[se428bandit]

I know of a 1970 Formula, one of the options is F70x14 white letter tires but no mention of Rally's on the PHS. Would this car came with dog dishes or Rally IIs? Is Coronado gold a regular production color or is it a spring color. The PHS has a color chart and Coronado gold is not on it.

['ol Pinion head]

No deluxe wheel covers clicked off, so by deduction...
14 x 7 CL coded wheels with Pontiac-Pontiac poverty caps.

Not up on '70 Coronado Gold, in looking it up, sure looks like 71/72 Quezal gold.
Interesting car, in that it was built for sale in CA. Years ago I parted a 70 Formula that other than exterior color was optioned the same. Was Silver with black dlx interior. Also originally deliverred to CA, I recently had its original rear bumper replated.

[johnta1]

Coronado Gold is an awesome color!
Ask Bruce.

Firebird color only in 70.





Color chip sheet for 1970

[johnta1]

one of the options is F70x14 white letter tires but no mention of Rally's on the PHS.

With all those options, the buyer must be wanting to put Cragars on it when he received it.

[se428bandit]

It’s originally from California . Parts of the build sheet, it has F-41 suspension not listed on the PHS.

['ol Pinion head]

Since your '70 is a Formula, F-41 is standard content, same as dual exhaust.

[se428bandit]

Originally Posted by 'ol Pinion head

Since your '70 is a Formula, F-41 is standard content, same as dual exhaust.

Thanks for the info

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by 'ol Pinion head

Since your '70 is a Formula, F-41 is standard content, same as dual exhaust.

to build upon this, no standard (model) equipment will be in the PHS;
so as OPH said, no wheel option means your car had "CL" steel wheels;
No hubcap option, means your car had the "dog dish"/"poverty" caps;
647-dual horns, 434-dual outside mirrors, and (a colour matched) 461-deluxe steering wheel are also model equipment which would show up on the build sheet, but not PHS.

That's an interesting car - then again, the pure diversity in the Formula model never disappoints me - it's as though every one was unique.

power steering, power brakes, auto+console (meaning floor shift), a/c, tinted glass, and custom interior tell me this was ordered more as a cruiser.

I always scratch my head on items like recessed wipers, or the clock ordered without gauges of any sort - I have to think that these items were added for dealer inventory cars, purely because they were low cost "extras"...

Do you have any pictures of the car to share?
Is it presentable, or a basket case?

The paint chip charts can be confusing, but this is how I have been able to wrap my head around it;
The "real" 1970 Firebird was not released with the rest of the 1970 model year cars - so colours that the Firebird used were often absent from the 1970 Pontiac charts - some charts later added the Firebird colours, like the one that John shared -but if you look at it closely, in the lower right corner you can see that the colour chart was amended in 1971 - so charts printed before that time would have had colours for all 1970 Pontiac's EXCEPT for the Firebirds;
At around the same time the 1971 colour charts were made up, and the 1970 Firebird colours are often seen on those - but they are noted as "spring 1970" colours, which is a period of time before the 1971 model year.

I first came across this when ordering paint for my car in spring 2001 - the paint shop didn't use PPG, and I had to get them to use the 1969 Chevrolet paint chart to find Hugger Orange from which to mix paint for my car.

[bird72]

Originally Posted by unruhjonny

I always scratch my head on items like recessed wipers, or the clock ordered without gauges of any sort - I have to think that these items were added for dealer inventory cars, purely because they were low cost "extras"...

Back in the day, some considered quality aftermarket gauges to be superior to factory, and wanted to add their own (below dash pod) and a tach to top of dash or steering column, vs factory. It was "cool".

The no hubcap / rim option order was often to instantly put mags of some type on, and ditch whatever came with it standard.

[Formulabruce]

Gx-1 typical with AC, but its a peg leg 12 bolt oddly enough.

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by bird72

Back in the day, some considered quality aftermarket gauges to be superior to factory, and wanted to add their own (below dash pod) and a tach to top of dash or steering column, vs factory. It was "cool".

The no hubcap / rim option order was often to instantly put mags of some type on, and ditch whatever came with it standard.

I understood the wheel thing - but the bias against foctory gauges never occurred to me!

Thanks!

['ol Pinion head]

Have never heard a bias against optional factory instrumentation. Have met & known many Pontiac & Chevrolet dealership principals & 60's/70's sales managers over the years. Some were "Car guys", some were not. Have been fortunate to see how a few of them ordered out performance Pontiacs of that era. In the late '60's & early '70's, it often came down to putting a price competitive model on the lot.

From my experience, it was very common to not see Safe-T-Track ordered under a '70-73 400 M40 AC equipped Formula. When I was researching & compiling the "GT-37 Survey" in the early 90's, one thing I did note was there were far more base engine (350 2bbl) GT-37's ordered with Safe-T-Track in far northern Plains states than further South. That was explained to me that it was important during the Winter to be able to put the traction of both rear tires to the ground. That trend may have been mirrored with early Formulas, nearly all the early Formulas I've had, or parted in yards were originally sold in the southern Plains, TX, AR, CA & NM, & not from Northern Plains states.

[keith k]

Originally Posted by 'ol Pinion head

That was explained to me that it was important during the Winter to be able to put the traction of both rear tires to the ground. That trend may have been mirrored with early Formulas, nearly all the early Formulas I've had, or parted in yards were originally sold in the southern Plains, TX, AR, CA & NM, & not from Northern Plains states.

It's likely there were indeed people who felt that way about traction in the snow being improved with "2 wheel drive" vs 1WD. Especially if they were running snow tires in the winter, which was common in those days.

Pontiac didn't call it "Saf-T-Track" to imply that it was good for the drag strip

With the wrong tires, though, both wheels spinning just means you go off the road sideways much more quickly. Have seen plenty of that in my years of living in the snow belt, too!

[eaglesan13]

Coronado Gold is a nice color, and it looks great on second-gen birds.

[johnta1]

Yes, Sir!!!!!!

[johnta1]

Was the pic with the boy the same car as the 1st 2 Formulas.

[GTO JONES]

Originally Posted by eaglesan13

Coronado Gold is a nice color, and it looks great on second-gen birds.

The first 2 pics you have there is my sons car, lol.

[eaglesan13]

No, the car in the picture with the boy does not have a rear spoiler on it. I'm pretty sure that was a real RA III, four speed car.

If I remember correctly, that kid's father is a famous firebird guy.

Originally Posted by johnta1

Was the pic with the boy the same car as the 1st 2 Formulas.

[eaglesan13]

Nice car. I don't remember when or where I got those pictures, but I keep picture files of cars by color, and those were in my Coronado Gold folder. Is this his car too?

Originally Posted by GTO JONES

The first 2 pics you have there is my sons car, lol.

[GTO JONES]

Originally Posted by eaglesan13

Nice car. I don't remember when or where I got those pictures, but I keep picture files of cars by color, and those were in my Coronado Gold folder. Is this his car too?

Yeah parked in the garage.