1969 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

There’s no way we could devote an entire section of the magazine to the first-generation Camaro without a nod to its fashionable stablemate: the Pontiac Firebird. And what better example to showcase than the exclusive, top-of-the-line Firebird Trans Am?

Just 697 of these Cameo White, Tyrol Blue-striped ’Birds were built for 1969, a mere eight of which were convertibles. Despite the name, the Trans Am couldn’t be homologated for SCCA racing, like the Camaro Z/28, due to the size of its engine. But the Trans Am could more than hold its own against production Camaros and Mustangs, as well as act as a halo model for the rest of the Firebird line. Though this car didn’t make its public debut until the Chicago Auto Show in March 1969, development of the Trans Am concept dated back to a 1967-’68 engineering project known