Painting My 1977 T/A?

[Goodbonezz]

I purchased it in 2020, and it was and still is primer black.

Originally a sterling silver, with a red deluxe interior. W72 and runs excellent.

The previous owner gave up on turning it into a SE clone.

Since I’ve had it, it’s had a new Hotchkis front and rear suspension, plus about everything else mechanical, including the AC and Ram Air Restoration full exhaust.

It runs and drives excellently.

The main question is, would it be terrible to go with Solar gold on a 77 (it wasn’t available that year) with the red interior?

Original silver doesn’t do it for me; everyone has black.

White, meh, maybe a blue?

I’m fixated on the gold but don’t want to feel like I’m looking at a freak show after all is said and done with the red gut.

Surprisingly, my body guy seems to think it would look alright.

I hoped he’d talk me out of it, though I know it’s my decision.

I like to hear opinions, especially from people who know these cars.

I also understand the best re-sale would be black or the stock color.

At this stage, I’ve got so much money in this car I can’t afford to sell it anyway.

I’m keeping her for life.

Thanks

 

[quizkid32]

I like the original color combo, but do what you personally like.

It's your car, enjoy it.

These two were some of my favorites with a red interior.

 

[quizkid32]

Also, try here. Lots of pictures by year to compare colors.

1980 Firebird Photo Gallery

1980 Firebird, Esprit, Formula, and Trans Am Gallery. Every model and color combination.

www.tran-zam.com

 

[F Body Fan]

You've probably painted it already but my two cents for anyone pondering a similar thing -- while it might be worth a bit more in the original color, why not consider one of the other of DOZENS of factory Pontiac colors available throughout the 1970s. Restorers and collectors that are on here know these other colors exist, and even the dark red above is not only less seen, it also really shows off the lines of these cars.

I love that site that QuizKid linked to above, it has most of the colors but there is another site somewhere that was floating around that showed street examples on a mixture of 'Bird models for all of the other colors that were available. And yes, some may be gone -- they are not even seen anymore.

There is something quite unusual going on in the United States evidenced by Battle-Ship grey colors showing up on automobiles... you can either embrace where that kind of influence is coming from or think independently and paint your car a color that makes you and others happy when they see it -- it's up to you, but at some point black, white and grey cars are going to make future generations (and the wife and I currently have two of these, so don't grab the AR) wonder if we all were suffering from some sort of illness. I am an artist but my job as a Historian is to study American culture and assess why certain things became social trends that change history, so my advice is to Google "Pontiac Paint colors" and take a look at every color sheet from 1970 to 1980 and instead of ignoring the 90 percent that are unusual, really think about how they would look on your 'Bird. Right now I have a factory Medium Dark Purple Metallic (plum purple) '95 Formula convertible (one of 37 that year, with a few more sold in '96); a Persimmon '75 Esprit with some unusual options (how many are left in decent shape? maybe a handful or two); and a Legend Lime Mustang GT daily driver, and people never stop asking questions about any and all of them.

Perhaps the most interesting reactions were about the Pontiac/Chevrolet yellow on my '76 Camaro (sold about four years ago) which was not full chroma like later yellows but slightly buttery -- it was original paint -- no clearcoat! and looked great with saddle, black, or even white interiors -- people in the East could not leave a gas station without coming over to talk about it, as it was also a daily driver I used while working in PA (but not a car to park next to the plum purple '95 'Bird unless you wanted to get queasy).

Again, just my two cents, but watch those YouTube videos of California (or even Michigan) in the ''50s, '60s, and '70s and looks at the car colors. Were people happier then?

 

[Elwood]

I purchased it in 2020, and it was and still is primer black.

Originally a sterling silver, with a red deluxe interior. W72 and runs excellent.

The previous owner gave up on turning it into a SE clone.

Since I’ve had it, it’s had a new Hotchkis front and rear suspension, plus about everything else mechanical, including the AC and Ram Air Restoration full exhaust.

It runs and drives excellently.

The main question is, would it be terrible to go with Solar gold on a 77 (it wasn’t available that year) with the red interior?

Original silver doesn’t do it for me; everyone has black.

White, meh, maybe a blue?

I’m fixated on the gold but don’t want to feel like I’m looking at a freak show after all is said and done with the red gut.

Surprisingly, my body guy seems to think it would look alright.

I hoped he’d talk me out of it, though I know it’s my decision.

I like to hear opinions, especially from people who know these cars.

I also understand the best re-sale would be black or the stock color.

At this stage, I’ve got so much money in this car I can’t afford to sell it anyway.

I’m keeping her for life.

Thanks

View attachment 3096

Paint it white with a little pearl in the pain.

The red interior would go with that.

The white would be close to the original white but would be pop enough to stand out a little.