The last Ride, for a very rare 1978 Sunbird with the factory V8.

it's known that their were somewhere around 417 V8s installed in Sunbirds in 1978.
later in the year the order codes were pulled until the 1979 model year where it was officially made an option, for the entire year, in a larger amount.
According to 'Thunder Am' magazine.
A dedicated Pontiac magazine back in the late 70s, that later became High Performance Pontiac...
Of the 417 V8 installations only 129 we're sold with the standard equipment 4-speed transmission.
All the rest were mated to a TH350 automatic.
Of these 129 units 63 were coupes and 66 were hatchbacks.
Not all of them were Formulas like this one so this is a rare bird indeed.
Just less rare than a Swiss cheese Catalina, from the mid-1960s.
Or the 73 SD 455 SD Firebirds of 1973.
But unfortunately due to rust and a few other factors, this rare Bird is now history. :(
it's going to get dismantled for it's working parts, that are going to go into making another identical formula, that's much more solid, roadworthy again.
In this video I take it for a silly little ride around the barn, that is probably the last ride the car will ever make.

[@cosmicinsane516]

Friend of mine has one of these. Was his first car, he dropped a 350 in it at some point. But it has been parked in the barn waiting to be restored for the last 30 years

[@TheGenuineDriver]

perhaps time to restore it

[@ChiefyChieferton]

I can smell this video

[@Jeremy-dd2jj]

When I was 13 my mom had one. And me and my brother would try to through each other off of it by going around in circles. 😂 The 80s were a magical time, we were lucky to have survived.

[@EmmyPierz-ek7hi]

Why would you send a rare parts car to the crusher? Pretty stupid. CB

[@Anubis-h5p]

I had one with the 3.8 / 231 V6 and that thang was pretty fast . I fixed the interior and I paid a guy to make a new seat vinyl and I did so much work to that car ! I miss it .

[@neilduncan8657]

unless it is super rusty....I would fix up the mechanical issues and drive it even if it is ugly....but rust can ruin cars badly

[@kaceyperrine9760]

Why the hell is this car going to the crusher restore or sell

[@EmmyPierz-ek7hi]

Obviously Not a wise car owner At all. CB

[@BigWheel.]

We don't know how bad it is though.

[@kaceyperrine9760]

I own a 85 camaro that sat in a junkyard for 25 years show us pictures that prove the car is beyond restoration

[@dexburwell]

- back in 1985 my mom bought 1980 Chevy Monza-she saw it “thought it was cute”…v6 auto-loaded with “options” low miles - turned out to be a complete turd- constant break downs- got rid of it within 6 months. 🥴

[@buddafingahz9057]

My second car was a 1980 Monza with a 3.8 v6 4 speed. Looked like the gold one here but with different grill / headlights. Heaviest clutch I've ever encountered. I loved " fish tailing " around corners in that thing. I drove a friends that I think was called a Spyder with a 305? v8. Don't know if he was pulling my leg but he said you had to loosen the engine mounts to get to the rear plugs.

[@michaelnagy4603]

That odometer is rolled over when the #'s are staggered it's over 100,000 mile all real car guys know this and people look dumb not knowing. Not to mention it's fraud.🤥

[@WaySydeBeats]

This gives me 70 celiac vibes and Datsun vibes.

[@KarlBerlin]

My grandmother had a white 78 with the v8

[@IowaBudgetRCBashers]

Why are you parting that out?? Shouldn’t you save that one and not one of the non formula sunbirds

[@buzzwaldron6195]

Yeah, I'm sure someone would want to restore this car!

[@ericdawson845]

I remember the Sunbird and had one of the "reddish" colored I believe was a 1977 that had the 3.8 V6 and it was really fun. I bought it as a rusted through car from a marine who was leaving Hawaii for $850 in 1984. I used to drive it up the H2 and had it up to 130 MPH - this meant the speedometer going around past 80 and on to the second revolution. Car was a manual but can't remember if it was 4 or 5 speed. I often wondered if somehow it was a special edition but nothing came with the car and the owner could not tell me anything. I forget now what the Chevy version was called (Monza I think) and these had the "305" badge on the front fender as I remember and was always jealous of the larger displacement - probably the 3.8 was a lot better. Even though I have since had much "better" cars I loved the raw nature of the car and of course where we were (Hawaii). I liked it when my sister used to scream as the car got up in speed!

[@EmmyPierz-ek7hi]

1975&1/2 thru 1977 Firethorn Red ( like a strawberry metallic ). CB

[@youtubeisinconsistent9169]

Hilarious how bad the sunbird ended up being in later generations. A buddy had a 4cyl convertible that was the worst pos ive ever seen

[@calvincrews3885]

The Pontiac sunbird is the little Firebird in my opinion why not make the mini bandit black and gold

[@awfulcoffelsonecargarage8215]

You don't see them around anymore I had a 78 Skyhawk black with white interior V6 4-speed they were fun little cars to drive I wish I still had mine but I wrecked it they were so late that the brakes wouldn't stop the car they would just slide mine bro traction on a curve but I always thought they would be a neat little car to put a V8 in and I never got to have fun with your projects later bye

[@jackperry9369]

What a relic wow thanks for the content

[@kavinskysmith4094]

what' a sunbird, as I looked at this thinking it was one of the special editions they did for the firebird, that looks more like a Monza, and this has to be one of the first times in 30 years i didnt know anything about what I was looking at.

[@BigWheel.]

It's the precursor to the sunfire, it was pontiacs compact offering until the jbody sunbird/sunfire came out.

[@kavinskysmith4094]

@@BigWheel. ah so a compact back then in the sense of what the mustang II was

[@greengabe5]

I didn’t even know this car existed (I’m 24 forgive me), and it’s such a cool design. I assume this was Pontiacs attempt at a Chevy Vega right?

[@splender88]

Nope that would have been the Astre this is Pontiacs version of the Chevy Monza

[@greengabe5]

@@splender88 ah makes sense, thanks.

[@MarvinHartmann452]

​@splender88 We called those désastre (disasters) in Québec, and called Vegas Dégas, which is a slang word for mistake, mishaps, in french canadian language. Which is telling how these cars were not really appreciated here.

[@buzzwaldron6195]

Vega, Astre, Monza, Sunbird, Skyhawk, Starfire are all variations of the GM H-body...

[@unicronneedsfood1446]

I love it but why do it idle so high bro

[@RykerTC1]

The rpm gauge is broken, when he first gets in the car with the engine off the rpm gauge still reads 2,000 rpm

[@theredspyder2112]

In these cars there's a little clip o the back of the tachometer. The factory used it to set it up for 4 cylinder, v6 or V8. It just depends which slot the clip is in. They can get loose and when they do the tack will read higher. Most of the time you can give it an old school tap and it will read correctly. I just got to get in there one day and bend the tabs a little better and it'll be fine again