The 3rd Gen Firebird made it's debut to the world in January of 1982 after about 4 years of development. It was more aerodynamic, 500 pounds lighter, and was 10 inches shorter and 2 inches slimmer than it's predecessor all helping to make the new Firebird the most aerodynamic production Firebird to date. The Firebird also managed to keep it's rear wheel drive platform after heavy debate within GM concerning whether or not this generation of Firebird was to be front wheel of rear wheel drive.

            Some of the other changes that took place where the change from the front wishbone suspension over to the MacPherson strut front suspension. GM also mounted the front coil springs inboard of the strut cylinder to reduce the need for upper body reinforcement. The rear suspension still had the live rear axle but was coil sprung and located by 2 trailing links and connected to the transmission through a large torque arm that controlled axle windup. A panhard rod behind the axle helped absorb lateral loads too.

            The new base engine for the 3rd Gen Firebird was the fuel injected 2.5L 4 cylinder "Iron Duke" rated at 90 HP and the carbed 2.8L V6 rated at only 102 HP. Next up was the 5.0L V8 with a 4 barrel quadrajet that was rated at 145 HP. Late in the 1982 model year Pontiac introduced a Crossfire version of the 5.0L that produced 165 HP. 3rd Gen Firebird models included the base model, the S/E and the Trans Am. There was also an special edition Trans Am called the MR MSE Trans Am. Acceleration times were bad but the new Firebird had an impressive 0.856 g's on the skid pad. Sales for 1982 were greater than 100,000 units which proved that the new design was going to be a winner among car buyers.

       Mid year 1983 was the  the introduction of the L69 engine as an option which was a 5.0L HO V8 equipped with a quadrajet that produced about 190 HP.  There was about a 1 1/2 second improvement in acceleration times with this engine also. The Trans Am was selected as the Daytona 500 pace car and Pontiac sold about 500 pace car replica's this year.

       1984 saw the 15th Anniversary Indy Pace car Trans Am of which 2500 were made including a Recaro Edition and this was also the debut of 16 inch wheels. The L69 package was now standard on the Trans Am and ground effects were now made an option. This was the last year for the MR MSE Trans Am.

       1985 was when Pontiac decided borrow the Tuned Port Injection system from the corvette and mate it to a 5.0L V8 LB9 code engine that produced about 215 HP. The Macho Trans Am  was also built his year but only 20 were made. The carbed 2.8L V6 is dropped from the line up and replaced with a fuel injected version making 135 HP. Pontiac also put a wrap around spoiler on the Trans Am's starting this year.

       1986 was the last year for the S/E model of Firebird which finally had a V8 even though it was just a 5.0L TBI version. In 1986 Pontiac also started offering a new digital dash layout in an attempt to boost sales along with the intro of an overhead console and a few other things. The "Iron Duke" 4 cylinder was dropped as the base model standard engine and the 2.8L now replaces it totally.

            In 1987 Pontiac made one of it's smartest moves by utilizing the 5.7L Tuned Port Injected V8 (L98) used in the Corvette but with cast iron heads as GM did not want the Corvette to have any competition from within it's ranks. Pontiac put this 210 HP engine in a special package (B2L) available for the Trans Am called it the GTA (Gran Turismo Americano). This option package ran about $2,700 and was well worth it.  All this also meant the big return for the Firebird Formula! The L69 engine was also dropped this year. A company called Choo Cho Customs in the Tri-State area began marketing an aftermarket appearance package on base model birds that was called the Bandit II, it included a shaker hood and various emblems throughout the car.

            Pontiac promoted the GTA as it's own model in 1988 giving it it's own code of Y84. The output on the L98 also increased on the Trans Am GTA from 210 HP to about 225 HP. T-Tops were also a very popular option on the GTA this year. This was also the introduction of the Notchback hatch on the GTA. This was a 1988 only option and was an attempt to make the GTA different from the other Trans Am's and Firebird's. 1988 was also the last year for the short lived digital dash. The 1LE option first appeared this year. . This was the first year for the FireFox program also. Late 1988 saw the demise of the digital instrumentation. The Banshee 4th Gen concept was showed off by Pontiac this year also.

       1989 is when we had the 20th Anniversary Turbo Trans Am Indy Pace car. This car is the considered the fastest production car of the 80's using the Turbo 3.8L V6 from the Buick GN but with slightly different heads, chip, and intercooler. About 1,555 of these were built 5 of which were test mules. A company called ASC was given authorization by PMD to produce a limited number of convertible GTA's, some even with the 350. The N10 Dual Catalytic converter option was introduced for the manual LB9 cars and the L98 cars. Lexan T-Tops are also introduced. There were also 2 little know models called the Firebird SSA and Firebird XS.

            The 1990 Firebird had a new interior which featured a nicely styled front drivers side airbag along with updated interior dash moldings and design plus the introduction of cup holders! The 1990 model year was cut short however about halfway through by the early introduction of the 1991 model. TPI also sees the intro of newer speed density TPI injection replacing the older MAF sensor improving performance and reliability.

       1991 model's saw allot of changes most notably of which was the new front nose based on the Banshee 4th Gen concept from 1988. The ground effects surrounding the car was changed and the taillights were changed on the Trans Am to include the word "PONTIAC" in painted on lettering that was a tribute to the mid engine Pontiac Fiero. 1991 is also the year that GM began using body sealer on some of the body panels to reduce flex, decrease interior noise, and give an overall tighter feeling to the F-Body. This year Pontiac no longer offered the 350/T-Top combo in the brochures but a small handful of 1991 GTA's did sneak out with them. This was to be the first ever year for the Formula Firehawk, an aftermarket upgrade that GM had authorized. It had it's own RPO code, B4U and including such things as an aluminum 383, Brembo brakes, racing harness, suspension upgrades, 17 inch wheels and a few other mods. These rare birds went for around $45,000 new in 1991 and 1992 during which there were only 25 produced. This year also marked the return of the first factory Firebird convertible option since 1969. The FireFox II program showed up with basically a detuned version of the first but with new upgraded fascia to go along with the newer 91 body style. The N10 option is now standard on all L98 cars.

       1992 was the last year for the 3rd Gen Firebird and saw it's share of last second improvements. Body sealer was now used on the entire car and GM had made small chassis improvements in a last effort to strengthen the Firebird frame. This year the 350/T-Top combo would be restricted to only Formula's with black crosslace wheels (don't even ask me why, this just doesn't make since to me either).