There are some cars that stand the test of time and we’re here to tell you that the 1992 Pontiac Firebird Firehawk is one of those cars. 25 years ago this thing showed up and performed at a level that is still competitive and impressive today. Seriously. It would run 13.0s in the quarter, it had a nicely beefed suspension for turning corners, it had a swapped in six speed transmission, and it had a tuned up 350ci traditional small block that was tough as nails and would take whatever abuse you chucked at it all day long. No, they were not cheap but the $39,000 spent in 1992 would have been a good investment, especially looking at how these things are coming up in value today.
SLP was the company that did the conversion work on the car and yes they were ordered from Pontiac dealers. You started with a Formual Firebird and chose the Firehawk package, waited a few tense weeks and then whamo, your hot rod showed up at the dealer, new car smell and all.
Buying one of these things in 1992 put you in a performance space, at least for factory cars, that was pretty wild. Outside of some truly exotic stuff that cost many times the Firehawk, this car could chew ’em up and spit ’em out when it came to other factory built stuff.
This Motor Week test from back when the car was new is extra neat because they actually do more than just drag race the car and you get to see some performance driving executed in the car. As as 12-year old kid, I did not have the $39,000 I needed to buy one and sadly my pop was not willing to fork over the dough either but let me tell you something…I tried. I certainly did try!
