Whether you call it the Firebird, the rising phoenix, the hood bird, or use its tongue-in-cheek "screaming chicken" nickname, this iconic decal has become synonymous with the Pontiac Trans Am. But it hasn't always been that way. In fact, according to former Pontiac head of design Bill Porter, GM leadership hated the idea when it was first proposed. YouTube channel Original MotorCar interviewed Porter and his colleague John Schinella to hear the fascinating history behind the development of the Trans Am Hood Bird design.
Lead photo courtesy of Mecum Auctions
The original 1967 Firebird emblem was based on jewelry designed by Hopi Native Americans, as seen below. This inspiration was fairly straightforward, but the final product — with wings down and beak closed — didn't have an especially aggressive appearance. Some GM employees allegedly called it a "sick chicken."
The open-beaked flaming bird we know and love today was inspired by a much more unusual object: a Tiffany vase. Bill Porter had collected a few of these artistic vases and appreciated the sleek featherlike patterns that wrapped around the exterior. This led him to draw a sketch on his lunch break one day, which he handed off to Pontiac graphic designer Norm Inouye.
Above: This Tiffany vase design inspired Bill Porter to doodle a sketch of a bird with flame-like feathers. The design was refined and finalized by his coworker Norm Inouye.
At this time, the new second-gen 1970 Firebird was being developed, so Porter taped the bird decal to the hood of the clay model to see how it looked. After returning from his lunch break, he learned that GM design boss Bill Mitchell had seen the decal and hated it, allegedly using strings of profanity and saying it resembled a Macy's delivery truck. Porter removed the bird from the hood immediately and thought "that was the end of it."
A few years later, designer John Schinella saw the hood bird and decided to try to convince Mitchell to reconsider his opinion. Given the popularity of stripes and other graphics, Schinella believed it could be successful.
After noticing that Mitchell owned a black motorcycle with gold accents — inspired by the famous John Player Special Lotus F1 cars — Schinella took a black Trans Am, put a gold hood bird decal on it, and parked it next to the motorcycle at the GM design studio. Then he called Mitchell and told him to look out the window. This was enough to get Mitchell to accept the idea, though the rest of the Pontiac team was skeptical.
Eventually, the decision was made to offer the hood bird as option code WW7 on the 1973 Trans Am. The consensus was "let's give this a try... we've got nothing to lose." The optional decal was relatively small, but got larger until it filled almost the entire hood and became standard on packages such as the Special Edition and Anniversary. The hood bird decal was a success!
According to Hagerty, Bill Mitchell looked back on the decision as a wise move. "It was terrific. It was that kind of thing that really put [Pontiac] ahead of Chevrolet. The Camaro didn’t have anything like that."
To hear the interviews and more details on this story, check out the video from Original MotorCar below:
If you own a classic Pontiac Firebird or Trans Am, Classic Industries is your one-stop shop for restoration parts and accessories. We offer hood bird decals in just about every color you can imagine, as well as emblems, trim, body panels, glass, upholstery, and much more. Click here to view our Firebird/Trans Am parts or click the button below to get a free full-color parts catalog.