1990 Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am: A Short Year Before the Facelift

Production fell sharply to 20,532 Firebirds for 1990, and this record's own overview attributes the drop directly to the GTA source page's explanation that the face-lifted 1991 models launched early, in spring 1990. Only 1,447 GTAs were built by the printout's count, 304 of them for export, the key fact this record leads with alongside 1,054 Trans Ams from MuscleCarClub's separate table. Those two model counts came from tables that, per this record's own production notes, partition the 20,532 total differently: MuscleCarClub's rows give 13,204 base Firebirds, 4,832 Formulas, 1,054 Trans Ams and 1,442 GTAs.^1,2

This record's own conflicts note documents a small GTA discrepancy: the printout gives 1,447 against MuscleCarClub's 1,442, a five-car gap, and the treatment states plainly that both figures are shown while judging the printout transcription the one closer to a factory record. Within the printout's own scope, the GTA's two engines split 1,002 with the L98 5.7 against 445 with the LB9 5.0, and by transmission 123 carried the five-speed manual against the remainder automatic.²

This record's own price section carries a note explaining that the single Selling Facts booklet used for pricing was the only one issued for the true 1990 model year, since two later calendar-1990 booklets had already moved to 1991 Firebird pricing after the restyled car's early-February 1990 introduction. That booklet prices a base Firebird at $11,759, a Formula at $15,049, a Trans Am at $16,949 and a GTA at $23,759, all manufacturer suggested retail including a $439 destination charge, prices this record carries as the only reliable snapshot of the true, short 1990 model year.

Three engines are documented: the LB3 5.0 TPI at 200 hp and 285 lb-ft, listed in this record's own table simply as "as listed" without a stated model assignment; the L98 5.7 TPI at 235 hp and 330 lb-ft for Trans Am and GTA; and the LH0 3.1-liter V-6 at 140 hp and 180 lb-ft for the base Firebird, all three rated to the same net standard as compiled by MuscleCarClub.¹

Paint on the GTA that year ran across five colors: 122 in Medium Gray, 249 in Medium Maroon Metallic, 296 in Bright Red, 308 in White and 472 in Black, the most common shade. This record's own interior table carries six trims, from 158 Black cloth and 199 each of Black leather and Camel cloth up through 271 Medium Gray leather, 303 Medium Gray cloth and 317 Camel leather, the most common of the six.²

No shipping weights, dimensions, factory-test performance figures, identification details, documented conflicts beyond the GTA total, or unpublished leads survive in this record's own specifications, performance, identification and unpublished-leads sections, all four of which are left empty. What the record documents in full is the short year the facelift cut short: five model-and-body rows resolving to 20,532 Firebirds, a GTA total disputed by five cars between two sources, three engines, and paint and interior tables built entirely from the same worldwide GTA printout that carries the year's production story from beginning to end.²