Great video, but you missed an opportunity to talk about this significant evolutionary change in Pontiac engine design. The RAII engine (Firebird and GTO) is easily spotted by looking at the cylinder heads -- even if you don't know the code (96). This was the very beginning of the round port Pontiac era (1968 RAII - 1974 SD455). The head casting has wider exhaust ports and appears straight as opposed to the "pinched" D-port casting. Therefore, exhaust manifolds will not interchange (between D port and round port). Also, the intake port was taller but that is not externally discernible. Also, the the 041 cam makes its first appearance with the RAII (but only on manual transmission cars), however it uses 1.5 rocker arms vs the later RAIV 1.65 rockers. There were other internal valve train changes -- better valves, larger diameter pushrods, stronger springs, etc., all to support a 6,000 rpm max engine speed. Plus pistons were forged aluminum in the RAII.
My neighbor had 2 of these back in 1980. One as a hotrod and one exactly like this one. A genuine old lady car with very low miles and everything original. He said he'll never change a thing on that car.
Almost the spitting image of my 68 Firebird. To get that kind of performance, I replaced the 350 engine and two speed automatic tranny, with the 400 Ram Air III engine and turbo 400 tranny out of a wrecked 1969 GTO Judge. Sleeper car all the way, especially with its 12.85 @ 112 mph in the 1/4 mile. Thanks for highlighting this beautiful and rare car, ..Doug and Kevin!
@@terry-zi7ehYep, that deep metallic green is beautiful. I traded in my 1964 Olds 442 (I'm still kicking myself about that) to get my Firebird, just after I got married in 1971. Other than the original "cruiser drive train", mine had a black vinyl top, console and bucket seats. We lived in Newark Calif. and just a few miles from Fremont Drag strip ...and to tell the truth.. after I replaced the engine/tranny, I was never beat while racing on the street or by any stock production muscle car while on the 1/4 mile.
@@terry-zi7eh Yea, they're both great cars. The GTO had longer development time, with a bigger engine and offered an optional 3 x 2 intake. While the 442 was Oldsmobile's response to the GTO but in spite of the smaller 330 engine, having a single 4 bbl carb on both cars, the 442 was actually faster in the 1/4 mile. Mine had the 330 Rocket engine w/B09 option (dual snorkel air cleaner, hotter cam and 10.5:1 "Ultra High Compression") ..320 HP was listed on a decal on the air box and performance was actually really good, it ran 15 flat at Fremont drag strip.
Benevolent Protector Wow, the HO 330 was rated at 310, I did not know there was another option above it. And faster than a Ram Air III? It’s so cool to hear from guys like you who owned and drove the cars. I just read about and lusted after them.
Man I miss Pontiacs . This Firebird is a fine example .Rare, original. This car has it all..talk about a sleeper. Looks like a blast to drive . Love seeing cars like this one . Thanks for bringing this to us . And keeping these fine American pieces of machinery alive
Gary C. Man, they are great. I have a 68 ra3 400. Came stock with 345 ho and 450 ft/lbs. it’s a beast. Especially with a cam and adjustable valve train.
Robert LaPointe it’s a #16 head. Bored .60 over. 412 ci. Headers, ra4 cam, adhustable valvetrain, 7/16 screw in studs, full headers, performer intake, 800 cfm edelbrock carb. Will smoke tires in second and chirp third gear. All with a mismatched stall converter. A bunch of stuff I’m forgetting. Had it since I was 17. I’m 40. My daily driver is a modded Subaru wrx about 340 hp. I love both but in different ways. Lol.
Now that's a really cool Pontiac ! I rebuilt an engine out of a 67 black Firebird with a 400 and 4 speed a couple of years ago it was a California car and had all of the smog options still on it . The man it belonged to bought it new when he was working in California , he drove it a couple of years and got a company car so he parked it in the garage for many years . We actually just freshened the engine with rings , bearings , timing components , oil pump and cam and lifters . Ran like a sewing machine . Still had all of the original paint and interior but the top had dried out really bad . It was a beautiful car .
My best friend in high school (late 70's) had one of these in a beautiful brown color. The 4 speed had a center console. The only mods we made to it was to bolt on a set of Hooker headers. This car was the fastest car I had/have ever ridden in! Phoenix was a muscle car mecca back then and Central Avenue was rated by Hot Rod magazine as the number 1 city in the U.S. for cruising. We won every drag race we ever ran and beat some well-built big-blocks. When we told those guys we were running a stock 400 motor, they couldn't believe it! Fine times!!
To Pontiac diehards like myself, the Ram Air II is our "L-88". More than ready to compete with the L78 Camaro SS. Available only for half a year, & discouraged by dealers (who wanted you to buy a H.O. off the lot). A Pontiac legend.
I owned a 1968 Firebird HO it was a 350 and 320 hp with 4 speed. Loved that car! When I got it it had 100,000 + miles. After a year or so I found it had a bad cam so I put a Manley with the same specs as the first Ram Air and it would run. Before I sold it I did rebuild that 350 you could drop the clutch at 4000 and it would fly. Same color as the one here.
Truman Fields was one of the first racers to make a mark with these cars, in Stock Eliminator. Later, Jim Mino dominated Pure Stock Drag racing for a number of years with one of these. These cars where truly more than met the eye.
Love the early Firebirds. Recently I was at Walmart and saw a black primered 69 driving around the parking lot. I noticed it had faded red 428 badges on the side of the hood scoops, knowing they did not put 427's in Camaros back then I figured someone just stuck the badges on. I did some research later and found out a couple of dealerships, one on the east coast and one in the mid west, had actually installed 428's in Firebirds back in the day and they only sold maybe 50 or so. I'd seen a very rear car that day and was too ignorant at the time to know it.
I had a 68 firebird for 15 years. Was by far the most kickass car I ever owned. Got divorced. Had nowhere to keep it. I ended up selling it but to this day I still have the pictures of it in my office and I’ve never stopped missing it. Great video. Makes me reminisce about the past.
In 1977 I had a 69' triple green Firebird with a 400cid big block Catalina engine with a 4bbl carb. Sold it to go to college, to my brother, he kept it 20 yrs. Man I miss that girl.
I owned 1 of the 1968 Firebird 400 back in 1971. Mine had bucket seats with a 3 speed Hurst shifter. Exact same beautiful color, green metallic. It was fast...would get to 100 in 2nd gear, before shifting to 3rd. I won a lot of races in my home town. And my home town was full of fast cars back then. I miss that car so bad.
I had my mother order me one when I was in Vietnam in June 1968. I wrote her a letter and told her what options I wanted on it. I still have the original dealer order for the car but don't have the VIN . Mine was night shade green. As far as I know it was the only one that color produced. It had the 3:90 gear with positrac, close ratio 4 spd, am radio and the handling package. It was very fast and I raced it in pure stock at Indianapolis Raceway Park since I live in Indy. Beating street hemis was my goal and did it many times. I have four photos of it. I always wondered what happened to it.
I have a 68 with a parchment strato bench seat.... trim code 275 special order. Most people wanted buckets understandably but I think the bench seat is the way to go... armrest is great while cruising.
I had a 1968 Firebird but not one of these. I had a 350 HO, bucket seats, 4 speed, same, color vinyl top, white interior. It had over 100k when I got it and eventually I rebuilt the 350 I loved that car and I ended up selling it for a pittance when I had to move. It was fast.
This video reminded me that a friend of mine had a new 68 Firebird that was a in-line 6 cylinder with an overhead cam, 4 speed and a 4 barrel quadrajet . I don't remember other details about the engine but at the time I had never seen a 4 barrel on a 6 cyl. It ran pretty good and the exhaust had a unique sound. I just wonder if it would be a rare find now-a-days? I haven't seen one since. The option package was named "sprint' or something like that.
I used to own a '64 Buick Riviera 401/A3 that I thought was fast. A green 1967/68 Firebird blew my doors off at a stoplight. I became a Pontiac fan that day. I later ordered and bought a green 1994 Firebird Trans Am GT, 300 HP LT1, M6, that Ran low 14's, that I still own. :)
Had to watch this episode as I had a 1968 firebird when I was 19, same exact color green to boot but mine was a 350CI with a 2 speed power glide trani and bucket seats. Always smelled uniquely like an old Pontiac when you got in the car, anyone who has had one of these late 60's cars know that smell I refer to. I probably should have kept it looking back.
400s and 455s tend to break 4 speeds, Th400s are faster and hold up much better than Muncie M20/21 4 gears. The weak suck chevy feels faster because you can dump the clutch and you need deep gears, but a Pontiac likes a highway gear and around a 2200 stall. I've gone mid 11s with a 3.42 gear and a 1900 stall in a 3900lb car, with a very mild 224/228 cammed 455. Bottom 12s with a very mild 400 is super easy using the same gears and stall. I'll chop down the tree with a 4 gear, but they don't live long behind my engines, gotta granny shift them. A Th400 or Th350 takes lots more abuse for lots longer, and they cost me less than $300 to rebuild, vs $1200+ for a broken 4 gear. Yeah, I build my engines and transmissions. My 3 speed autos will rip your head off.
@Moon Pie an M22 is considerably more rare and quite different from the M20/21 and the Super T-10 that came in most 4 speed cars, that makes them more expensive and harder to find. They only came in round port cars. The saginaw that came in most chevys can be shattered within an afternoon behind a mild 455. I have only ever seen one in the wild. The Th350 is stronger than all but the M22 and the Th400 is stronger than the M22, and with a couple inexpensive mods, stronger than a TKO600 if it isn't already, some Th400s behind chevys were almost as weak as a Th350, fewer friction and steels in the clutch packs because the low torque chevy doesn't need more.. The BOP Th400 is stronger than all the chevy versions, and the 427/454 versions were about equal if they were in trucks. Then you have torque multiplication from the converter, and a manual doesn't have that. A converter can turn 500ftlbs at the flexplate into 1000ftlbs at the input shaft, which is why autos don't need as much rear gear as a manual to be faster. When your engine doesn't have much bottom end, like a 350 sbc, its kinda moot. With a 400 or 455 Pontiac, it makes a big difference. Like 11.50s with a 3.42 gear and a 2200 stall. Considerably more driveable than a 4.33. It might have lost a tenth with a 3.08 gear or run the same, never got to try it. I enjoy ripping through the gears, but driving something I can break easily without thousands in mods, makes me far less prone to want to put a manual in. Getting an OD means spending $3k at least, and I can put a built 700R4 or 2004R in for $800, and it will be faster.
@@SweatyFatGuy Very true, I was forced to switch my M-20 out of my 68 over to a cast iron case Borg Warner super T-10 with a 2:88 first gear ( out of 74 super Duty Trans Am), then blew out every clutch disk & pressure plate I tried until I had Hays build me a custom sprung hub 4 paddle bronze disk with a 3,600 pound plate. Then I twisted the drive shaft up & built a chrome molly extra tick wall shaft with Hemi U joints , then blew out the BOP 10 bolt 8.2 posi rear and replaced it with a 12 bolt and 4:11s Needless to say with 255/70/15s on 8 inch rims Pontiac rally rims the 400 is in the low11:s but after 46 years I still own the car, and it's a convertible with no frame connectors so it's a real hand full !.
The only difference between the standard 400 in a Firebird and a GTO was a throttle stop on the carb to keep the lighter Firebird within GM’s HP to weight ratio regulation that was for all cars except the Corvette. One could simply cut it off and gain 10HP. But I don’t know if the Ram Air II carb had a throttle stop as well? Easiest and a very nice mod to have!
Everyone new this and bent the stop till secondaries were WOT. I had same year same color w/Pmd mags that when engine blew I put a RAIV engine in. Plenty in the junkyards in totaled cars. With biased ply tires and all that torque they were like drift cars. This Green wasn't my first choice but every time I see one all those memories come back. Awesome car !
69' Firebird 400 ,Ram Air III,, Auto, pwr seats, trunk release. My first car.....paid 900$ for it as a 15yr. Old kid. Great memories, started my love affair with Pony/Muscle cars ever since.
My friend growing up had a 68 VERADO green paint, Black vinyl top, 4- speed and 3.91gears. It handle like a sports car should. Great car in its day. Not much could beat it. Kind of a sleeper! Nothing fancy except the hood was ram air. It should have given it away. Shawn
My first car back in 1984 was a 72 Pontiac Catalina with the 400 in it. That was a 4 door land yacht with only a 2bbl carb,and I dusted irocs,rustang gts and almost everything i raced against, it really was that fast. Man,imagine that engine with go fast goodies in a car half as light with 2 more barrels in the carb and dual exhaust and a 4 speed, wow,a rare bird indeed!!! ▪☆☆☆▪
My Dad had a Ram Air II car it was the same color, Automatic with bucket seats, it was loaded power everything! Had the Tach on the hood... Mom locked the motor up in it and he sold it for $75
My top Firebird choice. This machine has the Ram air 2 heads that what I see is an early set with the center ports not cast with the '96'. You should check with Pontiac Historical Service and see if this car came with F70-14 whiteline tires. Neat to see it with resonators to muffler the exhaust tone. Does it still have 3.90 factory gears or 4.11 or 4.33 dealership-installed units? Thinking of installing a set of factory-option red Koni shocks? The only gripe is the aftermarket antenna mast instead of an elliptical mast with a "Chicklet" tip! A great example of a sleeper that everyone missed! I've searched for decades for RA 2 parts
Love the car my dad gave me mine in high school 1978 I gave it to my oldest son he's had it now about 10 years still looks great runs great he loves it I told him if he ever decides to get rid of it to give it back hahaha don't think that'll happen
Friggen nice! More details please! “Well engineered”? He’s talking more than a special engine it sounds like. This sleeper would be wonderful to spend a little more time on! Compression? Heads? Muncie? Closer look inside? I loved the bench seat mention. This rarity deserves a little better explanation. When he repeats himself on how well the “package” drives that’s a hint. I’m betting F41 or equivalent? Not fair!
My very first car was a 1968 Pontiac with 350 and a powerglide I miss it greatly it was taken from me in 1985.I was low. I'd like to have this year and model sitting in my garage
My first car was a 1968 400 4 speed firebird. I bought it from My uncle for 400 dollars. It was a great cool car. I put a BBC 468 , tunnel ram, dual 4 barrels. I flipped it end over end 7 times and then it rolled a couple times. She was undefeated in her street racing career. I miss that car. I now have a 1975 firebird with a 73 front clip, ram air hood and a 1972 455H.O, 4 speed. Cool but not a 68.
I know where there's one of this car's twin, North St in Bristol Vermont,the sad thing is,is its lived it's whole life in Vermont, and it's been parked on grass for 35 years but it has a lot of good parts on it still other than the frame
My first car was a 67 Firebird w a small block Chev in it was that way when I got it. Was originally a Sprint 6 column shift glide w bench seat. I was 15 and it was $350.00. Always loved Firebirds and Pontiacs. This was GM coolest division. Always nicer than a comparable Chev. Love the front and always loved the taillights . Just a cool car all around.
That's one rare beast for sure! The Ram Air 2 was only available for a few months during '68, sort of a stop gap solution until the Ram Air 4's became available in 1969. Awesome looking car though, no doubt about it.
Ford blue runs in my veins, but my heart has always had a soft spot for Dodge/Plymouth. The last few years, I've seen more and more Firebirds being bought back from obscurity. I think this is great Kevin. Especially when the retinas of my eyes suffered damage from the image of Camaro's the last 40+years.
I had one I bought new in 1968 it was the same Verdoro Green color , had 4:33 rear end , bucket seats no tach in the hood like this one , It was too much car for the tires and suspension , it had unbelieveable wheel hop . It still turned 13"70 at National Trails in Ohio straight from the factory. It ran D pure stock and beat everything in the class easily. Most of the ones I saw were that crappy orange color and no where near as fast as mine , I think they probably had that 390 gear. I wonder what that car would be worth today? I got drafted and had to sell it. and yes the engine package was 600 plus dollars on top of the price of the car. My brother in law bought a 400 the previous year and I loved it , and he suggested I buy this one. So, you guys are pretty much on the money, he was a die hard Pontiac guy. I remember a guy many years ago who had one that turned 12s with not much work done, maybe slicks and headers uncapped, I think his name was Trueman
In 1990-91 an older friend had the same green, black interior but buckets, 400 RAII 4spd firebird coupe. He bought it for $12k in pristine condition and immediately had it professionally repainted a blue with metallic flake in it. Body needed no work, just paint prep. He traded it to another local for his Dodge Demon Duster 340 4spd car which was hemi orange black interior. Excellent condition but lots of motor work. The firebird I liked much better.
I raced almost every sunday for 2 seasons , my best time was 13: 70 or 73 and I was bunny hopping the first 100 yards. The only track I went to was National Trails , maybe somewhere like California where the track was stickier it would hook up , mine never did except once on a new asphalt in the middle of the day , I was sure I pulled the front wheels . If they didn't get off the ground ,it was really close, because I had never felt anything like it before and that car would pull your head back pretty good on takeoff.
any Pontiac enthusiast who doesn't like this pure dream machine,needs their head testing.JZD,when he finally got into the F-car program,came up with a winner.sure,it shares sheet metal with the Camaro,but given the choice,a zee 28 or a Firebird 400 Ram Air 2,i know what i'd chose,and it's built by PMD.
@MaxxRPM given the same mods, the Camaro. It would take the RPMs. The RA II could not. Add headers to both and as nearly the same gearing and slicks. That Camaro had best not snooze or hesitate on a gear change or over rev it too far. Game over Firebird gets the win. On your game, Camaro, but not by a run and hide margin. They were a tight race.
Great car. I’ve owned two ‘68 Firebirds. Nicer than the first Gen Camaro and I always liked having the only ‘68 Firebird at the show and shines while there were always a half a dozen ho hum Camaros.
Car i s awesome !! In '77 i had a chance to buy a nice '68 400, auto but i think it was just the standard mill (still hauled ass, though :). It would have taken alot of my savings so i passed. Price ? $1400. Those were the days.
way long on burnouts, but way short on facts. I knew a guy in college that had a red convertible variant of one of these. He babied it, until one day he demonstrated to me what it could do. I've always thought this was a really cool looking car. Perfectly understated, and impressive when you pushed it.
It would have been nice if you would have showed what made the Ram Air II so special. It clearly had a special hood on it which accounted for some of the price.
Ok, my first car in 1982 was a 1968 Firebird RA2. I bought it for $650 with a blown up motor. I was in high school and towed the car to auto shop class. Took it apart and discovered the cam shaft was cut into three pieces by a spun rod. Shop teacher laughed his butt off. So now for the really bad news. I stripped it a few years later to build a convertible that I had bought for $150. I did not realize what I had until later. The heads, exhaust and the ram air was all there before I stripped it. It was a 4 speed with 390 rear. I was young and stupid. When my parents moved, the shell of the car was left behind for the scrappers. I apologize to the car gods.
every car I've come across in the last twenty years in this hobby is rare… and that my friends, is so rare. It's like the rarest of the rarest when it comes to awareness of rareness situations. One car even had a scratch from factory. It was a ‘one of one’, with the same scratch from factory - amazing really… that it was the only one with that scratch (in that color (with a four speed (and bench seat))). Pretty rare I'd say! They didn't duplicate the scratch but they documented it, incase you want to replicate it. Unfortunately, they never listed the reserve at auction. The pictures were apparently priceless to the owner. He decided to hold on to it longer, as he'd developed sentimental value over the year he'd owned it. I keep missing out on all these good buys. Any advice how I can acquire one of these rare breeds?
Great video, but you missed an opportunity to talk about this significant evolutionary change in Pontiac engine design. The RAII engine (Firebird and GTO) is easily spotted by looking at the cylinder heads -- even if you don't know the code (96). This was the very beginning of the round port Pontiac era (1968 RAII - 1974 SD455). The head casting has wider exhaust ports and appears straight as opposed to the "pinched" D-port casting. Therefore, exhaust manifolds will not interchange (between D port and round port). Also, the intake port was taller but that is not externally discernible. Also, the the 041 cam makes its first appearance with the RAII (but only on manual transmission cars), however it uses 1.5 rocker arms vs the later RAIV 1.65 rockers. There were other internal valve train changes -- better valves, larger diameter pushrods, stronger springs, etc., all to support a 6,000 rpm max engine speed. Plus pistons were forged aluminum in the RAII.
My neighbor had 2 of these back in 1980. One as a hotrod and one exactly like this one. A genuine old lady car with very low miles and everything original. He said he'll never change a thing on that car.
Almost the spitting image of my 68 Firebird. To get that kind of performance, I replaced the 350 engine and two speed automatic tranny, with the 400 Ram Air III engine and turbo 400 tranny out of a wrecked 1969 GTO Judge. Sleeper car all the way, especially with its 12.85 @ 112 mph in the 1/4 mile. Thanks for highlighting this beautiful and rare car, ..Doug and Kevin!
Benevolent Protector Sounds like a great car. Was it Verdoro green? My favorite color from those years.
@@terry-zi7ehYep, that deep metallic green is beautiful. I traded in my 1964 Olds 442 (I'm still kicking myself about that) to get my Firebird, just after I got married in 1971. Other than the original "cruiser drive train", mine had a black vinyl top, console and bucket seats. We lived in Newark Calif. and just a few miles from Fremont Drag strip ...and to tell the truth.. after I replaced the engine/tranny, I was never beat while racing on the street or by any stock production muscle car while on the 1/4 mile.
Benevolent Protector A first year 442, came right on the heels of the GTO. Great cars!
@@terry-zi7eh Yea, they're both great cars. The GTO had longer development time, with a bigger engine and offered an optional 3 x 2 intake. While the 442 was Oldsmobile's response to the GTO but in spite of the smaller 330 engine, having a single 4 bbl carb on both cars, the 442 was actually faster in the 1/4 mile. Mine had the 330 Rocket engine w/B09 option (dual snorkel air cleaner, hotter cam and 10.5:1 "Ultra High Compression") ..320 HP was listed on a decal on the air box and performance was actually really good, it ran 15 flat at Fremont drag strip.
Benevolent Protector Wow, the HO 330 was rated at 310, I did not know there was another option above it. And faster than a Ram Air III? It’s so cool to hear from guys like you who owned and drove the cars. I just read about and lusted after them.
Man I miss Pontiacs . This Firebird is a fine example .Rare, original. This car has it all..talk about a sleeper. Looks like a blast to drive . Love seeing cars like this one . Thanks for bringing this to us . And keeping these fine American pieces of machinery alive
Gary C. Man, they are great. I have a 68 ra3 400. Came stock with 345 ho and 450 ft/lbs. it’s a beast. Especially with a cam and adjustable valve train.
Robert LaPointe it’s a #16 head. Bored .60 over. 412 ci. Headers, ra4 cam, adhustable valvetrain, 7/16 screw in studs, full headers, performer intake, 800 cfm edelbrock carb. Will smoke tires in second and chirp third gear. All with a mismatched stall converter. A bunch of stuff I’m forgetting. Had it since I was 17. I’m 40. My daily driver is a modded Subaru wrx about 340 hp. I love both but in different ways. Lol.
Gary C. Pontiac was definitely something special. So many great cars. It showed that they took pride in their cars.
Robert LaPointe it’s easy to get 340 hp from a 4cylinder turbo charged motor with ecu tuning
Now that's a really cool Pontiac ! I rebuilt an engine out of a 67 black Firebird with a 400 and 4 speed a couple of years ago it was a California car and had all of the smog options still on it . The man it belonged to bought it new when he was working in California , he drove it a couple of years and got a company car so he parked it in the garage for many years . We actually just freshened the engine with rings , bearings , timing components , oil pump and cam and lifters . Ran like a sewing machine . Still had all of the original paint and interior but the top had dried out really bad . It was a beautiful car .
My best friend in high school (late 70's) had one of these in a beautiful brown color. The 4 speed had a center console. The only mods we made to it was to bolt on a set of Hooker headers. This car was the fastest car I had/have ever ridden in! Phoenix was a muscle car mecca back then and Central Avenue was rated by Hot Rod magazine as the number 1 city in the U.S. for cruising. We won every drag race we ever ran and beat some well-built big-blocks. When we told those guys we were running a stock 400 motor, they couldn't believe it! Fine times!!
I've seen RAM AIR II's take down some heavy hitters on the pure stock video's on TH-cam. Pontiac did their homework on this baby. Good video.
th-cam.com/video/BeLU1OUhsio/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/u7S4nWgL6eg/w-d-xo.html
Without a doubt lives up to its name "Firebird", Beautiful machine presented perfectly as always!! Well done indeed guys!!!
To Pontiac diehards like myself, the Ram Air II is our "L-88". More than ready to compete with the L78 Camaro SS.
Available only for half a year, & discouraged by dealers (who wanted you to buy a H.O. off the lot).
A Pontiac legend.
Man that brings back memories! I had a 68 convertible, 350, 3 speed, same green color. Sure do miss that car.
I owned a 1968 Firebird HO it was a 350 and 320 hp with 4 speed. Loved that car! When I got it it had 100,000 + miles. After a year or so I found it had a bad cam so I put a Manley with the same specs as the first Ram Air and it would run. Before I sold it I did rebuild that 350 you could drop the clutch at 4000 and it would fly. Same color as the one here.
Truman Fields was one of the first racers to make a mark with these cars, in Stock Eliminator. Later, Jim Mino dominated Pure Stock Drag racing for a number of years with one of these. These cars where truly more than met the eye.
One of the few cars from that era that still look good in green....
Love the early Firebirds. Recently I was at Walmart and saw a black primered 69 driving around the parking lot. I noticed it had faded red 428 badges on the side of the hood scoops, knowing they did not put 427's in Camaros back then I figured someone just stuck the badges on. I did some research later and found out a couple of dealerships, one on the east coast and one in the mid west, had actually installed 428's in Firebirds back in the day and they only sold maybe 50 or so. I'd seen a very rear car that day and was too ignorant at the time to know it.
Interesting, thanks for comments: lot of Dealer Stuff & unique add ons......
Friends big bro had one. New he fliped it
I remember reading about that they had a few of the birds with 428's I think It was one of the dealerships that was adding the Royal Bobcat kits.
My first car. A slightly used 1967 bronze Firebird convertible 400ci. A real classic, wish I still had it.
I had a 68 firebird for 15 years. Was by far the most kickass car I ever owned. Got divorced. Had nowhere to keep it. I ended up selling it but to this day I still have the pictures of it in my office and I’ve never stopped missing it. Great video. Makes me reminisce about the past.
Ram Air Firebirds are pure perfection
In 1977 I had a 69' triple green Firebird with a 400cid big block Catalina engine with a 4bbl carb. Sold it to go to college, to my brother, he kept it 20 yrs. Man I miss that girl.
Very nice bird with the muscle would like to see power numbers. Next one should do a firebird 350 or 400 HO same year
I owned 1 of the 1968 Firebird 400 back in 1971. Mine had bucket seats with a 3 speed Hurst shifter. Exact same beautiful color, green metallic. It was fast...would get to 100 in 2nd gear, before shifting to 3rd. I won a lot of races in my home town. And my home town was full of fast cars back then. I miss that car so bad.
Absolutely beautiful! As a kid I was lucky enough to grow up next to the Norwood plant where the Camaro and Firebird were built. I saw them all.
I had my mother order me one when I was in Vietnam in June 1968. I wrote her a letter and told her what options I wanted on it. I still have the original dealer order for the car but don't have the VIN . Mine was night shade green. As far as I know it was the only one that color produced. It had the 3:90 gear with positrac, close ratio 4 spd, am radio and the handling package. It was very fast and I raced it in pure stock at Indianapolis Raceway Park since I live in Indy. Beating street hemis was my goal and did it many times. I have four photos of it. I always wondered what happened to it.
Jim Mino and his mid 12 sec. @ 109 mph 68 RA II 400 Firebird Won the Supercar Showdown in 1987 in the Big Block Class vs a 1969 Hemi Roadrunner
Probably the most underrated muscle car . low 13's with the 4:33 right out of the box if you could get them to hook up.
Great car, great video. Thanks, Kevin!
I have a 1968 Firebird with the 350 all restored, loving it!
One of my all time favorite cars of the brothers. I will pass beyond before I get to see another one.
I had a girk friend many years ago who had one nearly just like that., Same color and everything. It was a beautiful car, and i liked her too.
What a great car and I have never seen a Firebird with a bench seat.
That bench seat makes it a very rare car. Ive seen a couple first gen camaros with it but never a pontiac. Great for date nights
I have a 68 with a parchment strato bench seat.... trim code 275 special order. Most people wanted buckets understandably but I think the bench seat is the way to go... armrest is great while cruising.
I had a 1968 Firebird but not one of these. I had a 350 HO, bucket seats, 4 speed, same, color vinyl top, white interior. It had over 100k when I got it and eventually I rebuilt the 350 I loved that car and I ended up selling it for a pittance when I had to move. It was fast.
I love the sleepers! Aside from the 400 callouts, you'd never know you were in over your head until it was too late.
This video reminded me that a friend of mine had a new 68 Firebird that was a in-line 6 cylinder with an overhead cam, 4 speed and a 4 barrel quadrajet . I don't remember other details about the engine but at the time I had never seen a 4 barrel on a 6 cyl. It ran pretty good and the exhaust had a unique sound. I just wonder if it would be a rare find now-a-days? I haven't seen one since. The option package was named "sprint' or something like that.
Yeah I watched a vid with Jay Lenno Has a really nice one .
Great vid.. kudos to the editor too.! super camera shots and sweeping views.!
What a beautiful car- absolutely amazing
Love it! I almost bought a Formula Firebird because I didn’t want all the “bling” of a Trans Am. Thanks for sharing it! 👍🏻👍🏻🇺🇸
LOL. Formula was actually quicker car cause it was missing all that bling !
I used to own a '64 Buick Riviera 401/A3 that I thought was fast. A green 1967/68 Firebird blew my doors off at a stoplight. I became a Pontiac fan that day. I later ordered and bought a green 1994 Firebird Trans Am GT, 300 HP LT1, M6, that Ran low 14's, that I still own. :)
Had to watch this episode as I had a 1968 firebird when I was 19, same exact color green to boot but mine was a 350CI with a 2 speed power glide trani and bucket seats. Always smelled uniquely like an old Pontiac when you got in the car, anyone who has had one of these late 60's cars know that smell I refer to. I probably should have kept it looking back.
Nice to see it's a 4 speed way too many Pontiacs were automatic
400s and 455s tend to break 4 speeds, Th400s are faster and hold up much better than Muncie M20/21 4 gears. The weak suck chevy feels faster because you can dump the clutch and you need deep gears, but a Pontiac likes a highway gear and around a 2200 stall. I've gone mid 11s with a 3.42 gear and a 1900 stall in a 3900lb car, with a very mild 224/228 cammed 455. Bottom 12s with a very mild 400 is super easy using the same gears and stall.
I'll chop down the tree with a 4 gear, but they don't live long behind my engines, gotta granny shift them. A Th400 or Th350 takes lots more abuse for lots longer, and they cost me less than $300 to rebuild, vs $1200+ for a broken 4 gear. Yeah, I build my engines and transmissions. My 3 speed autos will rip your head off.
@Moon Pie an M22 is considerably more rare and quite different from the M20/21 and the Super T-10 that came in most 4 speed cars, that makes them more expensive and harder to find. They only came in round port cars. The saginaw that came in most chevys can be shattered within an afternoon behind a mild 455. I have only ever seen one in the wild.
The Th350 is stronger than all but the M22 and the Th400 is stronger than the M22, and with a couple inexpensive mods, stronger than a TKO600 if it isn't already, some Th400s behind chevys were almost as weak as a Th350, fewer friction and steels in the clutch packs because the low torque chevy doesn't need more.. The BOP Th400 is stronger than all the chevy versions, and the 427/454 versions were about equal if they were in trucks.
Then you have torque multiplication from the converter, and a manual doesn't have that. A converter can turn 500ftlbs at the flexplate into 1000ftlbs at the input shaft, which is why autos don't need as much rear gear as a manual to be faster. When your engine doesn't have much bottom end, like a 350 sbc, its kinda moot. With a 400 or 455 Pontiac, it makes a big difference. Like 11.50s with a 3.42 gear and a 2200 stall. Considerably more driveable than a 4.33. It might have lost a tenth with a 3.08 gear or run the same, never got to try it.
I enjoy ripping through the gears, but driving something I can break easily without thousands in mods, makes me far less prone to want to put a manual in. Getting an OD means spending $3k at least, and I can put a built 700R4 or 2004R in for $800, and it will be faster.
Yup, mine as well. At leas it’s a th400 though.
@@SweatyFatGuy Very true, I was forced to switch my M-20 out of my 68 over to a cast iron case Borg Warner super T-10 with a 2:88 first gear ( out of 74 super Duty Trans Am), then blew out every clutch disk & pressure plate I tried until I had Hays build me a custom sprung hub 4 paddle bronze disk with a 3,600 pound plate. Then I twisted the drive shaft up & built a chrome molly extra tick wall shaft with Hemi U joints , then blew out the BOP 10 bolt 8.2 posi rear and replaced it with a 12 bolt and 4:11s Needless to say with 255/70/15s on 8 inch rims Pontiac rally rims the 400 is in the low11:s but after 46 years I still own the car, and it's a convertible with no frame connectors so it's a real hand full !.
Bought 68 firebird 400 new. Hurst 4 speed from the factory. Aleutian Blue with factory mags. Still my favorite car of all time.
The only difference between the standard 400 in a Firebird and a GTO was a throttle stop on the carb to keep the lighter Firebird within GM’s HP to weight ratio regulation that was for all cars except the Corvette. One could simply cut it off and gain 10HP. But I don’t know if the Ram Air II carb had a throttle stop as well? Easiest and a very nice mod to have!
Everyone new this and bent the stop till secondaries were WOT. I had same year same color w/Pmd mags that when engine blew I put a RAIV engine in. Plenty in the junkyards in totaled cars. With biased ply tires and all that torque they were like drift cars. This Green wasn't my first choice but every time I see one all those memories come back. Awesome car !
69' Firebird 400 ,Ram Air III,, Auto, pwr seats, trunk release. My first car.....paid 900$ for it as a 15yr. Old kid. Great memories, started my love affair with Pony/Muscle cars ever since.
My friend growing up had a 68 VERADO green paint, Black vinyl top, 4- speed and 3.91gears. It handle like a sports car should. Great car in its day.
Not much could beat it. Kind of a sleeper! Nothing fancy except the hood was ram air. It should have given it away. Shawn
All of the episodes rock! But this car was not on my radar. Needless to say i love it, and would be very proud to own it/one.
The 68 is easily the prettiest Firebird. Just gotta wonder how much power these RA2's made.
@@mfsb8473 Oh the 70-73 cars are the better package. But on looks and style alone, especially a black 68 convertible, not much can touch it.
Nice sleeper
My first car back in 1984 was a 72 Pontiac Catalina with the 400 in it. That was a 4 door land yacht with only a 2bbl carb,and I dusted irocs,rustang gts and almost everything i raced against, it really was that fast. Man,imagine that engine with go fast goodies in a car half as light with 2 more barrels in the carb and dual exhaust and a 4 speed, wow,a rare bird indeed!!! ▪☆☆☆▪
My Dad had a Ram Air II car it was the same color, Automatic with bucket seats, it was loaded power everything! Had the Tach on the hood... Mom locked the motor up in it and he sold it for $75
Beautiful car. Love the symmetry of it - it's lines. Like the big tires, wheel covers and green paint.
My top Firebird choice. This machine has the Ram air 2 heads that what I see is an early set with the center ports not cast with the '96'. You should check with Pontiac Historical Service and see if this car came with F70-14 whiteline tires. Neat to see it with resonators to muffler the exhaust tone. Does it still have 3.90 factory gears or 4.11 or 4.33 dealership-installed units? Thinking of installing a set of factory-option red Koni shocks? The only gripe is the aftermarket antenna mast instead of an elliptical mast with a "Chicklet" tip! A great example of a sleeper that everyone missed! I've searched for decades for RA 2 parts
I wasn't aware there were so few of these. Thanks!
Love 68 firebirds, I own two of them!
Love the car my dad gave me mine in high school 1978 I gave it to my oldest son he's had it now about 10 years still looks great runs great he loves it I told him if he ever decides to get rid of it to give it back hahaha don't think that'll happen
Friggen nice! More details please! “Well engineered”? He’s talking more than a special engine it sounds like. This sleeper would be wonderful to spend a little more time on! Compression? Heads? Muncie? Closer look inside? I loved the bench seat mention. This rarity deserves a little better explanation. When he repeats himself on how well the “package” drives that’s a hint. I’m betting F41 or equivalent? Not fair!
RAII came with round port exhaust... Was race prepped.
My very first car was a 1968 Pontiac with 350 and a powerglide I miss it greatly it was taken from me in 1985.I was low. I'd like to have this year and model sitting in my garage
My first car was a 1968 400 4 speed firebird. I bought it from My uncle for 400 dollars. It was a great cool car. I put a BBC 468 , tunnel ram, dual 4 barrels. I flipped it end over end 7 times and then it rolled a couple times. She was undefeated in her street racing career. I miss that car. I now have a 1975 firebird with a 73 front clip, ram air hood and a 1972 455H.O, 4 speed. Cool but not a 68.
Still think the 69 firebird formula four hundred with the ram air 4 box checked is the nicest bird of them all
That is one of my dream cars!
I had a 1968 Pontiac Firebird, it was green like this one but had a 350 cu engine with a 2 speed power glide trani. It was a cool car for sure
I know where there's one of this car's twin, North St in Bristol Vermont,the sad thing is,is its lived it's whole life in Vermont, and it's been parked on grass for 35 years but it has a lot of good parts on it still other than the frame
Sorry about that typo
My first car was a 67 Firebird w a small block Chev in it was that way when I got it. Was originally a Sprint 6 column shift glide w bench seat. I was 15 and it was $350.00.
Always loved Firebirds and Pontiacs. This was GM coolest division. Always nicer than a comparable Chev.
Love the front and always loved the taillights . Just a cool car all around.
Love my 67 400 4 speed the most and I’ve owned several hot muscle cars over the years. GTO/Camaro combo, Delorians’ first production design.
That's one rare beast for sure! The Ram Air 2 was only available for a few months during '68, sort of a stop gap solution until the Ram Air 4's became available in 1969. Awesome looking car though, no doubt about it.
Beautiful car long live Pontiac
I love that green. It looks very classy on this car. I'll do mine in the same color one day
Never knew there was a Ram Air Firebird in '68 - nice vid. This one is a true sleeper, considering the sheer subtlety of the exterior options!
Iconic American classic.
Cool car Kevin thanks for sharing with us. It Doug Dwyer one of "The Brothers" ?
My all time favorite car.
COOLEST there is! 👍🏼😎
Ford blue runs in my veins, but my heart has always had a soft spot for Dodge/Plymouth. The last few years, I've seen more and more Firebirds being bought back from obscurity. I think this is great Kevin. Especially when the retinas of my eyes suffered damage from the image of Camaro's the last 40+years.
Awesome car, my favorite color for Pontiacs in 1968.
An old video, but a goodie. Kevin has such a great job, don't he? Lucky B. :)
I had 68 400 Firebird, fastest car I ever had. Automatic and would burn the tires when it hit 2nd gear.
Man, that one is clean!!!! Those 400 motors were very good!!
Very cool ride. It was hard to do wrong with any Pontiac of that era.
Gorgeous colour. Especially with those Firestones. The same idea as the Firebird Formuas of the early '90s.
I had one I bought new in 1968 it was the same Verdoro Green color , had 4:33 rear end , bucket seats no tach in the hood like this one , It was too much car for the tires and suspension , it had unbelieveable wheel hop . It still turned 13"70 at National Trails in Ohio straight from the factory. It ran D pure stock and beat everything in the class easily. Most of the ones I saw were that crappy orange color and no where near as fast as mine , I think they probably had that 390 gear.
I wonder what that car would be worth today? I got drafted and had to sell it. and yes the engine package was 600 plus dollars on top of the price of the car.
My brother in law bought a 400 the previous year and I loved it , and he suggested I buy this one.
So, you guys are pretty much on the money, he was a die hard Pontiac guy. I remember a guy many years ago who had one that turned 12s with not much work done, maybe slicks and headers uncapped, I think his name was Trueman
In 1990-91 an older friend had the same green, black interior but buckets, 400 RAII 4spd firebird coupe. He bought it for $12k in pristine condition and immediately had it professionally repainted a blue with metallic flake in it. Body needed no work, just paint prep.
He traded it to another local for his Dodge Demon Duster 340 4spd car which was hemi orange black interior. Excellent condition but lots of motor work.
The firebird I liked much better.
I raced almost every sunday for 2 seasons , my best time was 13: 70 or 73 and I was bunny hopping the first 100 yards. The only track I went to was National Trails , maybe somewhere like California where the track was stickier it would hook up , mine never did except once on a new asphalt in the middle of the day , I was sure I pulled the front wheels . If they didn't get off the ground ,it was really close, because I had never felt anything like it before and that car would pull your head back pretty good on takeoff.
any Pontiac enthusiast who doesn't like this pure dream machine,needs their head testing.JZD,when he finally got into the F-car program,came up with a winner.sure,it shares sheet metal with the Camaro,but given the choice,a zee 28 or a Firebird 400 Ram Air 2,i know what i'd chose,and it's built by PMD.
@MaxxRPM given the same mods, the Camaro. It would take the RPMs. The RA II could not. Add headers to both and as nearly the same gearing and slicks. That Camaro had best not snooze or hesitate on a gear change or over rev it too far. Game over Firebird gets the win. On your game, Camaro, but not by a run and hide margin. They were a tight race.
OMG!!! As a kid in NJ there was a convertible one sitting in the driveway of a neighbors house..........they used it as cat litter box!!!!
Awesome car, love the factory sleeper look
Real nice car, I like it!👍
Really nice. Another one that I'd love to have.
Great car. I’ve owned two ‘68 Firebirds. Nicer than the first Gen Camaro and I always liked having the only ‘68 Firebird at the show and shines while there were always a half a dozen ho hum Camaros.
was my favorite matchbox in 1968
Car i s awesome !! In '77 i had a chance to buy a nice '68 400, auto but i think it was just the standard mill (still hauled ass, though :).
It would have taken alot of my savings so i passed. Price ? $1400. Those were the days.
I love the weird optioned cars no matter what manufacturer
I bet not many left with that option!
he said 120 or 130......were built with that option
At a stop light, nobody expected to be slapped by a car like this. Those cars ran very strong.
way long on burnouts, but way short on facts. I knew a guy in college that had a red convertible variant of one of these. He babied it, until one day he demonstrated to me what it could do. I've always thought this was a really cool looking car. Perfectly understated, and impressive when you pushed it.
I dig it, and I love the wheel covers with redline tires!
Cool car!
Really Cool Pontiac !
Would have been sweet to have a cam in car drive, but a great video. Cheers
It would have been nice if you would have showed what made the Ram Air II so special. It clearly had a special hood on it which accounted for some of the price.
Ok, my first car in 1982 was a 1968 Firebird RA2. I bought it for $650 with a blown up motor. I was in high school and towed the car to auto shop class. Took it apart and discovered the cam shaft was cut into three pieces by a spun rod. Shop teacher laughed his butt off. So now for the really bad news. I stripped it a few years later to build a convertible that I had bought for $150. I did not realize what I had until later. The heads, exhaust and the ram air was all there before I stripped it. It was a 4 speed with 390 rear. I was young and stupid. When my parents moved, the shell of the car was left behind for the scrappers. I apologize to the car gods.
every car I've come across in the last twenty years in this hobby is rare… and that my friends, is so rare. It's like the rarest of the rarest when it comes to awareness of rareness situations. One car even had a scratch from factory. It was a ‘one of one’, with the same scratch from factory - amazing really… that it was the only one with that scratch (in that color (with a four speed (and bench seat))). Pretty rare I'd say! They didn't duplicate the scratch but they documented it, incase you want to replicate it. Unfortunately, they never listed the reserve at auction. The pictures were apparently priceless to the owner. He decided to hold on to it longer, as he'd developed sentimental value over the year he'd owned it. I keep missing out on all these good buys. Any advice how I can acquire one of these rare breeds?
Sweet history had firebird .. too bad GM cuts this muscle car .. I'm sure a lot of Pontiac Fans share this thought with me.
A great fan of the unassuming car here.