Rockford Files Clone or Real? 1977 Pontiac Firebird Formula
In the second half of the 1970s, one of the most popular detective shows on television was The Rockford Files. It starred James Garner as the somewhat laid-back private investigator who usually got himself into all sorts of sticky situations. For the entire run of the series, he drove a Pontiac Firebird, beginning with the 1974 model year (the show ended in 1980). This ’77 Firebird professes to be one of the cars used on the show, but only a license plate is offered to help confirm its authenticity. Available in Calabasas, California, and here on craigslist, the asking price is $175,000. Thanks to Mrtinwoodie for this Hollywood tip!
Two of the models built during the run of the second-generation Firebirds were the Esprit and Formula. The former was more for everyday use and were powered by engines smaller than 350 cubic inches. The latter was more for performance-oriented drivers and came with 400 V8 power and hood scoops. For the run of the show and since more power was needed for stunts and so forth, the producers used Formulas that looked like Esprits and were all custom painted in Copper Mist.
The seller offers a fully restored 1977 Pontiac Firebird and says it’s the Formula used in the show that year. But no engine compartment photos are provided to verify what engine resides there. Also, no VIN or any special identification of the car is presented other than a license plate that is said to be the one worn on the car in 1977. So, is the Pontiac the real deal or a very nice restoration?
Either way, it presents well, but does it warrant the seller’s asking price? The mileage is under 85,000 which we’re told is original. A video clip of Mike Lowe and Jay Leno riding around in the car is offered, but they don’t go into any details as to what they’re doing although it’s set up like they’re about to go on a famous Jim Rockford chase. A copy of the clip can be found here. In 2019, a 1978 version of the real-deal car was sold at Barrett-Jackson for $115,000, according to the seller.
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Comments
Even if it is a Rockford car, which I doubt, there is no way in hell it’s worth 175k.
Price sounds more like one of Angel’s schemes to separate a fool from his money…
I suppose it just takes one, ONE fanatic with money to burn..
I would love an ounce of the stuff that the seller is smoking!
With Tony Primo as a name I would guess that you may have a better connection……
Must be smoking the good stuff from the sunset 🌇 strip Primo.
Garner was cool. Rockford Files was great, and James was awesome in the riverboat gambling movie Maverick.
Ugh, give the “smokin” jokes a rest, these people clearly have a disease and it’s not drug addiction. Besides, Colorado has over 500 dispensaries alone that can help you out. I think it’s about $280 bucks an ounce for stuff Country Joe McDonald would be proud of.
No,,wait, it was Arlo Guthrie “comin’ into Los Angeleeeze, bringin’ in a couple of keys”,,,see? And they say it affects your,,,um,,,short term,,,umm, what was I talkin’ about again?
With Tony Primo as a name I would guess that you may have a better connection……
You can buy those plates, and year stickers on eBay. Not sure how a plate is proof of anything.
If it’s a real license plate, California DMV records should show what VIN the plate was attached to.
Always loved that show.The studio repainted and rebaged all the cars.They were all Formula’s rebadged as Esprits and the factory gold didnt film well so the studio mixed up their own gold that did and used it on each firebird used.Always wanted a Rockford Firebird as a youth :P
Pontiac should have copied the color and called it “Detective Gold.”
I can’t imagine paying some expert to determine that they can’t use Formulas that looked like Formulas, but rather they needed to look like Esprits, and that they needed to repaint the cars used in the show a different shade of gold.
I betcha the show would have been a hit even if they used factory gold Formulas but I can’t prove it of course.
PS- I can’t imagine paying Packers QB Aaron Rodgers $150M + for three years either, but I digress…
As mentioned James Garner was a true car guy, he wanted the T/A performance in his screen cars – since you could option out a Formula with all of the T/A goodies- minus the fender vents & wheel flairs he/they ordered Formulas(which you could “option” without the rear spoiler as well). The reason they were then hood swapped & “badge engineered” as Esprits is because of the character being a “low budget” type of guy. Read this many years ago & have seen one of the actual cars as well.
Good gravy! All that is wrong in our hobby.
James Garner was much more than the guy who played Jim Rockford. He was a car guy at heart, and big into racing. Not many actors have driven the Indy 500 pace car three times.
I believe “James Scott Bumgarner” ( wisely dropped the “Bum” for Hollywood) did all his own racing shots, like in LeMans and in an unusual Hollywood tradition, he was married only to Lois Clark until she died in 2014.
Howard, don’t you mean, until HE died in 2014?
James Garner didn’t just drive pace cars; he raced professionally himself, including being the owner/driver in at least three Baha 1000 races in Mexico. In his autobiography, he goes into detail about his professional racing efforts, and a lot of detail about of The Rockford Files.
Also, this seller seems to think only one Firebird was used on the show, for an entire season! In reality, there were many such cars, all painted the same colour, and no fewer than 3 of them were used in any given episode: one for regular driving scenes; one with a camera mounted on the side for on-car driving scenes; and one with a camera mounted on the hood, pointing into the cabin, for in-car dialogue scenes.
Not only does the seller seem to think that the license plate was genuine, issued by the state of California, but that it is proof of the provenance he claims of the car.
And lastly, would any of you park a car in a common parking lot if you believed it was worth $175K?
On this seller, I call BS!
Rockford’s Firebird is cooler than Bandit’s Firebird. Fight me.
Rather have the Formula/Esprit Steve. 👍 2 great actors.
Steve, is that with or without Sally Field in the passenger seat? Cause if it’s with, no need to fight, just drive away and enjoy the evening.
Maybe Beth Davenport in firebird?
Nothing against Sally Field, but Jim Rockford hung around with my first crush–Rita Moreno. So I’ll take the Formula with Rita over the TA with Sally any day!
J1965, I understand, for sure. We all had a first crush. It’s all good.
To call about this car and have it not go straight to an answering machine would be a disappointment.
It would probably be Cheech and Chong’s voices on the recording.
You hit it, Rosko, I was going to mention, Rockford Files was the 1st time many of us ever saw an “answering machine” before. It literally changed our society, FOREVER! For the 1st time, before caller i.d., you didn’t need to actually answer the phone, screen your calls, you could and the rest is history. You could say, the answering machine is the smoking gun to our screwed up, non-interactive society today. I always Iiked his dad, Rocky ( Joseph Rockford,,rarely heard that). He was a old time trucker that took no guff,, and he drove a squarebody GMC.
Check out James Garner’s off road race Cutlass,one of coolest cars ever, just my opinion.
Rockfords plates were hand painted props
I remember an episode where the Firebird was 2 different years appearing in the same sequence of scenes.
That was when they recycled bits of chase scenes from previous shows.
Damn, now the instrumental theme song is going to play over and over in my head! (“Dah, dah, dadadah!”)
Rockford’s always had an “Esprit” between the door window and rear window.
Great show, great actor, great car.
But I also always liked his “ocean front property”. Even if it was on wheels.
At $100 a day plus expenses it will take a while to pay for it.
The prop buttons are missing from the dash.
Mike Rowe’s Rockford car had the prop buttons on the dash.
???
If it was one used for the stunts one should check the frame for stunt damage.
Loved the way Rockford would do the 180 turns.
Would like to do one like this – 400 Pontiac Stroker FI 461 ci. 500 + hp on Pump Gas – Overdrive Auto Transmission etc. :)
According to James Garner, the license plate number (853-OKG) on Jim Rockford’s Firebird was thought up by his agent. It represents August of 1953 when James Garner got his first acting role and the OKG comes from his home state of Oklahoma and the first letter of his last name! These plates could be purchased on Ebay, at one time. If this car was used in the series, there will be holes drilled inside the car for camera, and sound equipment, used for filming driving segments.
James Garner stated in his autobiography that he assumed the OKG was an an allusion to Oklahoma Garner, but that he had no idea what significance the 853 had, if any.
The license plate shown in the ad does not appear to be one used on the show because if you compare it to a Rockford OKG plate in a screen grab the fonts are different. The ad plate font looks like the one used for the replica plate you can purchase online. The license plates used for filming were studio props, not real plates.
Apparently the VINs of the Rockford cars were not kept by Universal so you can’t authenticate a car that way. Also, I thought the Rockford cars had Esprit badges on the B pillar and this car doesn’t have them.
A couple more things… it’s not at all unusual for the studios to paint a car differently so that it shows on camera better. A great example of this is the Cuda used for Nash Bridges. Same goes for the body/trim – most of the cars used for that show had been coupes with their roofs cut off & the color has some Orange to it – its not a factory color.
Also notice that the 79 & 80 shows didn’t use the 79-81 body style?? James Garner thought it was ugly – so they stuck with the 77-78 style front & rear.
There is NO WAY that is an original screen used Firebird. The seller contradicts himself with comparing it to the Barrett Jackson Firebird that is a 1978. His is a 1977. Also, the car has the wrong steering wheel. Nice ask. Rockford’s friend Angel must be trying to do a “deal”.
I’d rather have one of his Baja 1000 442 ‘ s myself . I wouldn’t kick this out of the garage for leaving a drip of oil neither . I think the seller needs to change his selling venue from CL to BJ . JMHO too .
I’m surprised the car was not given to Garner after the show was over, considering how much money he made for NBC – & Pontiac.
Fellas, the cars never had badges on the B pillars that I remember. The real esprits usually had just a bird emblem or decal if they had anything IIRC. I freely admit to being wrong before. And I bet I will be wrong again sometime too.
Some of them did, at least in the first season though it can be hard to see. Not sure about the later ones.
http://pics.imcdb.org/0is214/s1e20005.1381.jpg
I loved the show. I am also a huge James Garner fan, have watched almost every one of his movies and have read his autobiography. That said, I would love to have one of the cars he drove on the show. Unfortunately for the seller, he’s trying to sell this car on provenance he can’t prove, and which likely can never be proven. Hard pass for me.
Mr. Seller, try your luck on Craigslist. No one here will ever fall for your scam. $17,500. NOT $175,000!
Thought all Formulas had the dual hood scoops? Someone please let me know either way though.
BTW, had a great 72 Formula 455 with functional factory ram air. Only 2 years old when I bought it from a Delta airline pilot who rarely drove it. Was a bute & quick as it was great looking. Could roll along at 35mph & burn rubber with just a little pressure on the gas pedal. Just wished it had a manual transmission but I don’t think it was an option for that. Went on to own 5 more birds but all were T/A’s after that great first one. Would love to own them all now except for the lousy 83 EPA beaten down one. Ah, the memories!
The Formulas did have the twin hood scoops, and the Formula Firebird was needed for better power and handling for the chase scenes, but James garner wanted the car to look like an Esprit model, a car that Jim Rockford would be more likely able to afford, so the hood was changed and the rear spoiler was removed.
The ’73-74 superduty formulas oddly got the t/a’s shaker hood & hood scoop. Anybody know why?
https://barnfinds.com/1974-pontiac-formula-455-sd-4-speed/
I wonder if Pontiac gave Garner a ’74 super duty formula(for driving shots) the 1st yr of his tv show, if he would have had a flat hood installed on THAT car. I bet tho he would have insisted on keeping that one car for the entire series because of the motor!, much to Pontiac’s objections when they restyled the bird in ’77. lol
gear jammer, the rear spoiler was an option on the Formulas – not a “standard” item. If I recall, that was around a $100 option. They only came standard on T/A’s (although I think you could “delete” them on the order). They may or may not have been able to “delete the twin scooped hood as well – I don’t know that for sure.
Check this out and then try to convince me the seller isn’t wrong.
https://barnfinds.com/1-of-212-1974-pontiac-trans-am-sd-455-4-speed/?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Newsletter+(Daily)
Joenywf64 – The 73-74 SD-455 Formula Got the Shaker hood as it was the only engine combo that was certified for production emissions etc. The 73 GTO – Grand Am etc. was supposed to get the SD-455 But was nixed – In the 70’s John Clegg’s 73 SD-455 Formula – HO Racings 74 SD-455 T/A etc. Won in NHRA Racing with that engine :)