FAMILY FIREBIRD

FAMILY FIREBIRD

A 1970 Firebird provides Father/Daughter family time and becomes a high school project for it's young owner

Story by Bob Wicker and Paige Givens

Photos by Bob Wicker

When I rounded a corner at the Dayton Marriott parking lot during the 2010 Trans Am Nationals, I was immediately drawn to this 1970 Firebird. You see, I am a sucker for 1970 birds. And after speaking to owner Paige Givens and hearing the story of this car, I was hooked, and this feature was born.

Let's begin by exploring how this particular 1970 Firebird came to life.

The bird was originally ordered by Wilson Pontiac in Silver Springs, Maryland and was shipped on July 17, 1970. Interestingly, this Firebird has never left the area and still resides within less than 100 miles of where it was originally delivered. This red rider, nicely dressed today as a Formula 400, started as a base Firebird with Grenada gold paint, a vinyl top, and a Sandlewood standard interior. However, for a base bird it was very well equipped with 17 options appearing on the PHS documentation.

The mechanical options included a 350 2bbl, engine, turbo hydromatic automatic transmission, variable ratio power steering, and power brakes.

Exterior appearance options included the aforementioned Cordova vinyl top, decor mouldings, recessed wipers, body colored mirror (driver's side only), soft ray glass on all windows, trim rings (originally riding on 14" steel wheels with hub caps), and E78X14 white wall tires.

Interior upgrades included air conditioning, front console, deluxe steering wheel and push button radio. Finally, dual horns were optioned and a trunk mat was ordered to tidy up the luggage space.

PHS Billing Document

By 1979, this Firebird was in the sites of one Jay Givens. Jay's father was dating a woman who owned the bird, They later married and Jay bought the bird from his new stepmother when he was 14 years old, for only $500.00. It was not running and needed work. He began replacing some worn items and got the car running after some time. He was driving it to high school and enjoying it while working on it, when a fall out with his Father caused Jay to have to leave the Firebird behind. Because he had no title in his name, Jay could not even prove that the Pontiac was his. Gone but not forgotten, Jay continued his life without the bird.

One day, after Jay's Father had passed away, Jay received a call from his step mother. She told Jay that the car was his and to come and get it. He did, and decided to make the bird a family project with his daughter Paige.

Jay's daughter Paige takes up the story:

"My 1970 Firebird has been in our family for many years.

The first time I got into the car and started it up to move it, the rear window shattered. Apparently there was an old nail that was sticking into the window and finally caused it to shatter. The car was completely trashed; there were cigarette butts and stains everywhere. I wasn't a fan of the gold exterior and parchment interior color, so we repainted the exterior an Audi red, which I picked off an Audi TT, with which we decided to use a deluxe black interior. We took the whole car apart and tried to save as much as we possibly could off the car. We wanted to keep it as original as possible, but with some personal modifications. We both really liked the look of the formula hood with the hood scoops, so we made it a Formula 400 clone, even though it just has a 350 and is just a Firebird. It was definitely a struggle finding the parts we needed, and it still is today. The car is never done. There's always a little piece or something here and there to fix up, but that makes it so interesting.

As I entered high school, I found it really hard to find time to work on the car and balancing sports and school, as well as matching my dad’s available times. Therefore, for my senior project, I decided that I really wanted to finish up the car and take it to the Cruisin' Ocean City car show in Ocean City, Maryland in May, which was right at the end of the school year. We finished up the major restoration of the car the day of the Cruisin' Ocean City, and drove it down that night for the show.

It was a very long and detailed process, but I learned a lot along the way. My dad and I worked on it every chance we had, which usually was a couple nights a week and at least one full day on the weekends (sometimes we would work on it all weekend, but not always). It was really special to work on the car with my dad. We became really close and it was a lot of fun working on an older car, especially considering it was the one my dad drove in high school as his first car. I have always had a passion for cars, but nothing like what I experienced restoring my very own. It gave me a whole new appreciation for cars and the amount of work that goes into them. I'll admit I was pretty nervous driving the Firebird for the first time down to Ocean City, but it was definitely worth it and the more I drive it, the more I love it.

The car has never been trailered, we drive it everywhere. Cars are meant to be driven! We have made some modifications to the car to better suit it for driving, such as adding gauges to keep an eye on the temperature and oil pressure. We've also made a few other changes to the car to personalize it to just how my dad and I wanted it to be. It is never done; there’s always little things that need to be done and little parts that need to be found, but that’s what makes it fun. It's an always on-going project, which is exactly why my dad and I do it."

In addition to the color change both outside and in, Jay and Paige upgraded to Rally II wheels with trim rings and B.F. Goodrich Radial T/A tires. They also added a rear spoiler, which was only available on the Trans Am in 1970. A factory deluxe interior and a Formula steering wheel as well as some gauges to monitor engine vitals round out the interior upgrades.

The original 350 2 bbl Pontiac engine still powers this bird reliably as Jay and Paige made the 14 hour round trip to and from the Trans Am Nationals in Dayton, Ohio from Maryland. They were rewarded for the efforts by a Best of Show trophy from the Tipp City cruise on Saturday night. We hope now that Paige is entering college that she will have many happy years behind the wheel of this fine, Family Firebird"