No, it’s not a deleted scene from ‘Smokey and the Bandit’. Ron Arnold of Lafayette, La., sent me these photos of a high flying 1971 Firebird in a junkyard near Washington, Louisiana, see map here. Arnold likes to roam the Louisiana back roads for old cars. He found this junkyard second generation (1970-81) Firebird on one of his outings. “The owner says he doesn’t get much business anymore because most of the older stuff has come and gone,” Arnold says. “Now, no one hardly comes by the junkyard. Not being able to see the junkyard for the grass, I can see why.”
Can you close the hood a bit? Rust likes it under there.
Pontiac Firebird production topped 53,125 in 1971. You can spot a 1971 Firebird by the horizontal louvers on the side of the fenders. This bird is fortunate to be high and relatively dry in the humid southern climate of Louisiana. This junkyard owner extended the life of a few Firebird parts by elevating the Pontiac on top of the Volkswagen. You can tell a lot about the junkyard owner by his car stacking. It’s his pecking order. I can tell this guy drives a domestic. Too bad for you VW guys.
I don’t know which is worse? This Firebird wearing a Camaro spoiler or watching the Firebird rust away.
The VIN # on this Firebird is 223871N133544.
Here is the break down.
2 - Pontiac line of GM
2 - Firebird series
3 - Standard model (70-71)
87 - Sport coupe (1970-81)
1 - 1971
N - Norwood, Ohio plant
133544 - Sequential production number starts with 100001 for V8 in 1971. It was the 33,544 Firebird produced in 1971.
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Pontiac 350 cubic inch engine rests under the hood of this 1971 Pontiac Firebird. 2-barrel carb? Probably.
160 MPH speedometer, check. Mold colored seats, check.
Punch buggy. I win!
My test drive of a 1972 Formula Firebird here. A Cadillac bought by Elvis sits on the side of the road. See it here. Or find out if 1957 Chevy four-door are cool here.
You don’t need a fat bankroll to build or buy a standout Rat Rod. The $5,500 entry price into Rat Rod stardom seemed like a small price to pay for the carefully crafted patina on this 1954 Chevrolet. The truck was built by Boaz, Alabama’s Billy Sampson and up for grabs in the car corral at the 2010 Alabama Antique & Classic Car Auction, Car Corral & Swap Meet at Talladega Superspeedway. Sampson’s custom Chevy drew as many stares as the $200,000, 1966 Corvette Sting Ray also parked in the car corral.
Sampson started with the cab of an early-1954 Chevrolet pick-up truck plus an off the shelf dropped tube front axle kit. He welded a square tube frame together and cut it to where it felt right. “I just looked at it and decided where I wanted the rear wheel to be,” Sampson said. “Then I cut the end of the frame off there.” The super short truck box has enough room for a sack of ‘fake’ taters and the fuel tank. Disc brakes at all corners create a measure of safety for the bumperless beast. A 350 cubic-inch Chevrolet engine backed by a Turbo 350 automatic transmission keep things moving. A four-link rear suspension kit sits between the wide white wall tires. A vintage 1955 Chevrolet radiator stamped with the year 1955 keeps the engine cool, while a Billy Beer can catches the overflow.
Patina is beautiful. Junkyard savants know that patina doesn’t come easy. It is an acquired change produced by age, wear or exposure to the elements. It’s a different breed of owner who drives a vehicle wearing patina. I met one such owner who made no excuses and had no plans of changing his truck’s historic look.
Drive your dragster to work lately? Birmingham, Alabama's Bryon Hall drove what he calls his 1972 Volkswagen rail to work recently. Hall, a City Action Partnership (CAP) patrolman, has to keep his vehicle registration and insurance papers handy whenever he takes his radical VW out for a spin. Law enforcement officer's eyes light up when they see the tube frame chassis mounted with a Big Block Chevy engine on the street. "They want to see if I have insurance on it," Hall says.
The 18-foot long VW resembles a top fuel dragster. Hall and his dad spent two months building the 'rat rod' rail job from start to finish. They started with a chromoly tube frame, flexible steel that has an excellent strength to weight ratio, and extended it by 6 feet. The VW's centerpiece is a 550 horsepower V8 Chevrolet engine. Hall shifts the gears of his winged ride with a 4-speed transmission. A 4.56 gear ratio 12-bolt rear end sits right under the seats of the VW. The powerful engine has lifted the front wheels a time or two but Hall says he does his racing at the track, not on the street.
Hall says wheeling the VW rail into a parking spot is a snap. Parallel parking downtown, no problem. Hall has excellent visibility from the cab of the VW. The lack of body panels does have its drawbacks. If not careful, the driver can easily skin their elbow on the left rear tire while the VW is moving.
Hall plans to add some type of doors to keep the wind down in cooler weather. He has been caught driving in the rain and was forced to pull over and wait it out. Plan on seeing Hall's VW at your local cruise-ins and car shows this year. "I'm going to put it in a lot of shows. I might even drive it to a car show in Montgomery," Hall said. When asked what his wife thought about his wild ride Hall smiled and said, "she upped my life insurance policy."
