400 H.O. 1969 Pontiac Firebird 4-Speed

This car's VIN decodes as a Firebird series, Hardtop Sport Coupe body, 1969 model year, built at Pontiac's Lordstown, OH assembly plant, matching the "FIREBIRD HT CPE" description on its own factory invoice. For 1969, the Firebird was extensively restyled with a new one-piece Lexan front bumper-grille, and Pontiac introduced a variable-ratio power-steering unit, an option documented on this car's invoice. This car's invoice lists option code 348, "F/B 400 HO", Pontiac's 400 H.O. engine, the same functional Ram Air induction engine collectors today call "Ram Air III," though Pontiac's own 1969 literature used only the "400 H.O." name. It was carried over largely unchanged from 1968, while a new 400 Ram Air IV (345 hp) was introduced as a step above it; this car's invoice codes the 400 H.O. (option 348). The 400 H.O. sat near the top of the 1969 Firebird engine lineup, well above the base six-cylinder and 350 V8 most coupes left the factory with, making a factory-invoiced 400 H.O. car like this one a distinctly less common find than an ordinary 1969 Firebird. Dealer invoices and window stickers of this era carried a Region/Zone/Dealer code identifying which of Pontiac's regional sales zones a car was routed through; this car's invoice shows it shipped to "09 991," Zone 9's own Cincinnati storage lot, before being purchased by Escue Pontiac, Inc. of Covington, KY, out of that zone inventory rather than being built to Escue's direct order.