From Heavy Metal to the Big Screen, this Restored 1968 Firebird has seen it all
(After talking to Jim Thomson, the owner of this restored 1968 Firebird, we thought it would be fun to let him explain the history and features of this Pontiac!)
Back in high school in New Jersey in the ’70s, before I was old enough to drive, a friend’s older brother bought a ’68 Firebird 400 convertible with a Muncie four-speed. I remember sitting in the back seat with my friend as his brother took us for a ride. As we entered onto the Garden State Parkway, he went through all four gears, leaving rubber in at least three, maybe all four! I had never experienced anything quite like that!
That led to me buying a ’68 Firebird a few years later while attending college – a 350c.i. hardtop with two-speed automatic transmission. I made some good memories in it, but the car had run its course by the late-’70s. When I moved to San Diego in 1984, I was surprised by the number of older cars still on the road. In 1989, I decided to search for another Firebird. This time I wanted a convertible and the performance 400c.i. sport model.
I eventually located this Firebird in Hollywood. The owner, Terry Ilous, was a singer in an up-and-coming LA-based heavy metal band called XYZ. Ted Nugent invited the band to be his opening act for a tour, so Terry was shedding his belongings, including this car. We made a deal, and I drove the car home to San Diego never thinking I would still have it 37 years later!
The car was heavily optioned when new in 1968 with the custom interior, sport steering wheel, rally gauge package, AM/FM radio with rear mount antenna, power windows, brakes, and steering, and Rally II wheels. The car was a good driver but had to pass California smog tests at the time, including visual inspections. I had to track down an original cast iron intake manifold with a PCV valve and an air cleaner with an attachment for a heat riser connection. I decided I liked the original parts on the engine and that set me on a path to keep the car mostly original, even though now the car is smog exempt.
In the late-’90s, I had the car repainted in a bright red finish and added the iconic Pontiac hood-mount tachometer. A decade later, I had JBA Speed Shop rebuild the 400c.i. engine to the factory HO specifications. More recently, I swapped in a Tremec TKX five-speed transmission, which has completely transformed the driving experience of the car. 
The Firebird has appeared in multiple calendars and books, plus the 2004 movie “The Last Ride” with Dennis Hopper and on an episode of “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” with Jerry Seinfeld and Judd Apatow. More importantly, after all these years I have finally gotten a car close to the one that started it all for me in 1972!
Congratulations to Jim Thomson for being named a Finalist for the Goodguys 2026 Snap-on Muscle Car of the Year with his 1968 Pontiac Firebird!
Photos: Damon Lee
