SILVER SENSATION BUILDING A 495-CU.IN., SIX-SPEED, CORNER CARVING, PRO-TOURING 1969 FIREBIRD
WHEN YOUR FIRST CAR IS A RED-ON-RED 1968 Firebird convertible that you still own today, it can be a challenge to top it with your next Pontiac project, but that didn’t deter Robert Thomas, a civil engineer from Centennial, Colorado.
He purchased this 1969 Firebird in June 2007 from a local listing and recalls, “It ran, but wasn’t 100 percent. The Pontiac had already been modified in the Pro-Touring vein with a Doug Nash five-speed and Wilwood disc brakes, but most of the work was completed in the 1980s. Several small items, like interior bits and some brackets, were missing.”
Originally Windward Blue with blue interior, the Firebird “had been repainted red, the interior had been redone with black cloth door panels, and the front seats had been swapped,” Rob says.
His initial plan didn’t include a full buildup, however. “I just wanted to do enough mechanically to have a reliable car
