the right sounds, but by then only had a 305-4V, so performance was as expected. Attracted undeserved attention by the police probably just due to its shiny black colour one time, pulled over for a suspected call of squealing tires in the area when it wasn’t us. Looked up driv. license in their system, would have found prior clean history, then let us go. Early days of police profiling.