(Discovery Channel)
“Fast N’ Loud” host Richard Rawlings has found what he calls the car industry’s “Holy Grail” — the first two Pontiac Firebirds ever built, the New York Post reports.
Called simply “#1” and “#2,” the prototypes were manufactured by Pontiac engineers and were used as models for the 1967 Firebird, which revolutionized the world of sporty “muscle cars” when it rolled off the assembly line.
“We found the cars in a garage in Connecticut,” says Rawlings. “They were in a dilapidated barn and are the very first Firebirds . . . they were hand-made . . . and were used by GM to decide if they wanted to build the Firebird.”
Discovery will devote the April 21 and April 28 episodes of “Fast N’ Loud” to Rawlings’ find, showing how he and his crew, including Aaron Kaufman, restored both cars, which were purchased for a combined $65,000 and sold for $650,000 (after each car underwent $200,000 worth of restoration).
Rawlings says he learned about the Firebirds after selling a “pretty rare Corvette” to a client.
“I always have a habit of asking, ‘Do you have anything you want to sell?’ He told me he heard a story about a guy a couple of towns over who was supposed to have the [Firebirds],” he says. “A lot of times it turns out to be a ghost story — a ‘cool car’ turns out to be a four-door Nova.”