1968 Pontiac Firebird Jim Wangers' Famous "Black Bird" Car To Beat On The Street

I have owned the Black Bird since 1997. As co-founder and President of The Royal Pontiac Club of America since 1994 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. This is Jim Wanger’s Famous Black Bird.

To understand this car you need to know some of the history. Please read all of it before contacting me. Do your due diligence.Thank you in advance.

Jim Wangers known as “The God Farther of the Pontiac GTO”, was also a championship drag racer as well as Pontiac Motor’s advertising man from MacManus John and Adams. He is the man through Bunkie Knudsen who set up the Pontiac Motor offsite testing facility. In September 1959 it became known best as the Royal Racing Team a division of Ace Wilson’s Royal Pontiac dealership. Through the dealership Jim would have all magazine cars “prepped’ there. Jim would do “market research” by taking out “special” Pontiac to Woodward. He would get the reactions of the kids on Woodward of Pontiac’s performance.

Jim had been written up in a 1968 article by Roger Huntington in “Supercar Special” he titled it “THE MAN WHO INVENTED SUPERCARS”. Roger Huntington did an interview with Jim Wangers for “CARS” magazine when Jim began work at Hurst Performance in 1969. The interview was titled “Jim Wangers The Man Behind THE SUPERCAR SCENE”.

By 1970 under the new management at Pontiac the performance image that brought them to number three in sales was dwindling. Jim had worked hard for over 10 years creating Pontiac’s performance image and did not want to see it disappear.

Jim felt he had to do something. He 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.

In late 1970 he bought the 1968 Firebird 400 from Mike Kneiper. Jim sold the idea of an article about a Firebird build up to keep your Pontiac competitive in “Popular Hot Rodding” magazine. The buildup appeared in the March 1971 issue.

With the help of Pontiac's advance engine engineering group, Russ Gee, Tom Nell and Jeff Young. They supplied a 455 block, developed maximum Ram Air VI head flow, had a special cam shaft ground that worked well on the street and in the Trans Am series. This group of engineers along with Jim Wangers wanted to show Pontiacs were still competitive and could compete and dominate on the streets of Detroit as well as in the Trans Am series.

Suppliers such as Hurst Performance and Holley supplied shifters and experimental carbs to be tested on this car and returned to manufacture after testing. George DeLorean, John DeLorean's brother, who owned Leader Automotive helped maintain the car at a later date and affixed the Leader Automotive plates to the valve covers. ( Valve covers are included and are seen in the ACME Trader diecast)

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 decided to change the location of the race a few miles away to make the other car's plug load up.

The Firebird became the car to beat on the street! Jim gave instruction to his drivers never show them everything you have. Only beat them by enough to convince them you beat them fair and square. Many guys kept coming back for more only to think they are getting closer.

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's current engine built by Jim Wanger's personal mechanic's, Duncan Micheal and Bob Schaefer. Duncan has built many of Jim Wangers' engines including Jim's famous Pontee Carlo and Red T/A. 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 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.

By comparison Hagerty Ins. values for Yenko Super Camaros #2 values of $378,000 for 1967, $374,000 for 1968, and $250,000 for 1969.

It would be helpful if you would please read the resume before contacting me with any questions.

(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 Blackbird”,

(Detroit Autorama Promo article and picture)

4) The Observer & Eccentric News Papers, Thursday, February 21, 2002, “Racers, roadsters to

headline classic car show”. 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,”LEGEND OF THE…Blackbird” 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

SHOW”, 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 101”,

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 Buffs”, page 51-52

20) Muscle Car Review, SOURCE Interlink Media, December 2014, UP FRONT by Drew Harding,

“A Tiny Blackbird”. 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 Again”, pages 28-31

22) ACME Trader Company, January 2015 releases 1/18 scale limited edition replica of “The

Black Bird”, 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 Club”,

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