I was just a little kid in 1979, but I remember the way that year felt, if that makes sense. There was a certain energy in the air, a sort of last groan of the 1970s, a gleeful and simultaneously mournful exclamation as though somehow we were all aware that the upcoming 1980s would mean the earliest pre-production mule of what we now call modernity. There’s books that say this, too, it’s not just me. This sort of amorphous feeling, this last yelp of wildness, I think found its best, most earnest expression in one very specific place: car hoods. Specifically, a small set of car hoods that could be ordered, right from the factory, with huge decals that all had some sort of flame-related motif or look or just general tone, even if the decal was ostensibly of a bird or a dragon or a snake or a whatever. I believe there were six cars you could buy in 1979 with such hood decals, so let’s walk through them and, why not, vote on which we think was the best? What could it hurt?
You’d think with their often iffy quality control, 1970s cars generally might want to avoid any suggestion of flames shooting out of hoods, but those were different, bolder times. Okay, let’s get into our contenders, starting with what is unquestionably the most famous of the flaming-something-on-the-hood genre: the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am:
The Firebird is really the archetype here, and it’s well-earned. That majestic bird, angrier before angered birds were a thing, makes for a real spectacle out on that hood. With wings outstretched, head turned and spitting what I assume is a jet of flame and not a partially-digested meal for the Firebird’s young, the decal commands the entire hood and is impossible to ignore. Sure, it’s been mocked as a screaming chicken for years, but if we look at it with un-jaded eyes, it’s a powerful bit of ornithological design.
One quick question, though: do you see it as a smaller bird with a flame-like halo, or do you see the outer flame-feathers as part of the bird’s overall body? Sometimes I see the smaller bird in the center as the “bird,” ringed in flame, and sometimes I just see it all as one flame bird. I’m curious what most people see now.
This is the closest that we have to a non-American entry in the flame-hood-decal world, even if it is sold under an American brand: the Plymouth Fire Arrow. The Plymouth Arrow was a captive import, a rear-wheel drive Mitsubishi Lancer Celeste. The Fire Arrow version wasn’t just a bunch of decals, but also came with the 2.6-liter MCA Jet engine, which was an interesting design that included a third valve per cylinder in the cylinder head that was used to inject air to “swirl the fuel-air mixture.” These also had discs all around!
But we’re here to talk hood graphics, not tech. Here there are some very stylized flames emanating from that V-shaped arrowhead, and it’s interesting to note how oddly similar the style of flame is to the Firebird’s or, as you’ll see, almost all of these hood graphics. It almost feels like there was some sort of unspoken agreement about how the general style of flaming hood graphics should look, which includes flame shapes that are also oddly reminiscent of the serifs on traditional Hebrew typography. Maybe there’s some Kabbalistic angle here? I should look into that.
GM was heavily invested in flaming hood decals, and wasn’t satisfied with just offering them for Pontiacs. Chevrolet got a novel take on the genre for their car/truck/ute El Camino, with the Royal Knight option package, which was really just a trim package that included all the stickers. The hood decal motif included a pair of symmetrical dragons, seen in profile, blowing serpentine flames at one another, with the negative space between them forming what appears to be a knight’s helmet, something I just realized right now as I’m typing this sentence. Cool!
Americans are strangely obsessed with the trappings of monarchy when it comes to cars, especially for a country formed to get the hell away from all those kings and lords and crap. The 1970s American automotive landscape was full of Monarchs and Crown Victorias and heraldic crests and all that crap. It’s odd. But, that’s still a striking flaming hood graphic, even if it is a bit light on the flames.
Someone at GM must have really felt the broad, flat El Camino hood was ripe for some fiery art, because they had an entirely separate sticker trim level for the El Camino’s badge-engineered GMC sibling, the Caballero. The version was known as the Caballero Diablo, and featured a huge demon head on the hood, with massive flame-hair erupting in two large wing-like sections. The design of the face has a certain ’60s Tiki-style look about it, which is a fun motif for a car – well, truck, I guess, especially a GMC, because it feels pretty unexpected.
Of course, all the Big Three needed some kind of flame hood art, and you can’t expect Ford to sit this one out. Ford’s hood-art entry has perhaps the most tenuous claim on the flames part of the equation, but design-wise, it definitely has elements that could be interpreted as flames. This is the Mustang King Cobra, which came standard with the 2.3-liter turbo four engine making 116 hp, or you could get the five-liter V8 making 140 hp. That hood scoop was just for looks, but, more importantly, it framed the hood-cobra, which reared up menacingly, its other sort of hood open wide, and, yes, maybe flames surrounding it.
A cobra is pretty much the only snake you can use a frontal image of and make a compelling graphic that doesn’t look like an obelisk with a tongue, too.
Finally, we come to the now-AMC Spirit-based AMX, which had the most straightforward of all the flaming hood art decals, because it’s literally just flames. Well, flames around the name of the car, but still, there are no birds or reptiles or demons or helmets involved here, just the pure flames of AMX. And, these flames fit stylistically with all the other flames, because that’s just how you do it.
The big 4.9-liter V8 managed to dribble out an embarrassing 125 hp, further reminding us that the AMC V8 was, let’s be honest, a real boat anchor. These things weren’t quick, but, really, that’s not a big deal, because you want everyone to have plenty of time to really enjoy and contemplate those three flaming letters, right?
Okay! Now’s the big test! You’ve had a chance to see and consider all of the flaming hood art available in 1979; so which does it best? Time to make your preferences known to us all:
I feel like the quality of each flame graphic was directly tied to each company or division’s cocaine budget. GM ran away with this one. That flaming chicken doesn’t just happen. It comes out of a brain that’s main-lined some grade A rocket fuel. Alas, poor AMC, was really stuck digging through glove boxes once used by John Delorean for some leftover dust.
The AMX looks like something a wrestler would drive…
… With that being, said I love it.
It’s a shame about the AMC 304, that poor thing was smogged to death at the end. With just a little work you can build it back to 200+, which ought to be a hell of a lot of go for the little Spirit-based AMX.
I remember an abandoned project series from a magazine about twenty years ago – Popular Hot Rodding, maybe? – where a guy was restomodding a 1979 AMX with a junkyard Jeep 4.0 HO. There was only volume 1 of the series. No idea what happened to the project or the guy building it, because all they gave us was the beginning and the plan. Which is a shame, because I was intrigued to see how it came out
That reminds me of a series I followed with great interest in Hot VWs, “Project Mileage Motor.” The entire series of articles is available online too.
Ultimately what came out was first, just with a little maintenance the car jumped from about 22mpg to 27-29 (don’t remember which). So just taking care of the car pays dividends.
Then building a VW engine for best efficiency meant installing a nearly-square crank and cylinder combo for a jump in displacement, yielding a meaty torque band and about 90hp – not what you’d expect for best fuel economy. But by the end if you skipped past some of the weird stuff you could easily expect daily driving in the high 30s – that’s keeping up with CA highway traffic, not pussyfooting hypermiling.
If you’re curious, also look up the MoPacer – a father-daughter team swapped in a 4.0 into an otherwise clapped-out Pacer, gave it good paint and otherwise just made it a damn good car, updating everything. I don’t remember if they did anything for power mods on the engine; fresh out of a Wrangler with no modifications, the 4.0 represents a healthy shot in the arm for any Pacer. But it looked pretty damn good.
I swore Dodge B100 or Plymouth Voyager had a factory flames package back in the 70s? Maybe just stripes, but orange/yellow/red stripes are flame like.
Somewhere both David and Daisy Duke are crying because the Jeep CJ-7 Golden Eagle wasn’t featured here, although I guess the eagle isn’t on fire so it doesn’t count.
#TeamFirechicken
While the Fire Arrow loses a bit on looks it carries more street cred due to its successful SCCA rally career
Trans Am. The Bird is the word.
It’s hard to beat the Trans Am. Also I had one of those as a hot wheel growing up, so nostalgia or something.
I did not know the Caballero Diablo was a thing and now I love it.
The Firebird decal isn’t just on the car, but actually changes my perception of the car’s shape. I prefer the El Camino as a decal, but the overall impact of the firebird can’t be denied.
I just looked up Firebirds without decals. It looks like a very different car without it.
My favorite is the blue Firebird decal on a blue car. It looks more ethereal.
Being a lifelong Firebird fanboy – see profile pic – I have a few favorite color combos:
Nocturne Blue with gold decals, like my uncle’s 1979. Pontiac did blues better than anyone, and the new-for-1979 Nocturne Blue was the best they ever made, a deep, lustrous metallic midnight blue.
Either black with red/orange like the one pictured, or white with red/orange – both turned the visual impact up to 11.
The best looking combination to me, though, is one that is surprisingly rare from the factory, considering how good it looks: black with red/charcoal decals, especially coupled with red interior. Look up the episode of “Jay Leno’s Garage” where he test drives a 1979 in that combo, made even rarer by the fact that it also has the WS6 package, making it an example of the one Trans Am from the one year that bested the Corvette in every performance metric. And by God, The General ain’t havin’ THAT.
Too many status quo votes here!
Torch’s observance of the use of negative space in Royal Knight push it to the top. C’mon! Two dragons and a knight beat a pheasant that’s been left on the grill too long!
I had to vote AMX because I had one.
AMX for me. I also loved that body style
The screaming chicken calls to me.
I voted AMX because it’s so ridiculous it can’t be taken seriously. I like that.
That probably wasn’t AMC’s goal, but I’m a big fan of unintentional comedy.
Also, standard air conditioning, full galvanized body panels, and factory Ziebart treatment
I reckon it’s some slightly intentional comedy along the same lines as the AMC SC/Rambler: http://www.topcarrating.com/amc/1969-amc-hurst-sc-rambler-3.jpg
Since the fire chicken will always win (as it should) I voted AMX, only because its just so bizarre and literal. It just screams “I AM AMX. YOU WILL KNOW WHAT I AM” and I love it
Honestly, Torch should have left the Trans Am out of the voting. It is the original and thus always the best. The voting options should have been limited to “everyone else.”
The flaming bird is the clear winner here. When I was a kid, I briefly saw it as the big bird, but I have been firmly in the small bird with radiating flame camp for a long time.
What is interesting is that the attempts to go entirely symmetrical just don’t do it for me. I like the El Camino best, vehicle-wise, but the forced symmetry of the graphic is just kind of meh. And I think the flames on the arrow would be improved with some light asymmetry.
I was with you until I saw the AMX flames.
I just want to say i voted for the AMX not because it is the best, which is clearly not the case, but because it is #1 in laziness and shamelessness. It’s the glorious garbage of flaming hood decals.
The King Cobra graphic fit the 78 Mustang ii better than the 79 foxbody.
100%. The mashup of high ’70s rococo and (eventual) ’80s futurism doesn’t sit right.
The Pontiac Fiero’s bird thing is a good example of what an ’80s animal automotive totem should look like.
There’s something about the El Camino that works with the Royal Knight name and graphics. I’m not sure why, but the Caballero doesn’t work as well for me. Otherwise, they all look like self-parody. The Mustang, in particular, comes across as downright embarrassing.
I voted the Diablo for the artwork.
But the Firebird wins for the “go big or go home” category.
Heh. The 1979 10th Anniversary T/A went even bigger, with wing-tip-flames reaching past the hood to the tops of the fenders, demarcating a handsome two-tone treatment to the cowl. Very fire, much bird: https://www.78ta.com/Sliders/images/10thhood.jpg
Sorry, Fire Chicken FTW
Clearly the Pontiac. It looks wrong without the hood decal. And dare I say all the others look wrong with it?
You know what looks even more wrong than a Trans Am without the bird on the hood? A base Firebird WITH the bird on the hood, minus the shaker hoodscoop.
See also: M3 badges on a base BMW, TRD decals on a base Toyota truck, etc. Poserism.
Really tough to beat the Pontiac’s scream in’ chicken.