1968 Pontiac Firebird Jim Wangers' Famous "Black Bird"
1968 Pontiac Firebird
I have owned the Black Bird in 1997. I have done my best to preserve it's legacy.I believe it is time for me to pass on this historic car to it's next keeper.
Jim Wangers wanted to follow the original Royal Pontiac philosophy that you could compete on the street with a daily driver. The Black Bird was such a purpose built street driven Pontiac. Built to compete and dominate on the streets of Detroit. Even though there are no rules on the street Jim believed in running "street" driven cars to a race. Not a pure race car that was trailered a few blocks away from the race and driven to the race. Run the race and drive back to the trailer. Jim had a way to fix that problem. He'd have his car do a few lengthy burn outs or deicide to change location of the race a few miles away to make the other car's plug load up.
Several of the direct contributors to building this car are still alive. The car has been extensively documented in magazines since the "Popular Hot Rodding" article in March 1971 and "Super Stock And Drag Illustrated" article in January 1972.
In 2015ACME TRADERdiecast company immortalizedthe "BlackBird" in a limited edition calling it the "Most Famous Firebird". The release of the diecast was coordinated with an a feature article about the car in "MUSCLE CAR REVIEW" February 2015. There are still several die casts of the car on Ebay being offered by sellers from Germany, Australia and Canada.
There have been many articlesabout the car through the years. See Resume below.
Jim sold the Firebird to one of his "driver's", Frankie Ulbrick. The car has passed through many owners, making some changes along the way before Jim Wanger's bought it back in 1995. Some of the cars original racing parts were included in the 1995 sale back to Jim. Jim sold it to me in 1997. I had the car updated by Jim Wanger's personal mechanic's, Duncun Micheal and Bob Shaefer. Bob's name was on many Chevy race cars back in the day including buildingengines forJohn Greenwood.
This is NOT a frame off restoration.
No this the original 400 Ram Air I is not available. It was removed by original owner Mike Kneiper as soon as he took delivery of the car.
Many parts from it's racing history included.
I'm sure there are very few cars that have as an extensive a "Cult" following and be as obscure to the public. Look over the Black Bird's resume to find those articles for yourself.
Exact mileage unknown, probably less, due to rear gear changes through the years thus speedo registering faster then actual speed.
Car is sold as is, where is, with no warranties implied or expressed. All shipping costs are the responsibility of the buyer.
Please contact me with any questions.
Full payment is due within 7 days.
Black Bird Resume
(Web Links removed per Ebay rules)
1) Popular Hot Rodding, An Argus Publication, March 1971: "Instant Hop-Up For Pontiac's
GTO/Firebird" pages 30-33, 108
2) Super Stock & Drag Illustrated, Eastern Publishing Co., January 1972: "Building 455 Pontiac's"
pages 28-31, 77-78
3) The Observer & Eccentric News Papers, Sunday, February 17, 2002, "The Legend of Blackbirdâ€,
(Detroit Autorama Promo article and picture)
4) The Observer & Eccentric News Papers, Thursday, February 21, 2002, "Racers, roadsters to
headline classic car showâ€. Page (B)A3 (Detroit Autorama Promo article and picture)
5) Ames Performance Tri-Power Pontiac Nationals 2002, On line event photos, Norwalk 2002
6) Detroit Free Press, website August 2006, Woodward Dream Cruise promo photo 11 of
30, gallery.
7) Pontiac Enthusiast, AMOS Automotive Publishing, Sep/Oct 2006, "THE BLACKBIRD FLIES"
cover,â€LEGEND OF THE...Blackbirdâ€pages 24-27
8) Pontiac Enthusiast, AMOS Automotive Publishing, "The Blackbird Flies" cover shot used as
promo of their subscription page and blow-in cards in several issues.
9) The Famous Jim Wangers' Black Bird, Built by Brian Ballish Driven By John Politzer and
Frankie Ulrick, Now Owned By Dr. Eric M. Schiffer, picture produced by blueridgecreativity.com,
hangs at Woodward Ave's famous Duggan's Irish Pub Royal Oak.
10) Milt Schornack and the Royal Bobcat GTOs, by Keith J. MacDonald with Milt Schornack,
McFarland & Company, published 2006, pages 169-170
11) Factory Lightweights Detroit's Drag Racing Specials of the '60s, by Charles Morris, Car Tec
first published 2007, page 157
12) American Muscle Supercars, by David Newhart, Motor Books first published 2008 pages 20-21
13) Woodward Knights poster by Bob Bowen, released 2009. Captures a Woodward Ave scene with
in front of Ted Spehars' Sunoco gas station home of the 1967 Plymouth GTX known as the Silver
Bullet. Lined up on north bound Woodward in front of the gas station is the GTX and Jim
Wangers'Black Bird, a '69 Super Bee and a '67 Corvette 427.
14) Pontiac Enthusiast, AMOS Automotive Publishing, June 2009, "RARE PONCHS STEAL THE
SHOWâ€, page 72
15) Cruis' News, October 2009, "Woodward Knights" poster pictured and explained on page 12
16) Pontiac Entusiast, AMOS Automotive Publishing, February 2010, "How-to WOODWARD 101â€,
page 65
17) Performance Years Forum- Max Performance Inc. Dec.2010 to present, Black Bird topic of
discussion in their (1)General Forums (2) Your Best Pontiac Stories (3) Woodward Ave Silver Bullit vs Blackbird
18) Muscle Car Review, SOURCE Interlink Media, November 2013, Letters "Wangers Style" page 8
19) Detroit Jewish News, Jewish Renaissance Media Publication, Dream Cruise edition, August 14-
20, 2014, "Meet The Car Buffsâ€, page 51-52
20) Muscle Car Review, SOURCE Interlink Media, December 2014, UP FRONT by Drew Harding,
"A Tiny Blackbirdâ€. ACME Trader announcement of the soon to be released 1/18 scale version of
Blackbird, page 10
21) Muscle Car Review, SOURCE Interlink Media, February 2015, Street Fighters: "The Blackbird
Flies Againâ€, pages 28-31
22) ACME Trader Company, January 2015 releases 1/18 scale limited edition replica of "The
Black Birdâ€, calling it "A Tribute To One Of The Most Famous Firebirds of All Time!" item
number A1805201
23) Street Rod Life, Vol.2, No.3, Xceleration Media, Fall 2016, Club Spotlight, "Royal Pontiac Clubâ€,
page 61
24) The Complete Book Of American Muscle Supercars, by Tom Glatch, photography by David
Newhardt, Quarto Publishing Group, first published by Motor Books, 2016, pages 18-19
25) 2017 Dream Cruise WXYZ Cover Photo Gallery, Copyright 2017 Scripps Media, Inc., WXYZ
Detroit TV Dream Cruise Sponsor check for their link to at wxyz 2017Woodward Dream cruise
Please contact me if you have questions.
Car is sold as is, where is. with no warranties implied or expressed. All shipping costs are the responsibility of the buyer.
$1,000.00 Non refundable deposit.
Full payment is due within 7 days.
- Condition: Used
- Make: Pontiac
- Model: Firebird
- Type: Coupe
- Year: 1968
- Mileage: 18600
- VIN: 223378U12XXXX
- Color: Black
- Engine size: Pontiac
- Number of cylinders: 8
- Transmission: Turbo 400 Automatic
- Interior color: Black
- Vehicle Title: Clean Want to buy? Contact seller!
