1978 - 1979 Firebird
Kammback Station Wagon
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1978 Firebird Trans Am Kammback with 1979
nose.

This interesting car was a concept car built by PMD (Pontiac Motor
Division). It was labeled as the "K" car for Kammback. The car never
saw production but two models were specially constructed in Italy
for GM`s Design vice president David Holls.
The concept was to put out a Firebird station wagon that would
provide a performance car to the public. A silver wagon and gold
wagon were built (total of two) and were 100% factory original as
they appear in these pictures. The gold wagon has been destroyed
reportedly due to internal company issues.
From stationwagon.com: "The 10/1/98 issue of Old Cars magazine has a
short article (pages 23-24) on an experimental 1978 Pontiac Firebird
`shooting brake` station wagon. Constructed for GM by Pininfarina,
they were dropped from production plans because of their projected
$24-25,000 price tags (in 1978 dollars). There were evidently two
running versions constructed - one Firebird, and one Trans Am. It
had two `gullwing` doors that gave access to the rear cargo area.
The Firebird was crushed by GM, but the Trans Am survived to be
upgraded to 1979 specs and taken on the show circuit again.
The Type K Back in 1970-71, Chevrolet entertained serious thoughts
of bringing out a production Camaro station wagon. Preliminary
development went along jointly between Chevrolet and Pontiac, but
the project faltered when the two divisions couldn`t agree to use
interchangeable doors on the Firebird and Camaro. The original
Firebird Type K was done in 1977 under the direction of GM executive
designer David R. Holls. Studio stylist Jerry Brockstein did much of
the detail work. The first type K (for Kammback) was conceived on
the base Firebird, not the Trans Am. Early prototypes were built of
fiberglass. Since production in this country seemed out of the
question, GM Design vice president William L. Mitchell met with
Italian coachbuilder Sergio Pininfarina and arranged to have two
metal-bodied Type K`s constructed for show purposes. In late 1977,
Pininfarina delivered the twin wagons -- a silver one with a red
interior and a gold one with a natural beige interior. These were
1978 cars, later converted to look like 1979-80 models. At one
point, Pontiac and Pininfarina checked into the possibility of
building Type K`s in Italy or in a special U.S. plant. These
limited-production customs were intended for the American market at
a list price of $16,000. Convertibles were also contemplated at that
time. However, inflation and other costs soon raised vehicle price
to $25,000, so the plan ended up on the shelf. The Deco
International Corp. of North Hollywood, Calif., began building Type
K replicas in May 1980. Conversions cost about $15,000 and consist
of fiberglass over a steel framework. Side windows raise
electrically on gas cylinders.
The one of a kind Silver
Kammback was featured in an episode of "The Rockford Files" Staring
Jim Garner. You can find the episode on DVD in the season five
collection on disc five. The episode called "Never Send a Boy King
to Do a Man's Job". Thanks to Chris Hill of the UK for pointing this
out!






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