IMO the paint job minimizes the garishness of the big bird. Still, I’ve never been a fan of the Trans Am, mostly because of the low power engines of all 70s cars.
And, let’s not forget about the quality control issues with so many of the cars of that era. Back in those days, part of CR’s auto test reports included a list of the defects that they found in the brand-new cars that they tested. Some of those lists were laughably long. Other mags also tended to comment about the poor condition of new cars that they tested. I recall one mag saying that the paint on the Plymouth Barracuda that they tested looked like it had been “applied with a broom”.
A couple of decades later, CR stopped listing new car defects, and when one letter writer asked them why they had stopped that practice, they explained that quality control had improved to such an extent that they didn’t really find assembly defects in modern cars.
Oh yes, a coworker’s wife had a new Honda Civic in the early eighties. Roof rusted through in two years. They lived about two blocks from the ocean. Vinyl roofs were still popular, my 74 Plymouth and my 72 Buick both rusted under the vinyl.
Aunt’s 88 Crx hf had almost no solid sheet metal in 2006 behind the front seats. Car lived on the pacific coast and the northeast, Maine and Mew Hampshire. Pulled off loose side trim and the other side of the wheelwell was visible. Finally convinced her to get a new Toyota Matrix.
Crx had 250,000mi and still ran great but the body had hit its limit. Didn’t see the same rust issues with our 90 Mazda in 19yrs
The best Firebirds, IMHO, were the fourth (?) generation cars that were sold from 98 through 2002. They were sleek, fast, and had just enough creature comforts to pass as a poor man’s GT. The interior was rendered mostly in gray plastic, but the 10-speaker monsoon sound system was amazing.
If I could bring back or revive the Firebird, I’d start there. I even made a bunch of concept designs and a YouTube video about it.