1980 Pontiac Firebird / Esprit Competitive Comparison (GM155A 1 of 3)

Don Meredith pitches the Firebird's price, options and efficiency against the competition in this 1980 GM Dealer Film.

[@lazydadsgarage]

I love that I found these videos. I was today years old when I learned the Firebird was a Camaro competitor 🤣

[@johanbrand8601]

Amazing content! Thanks for sharing!

[@quad5186]

Wild to find this , was just showing Dandy Don’s Lipton ads about a week ago. My brother had a brown ‘’81 Firebird , we called it Chocolate Thunder .

[@georgewilson1184]

Old Don Merridith could have used a tall cool glass of fresh brewed Lipton ice tea

[@deborahchesser7375]

Ol Dandy Don

[@dukegrapewin9440]

I wanted to do a backsplash into a swimming pool as I watched this!

[@Douglas-up2vh]

Sexy cars of 1980...they were great times in America...take me back to the 60's 70's and 80's that I grew up in...todays America is sickning

[@allentoyokawa9068]

leave then

[@allentolbert8404]

Great Video Great Cars

[@JerryDey]

Mustang Ghia, Camaro Berlinetta, now those are old familiar names I had forgotten.

[@dukegrapewin9440]

Anybody know stadium this was filmed at?

[@olddisneylandtickets]

It's so odd to see Pontiac compare to Chevy, sure the Poncho is better, but it's like eating your own isn't it?

[@brycewalat5321]

In those days, there were still real differences between Chevy and Pontiac…but the “People Often Notice That It’s A Chevy” vibe was starting to creep in when Pontiac-specific engines were going away. :(

[@AllCelebzNElitenNeckMaskz]

Like 93/2002 when the formula had the best quarter mile times , an they only killed Pontiac Firebird cuz it was killing the CORVETTE SALES !!!

[@ljmorris6496]

Yes/no, 81' was the last year you can get a Pontiac only V8.

[@lazydadsgarage]

@@AllCelebzNElitenNeckMaskz but they killed the Camaro too 🤣 at that point the only difference was the headlights, taillights, wheels, and side skirts

[@kingnillvwell381]

every thing he said was fully correct , he only have blocked nose.

[@TheMKEWERBY]

Truth! @ 10:46, Don!

[@ohioyodertoter6827]

man does this video take a person back back to a time of being a kid the simplicity of the 70's / 80's a time when if it didn't make sense people just wouldn't do it unlike today make sense or not people do what they want gm has always given more for the money in my opinion

[@arn7992]

Never heard of the Esprit. How many years was it available?

[@destro513]

Check out the history of the gmc sprint 6

[@thud9797]

Esprit available 1970 thru 1981.

[@johnnydodge]

I keep waiting for Jon and Ponch to break out in pusuit of the bad guy in a Firebird

[@19spartan84]

In the tv show Ponch's personal car was a 71 Firebird Formula

[@SAMLEE-bb1xp]

I havent and didnt know about a vw dasher or a toy corona...wtf.

[@landyachtfan79]

4:10 & 6:34...........Ah, the good old days when GM competed against themselves!!!!!!!!! And the Camaro & Firebird were basically the EXACT SAME CARS!!!!!!!!!

[@culcune]

Sort of on the lower performing models, like in this video. The more performance oriented models were fairly distinct, more so up to 1979 with the Pontiacs holding a distinct performance advantage thanks to the 400 engine and even arguably the 403 engine. Not to mention, the 301 Pontiac was only used in the Firebird line through 1981. The TA/Formula had the turbo 301 engine which wasn't anything to brag about, but was distinct to the Pontiac line, nevertheless, like the naturally aspirated 301 Pontiac V8. There were engines shared on the lower end Pontiacs, and on the higher-end, performance versions, the TA and Formula (e.g. the 305 Chevy engine becoming available on the '80 and/or '81 TA, I cannot remember if both years) but the interiors were very distinct, however. Starting in the 1982 model year, however, the cars became much more common as far as engines were concerned, once the 301 Pontiac V8 was put out to pasture for good. Even still, they had distinct interiors, just like their very distinct exteriors. The big one, however, from '67 to '02 was the suspension, with Pontiac holding an advantage all the years. These differences made them fairly different cars throughout their entire existence starting in 1967 through 2002. If you want to talk about virtual twins, the Mustang and Capri from 1979 through 1986 were it. I had a '86 Capri GS, and the only thing distinctive about the Mercury compared to the Mustang was a few trim items in the interior, and the exterior was a bit different.

[@googleusergp]

Yes, the 305 Chevrolet engine was available in 1980 and 1981 in certain Firebird models.

[@eaglewarrior8707]

Firebirds were a joke of a clown show on wheels and looked like a circus. Nothing like a Foxbody Mustang with a cammed 351 under the hood. Even stock a Foxbody with smoke a firebird. Those Firebirds also had a crappy 10 bolt in the rear with skinny splines that would just strip out. So good luck on the drag strip till you strip your rear diff.

[@googleusergp]

@@eaglewarrior8707 Well if you compare year to year on a stock basis, you're out of luck with a Mustang. The 302 in a 1979 Mustang would get eaten alive (and out handled and out braked) by a 1979 Trans Am with a 400 and a 4 speed. No comparison. The Trans Am with the 400 is also rarer and worth more. Move to 1980 and things get worse for the Mustang. Move to 1981 and it's a real joke, but that's on the Mustang because the best that they could do was a stickered up 255 V8 with less HP than some Oldsmobile Cutlasses that same year. LOL. So you really can't compare the two. Also in 1979, GM sold over 200,000 Firebirds and half of them were Trans Ams. Ford could only dream of that success back then. They were still dealing with cars that slipped out of gear, had crappy carburetion, fuel control and general malaise. While GM had their winners that year, Ford was awful. They didn't call it "Motorcrap" for nothing.

[@nagosnell]

@@eaglewarrior8707 1980 Trans Am 4.9 Turbo V8 - 210hp. 1980 Mustang GT 4.2 V8 - 118hp. Okay. The Foxbody was never available with a 5.8/351. 1973 would be the last year for a 351 in a Mustang before they completely abandoned putting a V8 in a Mustang for a year or two. Before 1980, Trans Ams and Firebirds were available with 400 and 403 (6.6) V8s making well over 200hp while the Pinto-based Mustang was only making a little over 130hp.

[@AllCelebzNElitenNeckMaskz]

FIREBIRD BEST INTERIORS ...BUT THE 70S AN 80S NEEDED THE INT PARTS BEEFED UP ...EVERY 70S AN 80S TRANS AMS I HAD WERE CRACKED DASH AN WEAK CONSOULE ..AN THE DOOR HANDLES CAME OFF IN UR HANDS AFTER 3 YRS LOL...BUT FK WERE THEY SEXY

[@111000100101001]

Oh yeah, the 3.8 leaker with a dual jet Rochester carb, 250C tranny and flat 2’s out in the rear. 20MPG…excitement!

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

Government mandate, but you knew that.

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

@@LearnAboutFlow Not the point

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

@@LearnAboutFlow Okay boomer

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

@@LearnAboutFlow Go hug a tree.

[@googleusergp]

@@LearnAboutFlow It's true, the Japanese ate our lunch and caused us to wake up and realize that the Big 4 (at that time) didn't have the whole market to themselves anymore.

[@Sheisthedevilyouknowwho-ft9we]

Dandy Don again. ? Turn out the lights....the party's over. !

[@jayelbee1111]

Why would they want to compare both the Camaro and the Firebird? This is kind of a silly comparison here. Both F-cars are equipped with 3.8 liter V-6 engines offered by Buick or Chevrolet. Both can be equipped with Pontiac's 4.9 Liter V-8 or Chevrolet's 5.0 Liter V-8. Both are similar cars, but different styles. Pontiac has always been a companion to Chevrolet

[@cadmanist]

There probably were a handful of Chevy/Pontiac dealers back in the day, but I seem to recall Olds-Pontiac and Chevy-Buick being the norm. In that case, it makes sense for a Poncho dealer to try to steal the sale from the Chevy guy across town.

[@jayelbee1111]

@@cadmanist I recall Buick-Opel dealerships, Pontiac-GMC dealerships, Chevrolet-Oldsmobile dealerships and Cadillac dealerships. But in 1986, GM divided the brands into two groups, and it did not make any sense: Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac group Chevrolet-Pontiac-GM Canada group

[@braddietzmusic2429]

Dumb for GM to allow Firebird to be compared to Camaro which is basically GM inviting buyers to choose one GM product at the expense of another GM product. Dumb. Smarter for GM to allow comparison to Ford and Mazda and other non-GM products to pull buyers cross-shopping those products.

[@googleusergp]

Back then there was enough to go around that everyone could "eat". Other GM divisions while part of the same company were considered competitors or at least a somewhat friendly rivalry.

[@AllCelebzNElitenNeckMaskz]

Like 93/2002 when the formula had the best quarter mile times , an they only killed Pontiac Firebird cuz it was killing the CORVETTE SALES !!! CAMARO JUST ALWAYS THE UGLY PLAIN STEP SISTER

[@jmoe2514]

The malaise era American cars amaze me. It's laughable that a price of plastic trim and wire wheel covers were appealing for $105 more than the Berlinetta.

[@milfordcivic6755]

Laugh all you want. A brand new vehicle was within almost everyone's budget back then. They didn't make you pay for what you didn't want, like now with all the nanny gadgets and a $40,000 price tag for a sedan. That's why 72 and 84 month loans are available financing options. It also didn't cost $1000 everytime you brought it in for service and you could work on it yourself without a $4000 scan tool.

[@SquirminHermanthe1eyedGerman]

@@milfordcivic6755 Right, my first new vehicle was when I was 18 in 1985 & got a new '86 Toyota SR-5 for $6700, payments were $149 & full coverage insurance $69, I still have a pic of it & the next new one an '88 Maxima for $9000 at $220 a month! In 1990 I sold them both to buy my buddy's Bandit Trans Am that I kept until 10 yrs ago

[@googleusergp]

@@SquirminHermanthe1eyedGerman Black Special Edition Trans Am, not "Bandit" Trans Am. No such thing from GM---only Trans Am Specialties of Cherry Hill, NJ made a "Bandit" and that was an aftermarket conversion/upfit.

[@SquirminHermanthe1eyedGerman]

@@googleusergp I guess you are a grammar Nazi since most Trans Am guys call the black 1977-78 SE's "Bandit" cars & the ones you are referring to are tribute cars made to replicate the "Bandit" T/A! Trans Am Specialties & Trans Am Depot of Florida will build you one with up to a 1000 hp & they were the only ones commissioned by Burt Reynolds himself to build the 1st "Bandit" T/As back in 2014! I have also owned an '85 Bandit II, '83 black/black T/A, '88 black/gold GTA T/A, '98 black/black LS1 ram air 6sp, '67 Firebird 326 & a '71 Firebird Formula 400

[@SquirminHermanthe1eyedGerman]

@@googleusergp Oh, in case you didnt know it was called Starlight Black on the "Bandit" cars

[@jked7463]

Volkswagen Dasher. Now there is a car lost to time. The 79 - 81shovel nose firebird was the least attractive nose on the firebird.

[@thewiseguy3529]

85? Wasn't an exclusive year of style. From 1982-1992 the firebird was essentially "unchanged." Aside from the airbad and taillights and front bumber clip changes.

[@jked7463]

@@thewiseguy3529 yes, well known. But that is my point. Of all of the different front caps (I believe the fenders did not change so i.am not calling it a front clip) 79 - 81 was the least successful from a styling perspective in my book.

[@jked7463]

@@thewiseguy3529 just realized I had the years wrong. I meant last of the gen 2's.

[@thewiseguy3529]

@@jked7463 gotcha. 👍 Yeah I wasn't a fan either of that ugly nose. But they're still cool cars. Front end just might lift up at high speed lol 😂 My faves were 82-92 I wasn't a fan of the 93 aerospace look.

[@Greatdome99]

I had a '73 with an infinitely better looking front end. This one looks like a "camel;" a horse designed by a committee.

[@milfordcivic6755]

Someone needs to tell this guy he's been hit in the head too many times. Selling a car using sports analogies are a total turnoff.

[@my1vice]

This is a dealership video. Made for the sales staff.

[@googleusergp]

Not in 1980. If a sports figure said it was the best thing since sliced bread, people believed it. If so and so was famous and he drives/endorses a Pontiac, then what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

[@my1vice]

@@googleusergp Celebrity worship is worse now, in my opinion.

[@googleusergp]

@@my1vice To a degree. But back then, if a sports figure said, "Do this", people listened. Now "everyone" is famous, so it's not the same.

[@my1vice]

@@googleusergp Folks remember things differently, I guess. Because I don't remember it that way at all.

[@pooddescrewch8718]

The worst Firebird ever